Looked like Jalen Hurts was the one with the broken hand.
Hurts has won so many big games for this team, made so many big plays, reached two Super Bowls, won one of them. A month ago he was in the MVP race.
But this was horrifying.
Five turnovers, four interceptions, including one down at the goal-line in overtime.
After a 22-19 overtime loss to the Chargers at SoFi Stadium, the Eagles are now 8-5 with their third consecutive loss, all of them in nightmarish fashion.
This is bad.
What a mess.
1. Let’s get this out of the way: He’s not getting benched. I’m the world’s biggest Tanner McKee fan and I’m convinced he’s a starting-caliber quarterback and I believe he’ll get that opportunity somewhere. But you’re not going to bench the Super Bowl MVP sitting here at 8-5 and almost certainly headed into the playoffs for a guy who’s started one game in his life. Nick Sirianni would just never do that, and he shouldn’t. But I don’t need to sit here and say if Hurts doesn’t get his act together this team isn’t going to go anywhere close to where it wants to go. It’s just hard to watch right now. Four straight games Hurts has been anywhere from mediocre to awful. He’s had these stretches before and worked his way out of them. Maybe he’ll work his way out of this one. But for the first time maybe ever, I really wonder.
2. And beyond Jalen, this offense is just such a mess right now. They had drives to the Chargers’ 12, 17, 21, 23, 26, 30, 36 that didn’t lead to touchdowns. That’s insane. That can’t happen. And that’s everything. That’s o-line. That’s quarterback. That’s play calling. That’s receivers. That’s seven drives inside the Chargers’ 36 that didn’t result in touchdowns. How can that even happen? The Eagles moved the ball well at times – they did pile up 365 yards – but 19 points? Look at the Eagles’ last five point totals: 10-16-21-15-19. That’s 81 points in five games, their fewest in any five-game span since – get this – early in 2012, Andy Reid’s final season. And the 21 points – their biggest scoring output since the bye week – came in a game when they blew a 21-point lead. This offense is a disaster and I’m not going to rant about Kevin Patullo again and it’s important to remember that this is on Nick Sirianni as much as K.P. Worst offensive stretch in 13 years.
3. Explain to me how Saquon Barkley gets just five carries in the second half after a really strong first half with 13 carries for 69 yards? Your quarterback is struggling badly and your all-pro running back is grinding out productive yards against a beat-up Chargers defensive line and five carries in the second half? Barkley finished with 122 rushing yards and a 6.1 average, including that 52-yard touchdown run, but I just don’t get how these coaches continually get away from Barkley, especially in games where he’s moving the chains and especially when the passing game isn’t functioning. Barkley has had some rough games this year. But lately he’s shown some signs of life. He’s actually averaging 4.7 yards per carry in the Eagles’ last six games. Somebody tell Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo because Barkley’s talents lately have been going to waste at moments when they could really, really help.
4. It’s hard not to compare Jake Elliott and his former teammate, Cameron Dicker. Elliott missed a 48-yarder wide left in perfect conditions and Dicker – who played for the Eagles for a week in 2022 when Elliott was hurt – made all five of his field goal attempts. And when you go into overtime … well, we can all do the math. Dicker is the most accurate kicker in NFL history and Elliott has now missed six field goals and a PAT this year. Elliott has won a lot of games for this team, and we’ll never forget his huge 42- and 46-yard field goals in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. But in a game like this – low-scoring, one-possession – you just can’t miss a 48-yard field goal in a dome. You can’t. Elliott isn’t this team’s biggest issue, but he is becoming an issue.
5. Let’s talk about the defense. Gave up a touchdown on the Chargers’ first drive, then defended 12 consecutive drives without allowing a TD. Gave up five field goals, but here are the drive distances on those: 30, 51, 22, 43 and 34 yards. This was just lights-out stuff from the defense, keeping the team in the game when the offense was bumbling all over the place. They held the Chargers to 275 yards, 16 first downs, 106 net passing yards. They had two takeaways, seven sacks – seven! – and only allowed one play of 20 yards or more. They beat up Justin Herbert from start to finish and Herbert really showed some toughness hanging in there and making enough plays – mainly with his legs – to get the win. He was clearly compromised with that broken left hand, and the Eagles sensed blood and attacked him the way they should. On the heels of subpar performances against the Cowboys and Bears, there was a lot to like about this defensive performance. Marcus Epps showed up in his first start this year, his first game after a month on IR. Adoree Jackson had a very good game and had his first interception since 2023. Jalyx Hunt picked up 2 ½ sacks and Byron Young had the first 1 ½ of his career. Jordan Davis had another 1 ½. If the defense hadn’t played this well, the Chargers would have blown out the Eagles.
6. A.J. Brown had his third straight 100-yard game, but this was not a good game for the veteran wide receiver. The interception off his hands just can’t happen. Was the ball a little high? Maybe. But no question it was a catchable pass. And then there was the ball in the end zone on a 2nd-and-11 just before the two-minute warning. Would have been a great catch, and Cam Hart had decent coverage. But it’s a catch we’ve seen A.J. make in the past. He just didn’t come up with this one. Brown is a hell of a player, and he says he wants to be the best receiver in the world, and sometimes he looks like it. But if he made either one of those plays Monday night, the Eagles win the game and they’re flying home 9-4. I’d still rather have A.J. than just about anybody else, but he’s got to be better.
7. We all want to see rookie 1st-round pick Jihaad Campbell on the field, but when you watch Nakobe Dean you understand why Vic Fangio is so reluctant to take him off the field. After missing the first five games of the season – and not playing defense in a sixth – Dean has been remarkably productive since returning from that 2024 knee injury. His sack Monday night that forced a Justin Herbert fumble was his fourth sack in five games, making him the first Eagles linebacker with four sacks in a five-week span since William Thomas in 1997. He also had two QB hits, a tackle for loss and seven tackles. Campbell was playing really well and I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him. But Dean is just an elite playmaker, and he just has to be on the field. And Zack Baun sure as heck isn’t leaving the field. Too many good linebackers is not a problem this franchise has had maybe ever.
8. This was a spectacular performance by the secondary, and they sure worked hand-in-hand with the pass rush, but they just covered at such a high level and played so well together, forcing Justin Herbert to a career-low 46 percent accuracy, and this is a guy who’s started 92 games and had a pretty darn good career. Herbert completed a fluky 60-yarder on a little pass in the flat to running back Kimani Vidal on the Chargers’ first drive that set up their only touchdown, but other than that the Chargers had just 46 net passing yards. This might have been the best game of Adoree Jackson’s career. Cooper DeJean put the clamps down on Ladd McConkey, who caught just one 12-yard pass. Marcus Epps was all over the place in his first defensive playing time this year. Quinyon Mitchell did his usual thing, holding Keenan Allen to 3-for-22. And Reed Blankenship was his usual consistenet self. The last time the Eagles held an opposing quarterback to below 50 percent accuracy and had seven sacks and lost? How about never.
9. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Dallas Goedert next year, but the Eagles can’t lose him. We don’t talk about him enough, but he is so steady and so clutch and so good both as a receiver and a blocker. He had eight catches for 78 yards Monday night, including three catches just in overtime, and he’s at 48-for-481 with seven TDs this year. Goedert, who turns 31 next month, is still a top-10 tight end in the league, and it’s unfortunate the Eagles don’t have a viable TE2, but they’ve got to find a way to keep TE1 around another year or two.
10. I still think this is a playoff team, and I still think they win three of their last four and I still think they’re going to find their way to 11-6, but honestly that’s more a reflection of who the Eagles finish with than anything else. They might only face one regular starting quarterback the rest of the way in Josh Allen, and if they can’t beat Kenny Pickett (or Geno Smith) and Marcus Mariota twice they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs. But here’s the thing. I think back to 2023 and how that team hobbled into the postseason with no confidence and no swagger and no vibe and no momentum and just got annihilated in Tampa. Unless some things change very quickly, I fear the same result this year, whoever the Eagles wind up playing in the playoffs. When you have standards as high as this team – two Super Bowls and one Super Bowl win in three years – 11 wins and a 1st-round exit is just not good enough. Maybe they can figure this out in the next few weeks, but it’s just hard to be super confident in this team’s ability to win football games against good teams.