For a second straight week, the Philadelphia Eagles missed a late game against a good team they should have beaten. They have now lost three games in a row and will return from London with a 2-3 record and their season in danger of going down the toilet.
As always, win or losewe are giving out 10 awards…
1) The ‘Game Situation Fail’ award 😩: Nick Sirianni
As you all saw, the Eagles were down 16-14 and they started a drive at their own 38 yard line with 1:35 left and a chance to win the game. For the third week in a row, the offense couldn’t get anything going in the second half, but it finally executed a late drive that was good enough to put itself within field goal range.
Jake Elliott connected on a 48-yard field goal, but the Eagles left eight seconds on the clock. The Jaguars burned all their timeouts to get those eight seconds back, and when the Eagles went for a return kick, Ameer Abdullah made them pay, returning it 53 yards to the Eagles’ 39-yard line, setting up a 57-yard game-winning field goal by Cam Little. The full sequence is here:
It seems to me that Arnold Ebiketie came out of his lane, opening a big hole for Abdullah. But it doesn’t matter.
Ebiketie should never have had the opportunity to make this mistake. If Nick Sirianni had asked Elliott to kick the ball to the back of the end zone, the Jaguars would have had the ball at their own 35-yard line, and they would have had to complete a long pass while going out of bounds, and do it in seven seconds or less since they had no timeouts left. That was the clear strategy.
Instead, Sirianni opted to allow a comeback, despite the absence of several key Eagles special teams players (Jeremiah Trotter, Michael Carter, etc.), and in a game in which the Jags had already returned a kickoff for a touchdown (which was called back due to a catch).
Sirianni was blamed for the defeat after the match.
“Our guys fought today,” Sirianni said. “The defense had an outstanding game, keeping us in this game. The offense did enough at the end to win us this game. The special teams did a good job putting their foot down. I didn’t make the right decision and we lost that game, and that’s what I told our guys.
“What hurts is that the guys fought so hard and then II didn’t make the decision I should have made at the end of the game, and I cost us this game and I’m entirely on myself. »
Sirianni isn’t calling plays, and it’s not entirely his offense anymore. This is the kind of mistake he can’t afford to make.
2) The ‘And Then There’s One’ Prize 1️⃣: The Eagles offensive line
With Lane Johnson retired, Landon Dickerson injured and Cam Jurgens now a Baltimore Raven, the Eagles’ starting offensive line looked like this:
| L.T. | LG | C | R.G. | RT |
| Jordan Mailata | Willie Lampkin | Jake Majors | Tyler Steen | Mark Bell |
Before this game, Lampkin, Majors, and Bell had career starts (per Bell, last week), and they had played a total of 64 career snaps (62 per Bell, again, last week).
During the game, the Eagles lost Tyler Steen to a left shoulder injury and Fred Johnson replaced him.
Jordan Mailata is like…
“This week has been a hell of a week,” Mailata said. “One of the best tackles of all time, retired, trades, you have to deal with everything. They’re two of my best friends and we’re not on the same team anymore.”
3) The ‘Goal Line Stand, Part I’ Award 🙅♂️: The Eagles’ defense
The Jaguars scored a first-and-goal late in the first half, and the Eagles stopped them on four straight plays.
- They forced a Chris Rodriguez fumble (I thought it was over, but not conclusive enough to turn around) on first down.
- Incomplete fade on second down.
- Pass breakup by Quinyon Mitchell on 3rd down.
- Excellent tackle by Zack Baun on a running play for a loss of 6 on 4th down.
Great stand.
4) The “Goal Line Stand, Part II” prize 🙅♂️🙅♂️: Eagles fans
About halfway through the fourth quarter, the Jags once again managed a 1st-and-goal from the 1. This time, the Eagles fans forced the Jaguars to shoot themselves in the foot several times. The Jags committed a false start and two (!) delay of game penalties, which were clearly at least partly the result of crowd noise.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was packed with Eagles fans, and it was the loudest I’ve heard them in a while.
5) The “Oh there it is👆” award: Jalen Carter
Carter became the highest-paid interior defensive lineman in the NFL this offseason, but he hasn’t played like that yet.
Playing for the first time in a few weeks without a cast on his wrist, Carter had two sacks/fumbles and affected the game all day.
The Eagles can use more of this consistently.
6) The “Hit your head against a brick wall” award 🧱: The Eagles’ second-half decision
Desperately trying to maintain a four-point lead for most of the second half, the Eagles repeatedly tried to pass the ball on first downs, which just wasn’t going to work with a makeshift offensive line and without their top three running backs.
In total, the Eagles ran it 18 times for 22 yards. Phew. And when they weren’t executing it, they were throwing screen passes that had no chance. For example, Dameon Pierce was on the practice squad earlier this week and he managed to catch 5 targets. The result was 2 catches for -2 yards, with a long of 1 yard, lol.
7) The ‘Great Player’ award ✨: Parker Washington
Washington had 6 catches for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. He made this spectacular catch on fourth down that beat good coverage from Riq Woolen.
Aside from the long kickoff return, this was clearly the play of the day.
8) The “Shrug” Award 🤷♂️: Jalen hurts
Hurts finished 21 of 40 for 220 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT.
The offense was stuck in quicksand for most of the second half, but he scored points in the first half and he played when it mattered at the end of the game.
Hurts has absolutely nothing to work with. Four of the Eagles’ offensive line starters in Week 1 were out, as was Saquon Barkley and their best receiver by a country mile, DeVonta Smith.
His deep throw to Dontayvion Wicks in the face of instant pressure on a Jags blitz probably should have been a touchdown, but Wicks couldn’t crush it. Wicks runs some good routes, but he also runs a 4.62.
I’ll have to revisit for a more complete review of the game, but overall, while the Eagles defense carried most of the weight, Hurts did enough to beat a very good team.
9) The ‘Nuts From the Start’ Prize 🥜: The Kick-Off
From kickoff to final kick, this will be a very memorable Eagles regular season game against an AFC opponent.
Jeremiah Trotter fought with Jags LB Bryan Thomas. Both players were sent off. This kick was also returned for a touchdown, but called back holding.
There was a touchdown, four penalties and two ejections on the first play of the game, and that didn’t even count. That should have been the first clue that this was going to be a wild game.
10) The ‘Rest Disadvantage’ award 🥱: the Eagles’ next game
The Eagles’ next opponent is the Carolina Panthers. The Eagles will return to Philadelphia from London on Sunday evening and will try to make up ground. In the past, teams were allowed a bye after playing in Europe, but the Eagles opted not to do that this season. They will face a Panthers team that received a bye in Week 5.
They’ll try to stop the free fall, but, realistically, it’s probably time to start asking whether this team should be focusing on its long-term interests rather than its Super Bowl aspirations in 2026.
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