Try to wrap your head around this one. The Philadelphia Eagles are the only team in the NFL without a single successful under center play-action play when the opposing defense blitzes. Not one. Philadelphia is 0-for-18 in that situation, and the Eagles are losing an average of almost a full expected point every time they line up under center, fake the handoff, and see extra rushers coming off the edge.

That is an unbelievable stat for an offense with this much talent. It also tells you a lot about where the Eagles’ offense, its play-action game, and its offensive line stand right now.

The Eagles offense is too predictable

Here’s the thing. Opposing defenses aren’t the only ones who know what’s coming.

A fan on X pointed out the other day that the Eagles are so predictable they never even go under center. And that’s the part that drives me crazy. If the fans at home can sit on their couch and figure out what Philly is going to run on a given play, how come the guys making millions of dollars can’t come up with a better game plan?

I’m being serious. Are they just not smart enough to fix it? Do they not care enough? I can’t put my finger on it, and I don’t think anybody else can either.

Think about what that 0-for-18 number actually means. Play action is supposed to be the counterpunch. You sell the run, you pull the linebackers and safeties up, and you hit them over the top. But when defenses blitz, the Eagles have nothing. No hot read that works, no protection adjustment that holds up, and no answer from the sideline.

Defensive coordinators watch film too. Once they see the Eagles go under center and fake it, they know exactly when to send the house. And 18 times, they’ve won that battle. That isn’t bad luck, ladies and gentlemen. That’s a pattern, and patterns get exploited in this league.

The trenches tell the same story

Now, if the play-action number were the only red flag, maybe you could chalk it up to a weird sample size. It isn’t.

The Eagles have the worst mark in the NFL in yards before contact. That one stings for a team that built its identity on bullying people at the line of scrimmage. Philadelphia is also the worst team in the league in unblocked pressure rate, and it isn’t even close. The Eagles are 50 percent higher than the second-worst team.

Read that again. Unblocked pressure means nobody even touched the guy getting home. That isn’t a lineman getting beat one-on-one. That’s a breakdown in protection calls, communication, and the overall plan.

And this is where I keep coming back to Jeff Stoutland. Maybe letting Stoutland go was a backbreaking decision. This was one of the best assistant coaches ever, a guy who made the Eagles’ offensive line the standard for the entire league. Philly pretty much ran him out the door because he wanted to insert his philosophies, have more of an identity within the offense, and share more ideas, and the answer was no.

So when I see the worst yards before contact in football and an unblocked pressure rate that’s lapping the rest of the league, I can’t help but connect the dots. The trenches used to be the one thing we never had to worry about in Philadelphia. Now they’re the biggest question mark on the roster.

Something has to change

I’m not going to sit here and say every problem disappears with one coach or one play call. Football doesn’t work that way. But at some point, the people running this offense have to look at these numbers and admit the current approach isn’t working.

Mix in more quick game against the blitz. Change up the protection looks. Stop running the same thing out of the same formation and expecting a different result. None of this is rocket science.

The Eagles have too much talent to be this easy to figure out. When the fans can call your plays from their living room, the problem isn’t the players. It’s the plan, and until somebody in that building fixes it, defenses are going to keep teeing off.