When Lane Johnson speaks, his teammates, media and fans tend to listen. His words carry weight within the Eagles locker room and organization. He has earned that distinction as a 13-year veteran and a leader in the locker room.
After a blowout 34-17 loss to the Giants Thursday night, the future Hall of Famer revealed his thoughts on the Eagles' inconsistent offense which has yet to play a complete game this season.
"We have spurts, but there is nothing consistent about what we are doing," Johnson told NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The lack of consistency on offense has been the common theme so far this season for the Eagles. The unit has been unable to sustain drives at the same rate they did last year, lacking explosive plays and ability to run the football.
Most of their production is coming in the first half, scoring 89 points opposed to 53 points in the second half, including just 19 fourth quarter points through the first six games of the season.
There have been moments where the offense looks capable of driving down the field at will. Philadelphia's first touchdown drive was an eight play, 75-yard march to make it a 13-10 deficit in the first quarter. Their ensuing drive was even more impressive, spanning 13 plays for 74-yards chewing up nearly eight minutes off the clock.
Then they did not score again for the rest of the game.
"There's flashes, but flashes don't score points," Johnson said. "It's about consistency. Once a big play hits, let's keep going and finish."
Those flashes appear and just as quickly disappear, while those big plays have been there, including a bad miss from Jalen Hurts to a wide open DeVonta Smith that could have flipped the script in the game.
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Smith had 49 yards on four catches but could have surpassed the century mark had Hurts not missed. Dallas Goedert had an incredible game leading the way with nine catches, 110 yards and a touchdown, his fifth score in the last four games. A.J. Brown finished with 80 yards on six receptions.
The talent is there. The execution has not been there and the misses on home run plays along with a myriad of other issues have led to rapid downward spirals mid game for the Eagles and now for some serious concern.
In the second half of Thursday night's game, the Eagles had just 115 yards of offense, five first downs, three punts and two turnovers. Saquon Barkley had three carries for -4 yards after gouging his former team for 31 yards on his first two carries of the game and had over 50 yards rushing in the first half.
Entering the season, the Eagles returned essentially their entire starting offense that hung 40 points on the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. The only new starter this season is right guard Tyler Steen. Yet, in every game, there are stretches where it looks as if this unit has never played together.
Even without Landon Dickerson in this game, there is way too much talent to have the offense look the way it did against a Giants defense that entered the game allowing the sixth-most yards per game, a porous rush defense and a secondary that was inferior to the weapons the Eagles have on offense.
The Eagles were outscored 14-0 Thursday night in the second half and have now been outscored 32-7 in the last two games in the final two quarters. Over the last three games, the Eagles have gone three-and-out a league high 59% on their second half drives.
"I feel like we have been very stagnant offensively," Johnson said.
"We have things we talk about a lot of it goes out there, but the execution isn't there. We get behind the chains. We get very predictable. It's frustrating."
The Eagles once again were behind the sticks, going a paltry 1-for-9 on third down conversions whereas the Giants seemingly could do no wrong in that department, finishing the game 11-for-16 on third downs.
"I feel like a lot of what we did last year was the run and play action and it kind of fed off each other and the defense had a real hard time guessing what it would be," Johnson said. "I feel like the last two weeks, you kind of know what it is. You know when the pass is coming, you know when the run is coming."
Predictable is a word that has been a frequent adjective to describe the Eagles' offense. After the loss, Barkley dismissed that a bit, saying the offense was predictable last season too and it was not an issue.
"Last year everyone knew we would run the ball. We still got it off. I think we also need to get back to the attitude and mindset of not really giving a f*** what is trying to do," Barkley told the Philadelphia media in the locker room.
Right now, it is difficult to pinpoint what this team's identity is in 2025. They do not do anything particularly well as the first third of the season is now in the rear-view mirror.
Last season, the Eagles were physical, they were aggressive, they could do whatever they wanted when they wanted on both sides of the football. The Giants played in that manner to embarrass the defending Super Bowl champions. Perhaps that will serve as the wake up the team needs to right the ship.
The Eagles have a mini bye week with a 10-day layoff before a road trip to Minnesota to take on the Vikings in what has now become a near must-win for Philadelphia. It will not be an easy matchup. The Vikings have a solid defense, a former Eagle in Isaiah Rodgers who will be sure to do everything he can to make a statement after the Eagles opted not to re-sign him, which looms even larger with the poor play from Kelee Ringo and Adoree' Jackson.
"We have a lot of season ahead of us. I'm confident with the guys in this room and how we work to get it fixed, to make games not so hard on ourselves and more fluid," Johnson said.
The Eagles are going to have to figure it out during this extended time off or the rest of the season is only going to get even harder.
