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Nov 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) reacts after making a catch against Detroit Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (23) during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Eagles' Star: 'We're desperate, too'

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By John McMullen | Last updated Nov 21, 2025 3:32 PM ET

The perception is that Dallas will be he only desperate team at AT&T Stadium this Sunday when the 4-5-1 Cowboys host the 8-2 Philadelphia Eagles.

From a conventional standpoint, that is the case because the Cowboys can't afford another loss to their NFC East rival while the reigning Super Bowl champions have plenty of cushion for a hiccup or two.

Not according to star receiver A.J. Brown, however.

"We're desperate, too. We're trying to get it going," Brown said noting the struggles of a star-studded offense that has underachieved to date.

It's definitely been a slog for the Eagles offense during the team's 8-2 start.

Entering Sunday's showdown with Dallas, the Eagles are just No. 25 in the NFL in offense at 300.1 yards per game, 28th in passing offense (184.9) and No. 29 on the money down with a 33.9 % third-down conversion rate. The Eagles are also middle of the road on the ground, averaging 115 rushing yards per game, down form a historic attack that averaged 179 last season.

The sum (23.4 points per game) has been greater than those numbers due to efficient fourth-down (No. 8) and red-zone offense (No. 1), coupled with a league-low four turnovers and a defense that has started to separate itself as one of the league's best.

Fixing The Offense

The two biggest Eagles' playmakers, though, have gone silent, far too often.

Brown, a player with three consecutive second-team All-Pro honors, has 38 receptions for 457 yards and three touchdowns and is on pace for a career-low 812 receiving yards.

Barkley, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Year, is at 662 yards on the ground and under 4.0 yards per carry at 3.8 after a 2,005 yard season at 5.8 YPC. That projects to a drop of nearly 900 yards to 1,125 yards this season and near Barkley's career-worst 3.7 yards per clip with the 2021 New York Giants.

When the Eagles do struggle, the culprit is usually negative plays. The pre-snap penalty part of that equation is an obvious potential fix but the opportunities flushed to execution issues dives into a much murkier issue that needs layered solutions.

"You try to prepare the guys for every different look that you could possibly get," head coach Nick Sirianni said when asked what the process is to fix those kinds of issues. "We all look internally when there's a negative play.

"As coaches, you're like, 'Hey, how do we coach it better? Or how do we put them in better positions to succeed in this scenario? Could the scheme have been better on this one?' As players, we look at it as, 'How could we have executed this better versus this look or that look?' You want to get everybody looking internally to fix any of the issues that you have. I think that's a big step, and that's what we talk about quite frequently."

Desperation may be an oversell from the Eagles perspective but they do have plenty to play for because the goal is the No. 1 seed in the NFC and making sure the path to Super Bowl LX runs through Lincoln Financial Field.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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