All they had to do was tackle Ameer Abdullah. Tackle him, win the game.<\/p>\n
Make a tackle, win the game. Make a tackle, turn your season around. Make a tackle, you\u2019re 3-2. Make a tackle, you have an upset win over a team that had won 11 of its last 12 games.<\/p>\n
Did not happen.<\/p>\n
Another crushing loss for the Eagles, who took the lead over the Jaguars with eight seconds left, only to allow a 53-yard kick return to Abdullah to set up a 57-yard game-winning Cam Little field goal as time expired.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t imagine a more crushing way to lose a football game.<\/p>\n
Why didn\u2019t the Eagles kick the ball into the end zone and make the Jaguars run a play to try to get into field-goal range? There is no answer.<\/p>\n
The Eagles got blown out in Chicago two weeks ago, they blew a 10-point 4th-quarter lead to the Rams last week and then this. Three straight crushing losses and I don\u2019t know if they can recover.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our 10 Observations on the Eagles\u2019 devastating 19-17 loss to the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London<\/p>\n
1. I don\u2019t know how you recover from this. This is three straight losses, all in devastating fashion, from a team that just doesn\u2019t lose very many games. Nick Sirianni\u2019s strength as a coach has always been navigating the Eagles through adversity. He doesn\u2019t call plays, he doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the defense, but he has always been good at getting through to his players and building a winning culture and instilling belief that they can get through anything. Good luck with that this time, Nick. This is a game that was over. The Eagles had this thing won. The Jaguars needed a miracle and they got one. If you\u2019re on the positive end of a game like that you feel like you got a gift from heaven. If you\u2019re on the losing end of it? That\u2019s brutal. How do you bounce back from that? I don\u2019t know if they can.<\/p>\n
2. The defense played well enough to win, giving up just 19 points, putting together three fabulous goal-line stands, getting decent pressure on Trevor Lawrence, playing solid against the run and giving the ball back to the offense time after time after time, only to watch the offense sputter once again. Jalen Carter had a massive first half with two sacks, two forced fumbles (both recovered by the Jaguars) and three tackles for loss. Zack Baun was all over the field, with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. Quinyon Mitchell recorded his first career regular-season interception. There was a lot to like about the way the defense played. It wasn\u2019t perfect, but they played well enough to win the game. At some point they need some help from the offense and they\u2019re just not getting it.<\/p>\n
3. One thing about Nick Sirianni. He\u2019s accountable, and after the game he told his players that this loss was entirely on him because he didn\u2019t have Jake Elliott kickoff into the end zone with eight seconds left. \u201cI didn\u2019t make the right decision,\u201d Sirianni said. \u201cBad job by me. I lost this game for the team. I cost us this game. I put the loss fully on me. I should never have put them in that situation. I take full responsibility for that.\u201d He\u2019s entirely right, and it\u2019s good that he said it but it really hasn\u2019t been a good year for Sirianni. Whether it\u2019s making the wrong calls on some key fourth downs or this decision at the end of the Jaguars game, he\u2019s had a rough time with these basic decisions. When you\u2019re a head coach that doesn\u2019t call plays, you better get the other stuff right, and he just hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
4. Let\u2019s talk about the second half. The Eagles have now gone 18 consecutive 2nd-half drives without a touchdown, a streak that goes back to the end of the Titans game and Jalen Hurts\u2019 game-winning TD pass to Darius Cooper. That\u2019s just insane. It\u2019s inexcusable. They finally scored in the second half with that seemingly game-winning Jake Elliott field goal with 0:08 on the clock, but the Eagles\u2019 offensive struggles after halftime have reached the point of absurdity. So far this year, the Eagles are averaging 99.4 yards in the second half, they\u2019re 10-for-38 on third down and they have scored just 23 points, 20 of them the first two weeks. They still don\u2019t have a touchdown in the third quarter coming out of halftime. On those 18 2nd-half possessions without a TD they\u2019re averaging 10.9 yards per drive and they have a total of 12 first downs to go with their three points. They haven\u2019t had 100 yards in a second half since Week 2. Every week they tell us they\u2019re going to fix it, that it\u2019s a priority. So far, it hasn\u2019t happened. Will it ever happen?<\/p>\n
4\u00bd. Here are the Eagles\u2019 2nd-half drives over the last three weeks:<\/p>\n
Bears
5 yards, punt, 0 first downs
-2 yards, punt, 0 first downs
4 yards, punt, 0 first downs
24 yards, interception, 1 first down
21 yards, downs, 2 first downs<\/p>\n
Rams
5 yards, punt, 0 first downs
5 yards, punt, 0 first downs
9 yards, downs, 0 first downs
62 yards, downs, 4 first downs
1 yard, punt, 0 first downs
-15 yards, downs, 0 first downs<\/p>\n
Jaguars
7 yards, punt, 0 first downs
37 yards, downs, 2 first downs
15 yards, punt, 1 first down
0 yards, punt, 0 first downs
1 yard, punt, 0 first downs
-6 yards, punt, 0 first downs
32 yards, field goal, 2 first downs<\/p>\n
5. Here\u2019s a positive one: I\u2019m liking the growth I\u2019m seeing from Makai Lemon, who is really starting to look like an NFL receiver. Very tough start to the year for Lemon, and I have to admit I wondered if it was going to be a lost season for the Eagles\u2019 rookie 1st-round pick. But the Eagles stuck with him, and it\u2019s starting to pay off. Maybe not in the big numbers you\u2019d like to see from the 20th pick in the draft but at least he\u2019s making plays and starting to look like he belongs. After catching four passes for nine yards the first two weeks, he had 6-for-56 in the losses to the Bears and Rams and had career highs with four catches for 36 yards Sunday, including a clutch 18-yard gain for a first down on a 3rd-and-10 in the third quarter. Lemon is tough, he contributes when he doesn\u2019t get the ball with his blocking, he seems to know how to get open and he\u2019s getting better each week. Encouraging signs from the rookie.<\/p>\n
6. Landon Dickerson is eligible to come off Injured Reserve this week and conceivably could play against the Panthers, although there\u2019s no guarantee the Eagles will even activate him. DeVonta Smith could be back this week and same with Saquon Barkley. Maybe when those guys all get back this will start to look like a real offense. Maybe Dickerson will be able to regain his Pro Bowl form from 2022 through 2024. Maybe Smith will go back to being a top-10 wide receiver. Maybe Barkley can find his Offensive Player of the Year form of 2024. If that all happens and the offense doesn\u2019t wake up and the same issues keep popping up, then it\u2019s really time to worry.<\/p>\n
7. Jalen Hurts is not getting a lot of help out there. The Eagles haven\u2019t been able to run the ball, the offensive line has been up and down, play calling has been shaky at times and half the offense has been hurt, so it\u2019s not an ideal situation for any quarterback. Still, Hurts has to share some of the blame for the offense\u2019s lack of consistency and production. He\u2019s at 57.8 percent accuracy, which is well below his 64.2 percent career completion percentage and one of the lowest figures in the league. On a 3rd-and-13 late in the third quarter, he overthrew Dontayvion Wicks wide open on a blown coverage down the left sideline, a slam-dunk touchdown and a play that if he hits Wicks gives the Eagles a 21-10 lead and changes the game. I don\u2019t think Hurts has been bad. He\u2019s got eight touchdown passes and three interceptions and is developing chemistry with Darius Cooper and Lemon while Smith is out, and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s easy to function at a high level under his current circumstances. But I expect greatness from Hurts, and we\u2019re just not getting it. I feel like he can be better than he has been and should be better than he has been.<\/p>\n
8. I really expected more from Riq Woolen, but he just hasn\u2019t been as good as expected. He’s been a disappointment so far, up and down in coverage, not a strong tackler and just giving up too many plays. Coming into this game, quarterbacks were 12-for-20 when targettng Woolen for 160 yards and a 102.1 passer rating, which ranked 57th of 88 corners who have been targeted at least 10 times. He was allowing 8.0 yards per target, which ranked 54th. And that\u2019s all before Sunday. Then he gives up that 27-yard touchdown Sunday and he just looked soft playing Parker Washington. It was a perfect throw and a remarkable one-handed catch and Woolen was right there in position to make a play but just had no answer. This is a guy who has been a Pro Bowler, who has led the NFL in interceptions, who has won a Super Bowl. But he\u2019s not giving the Eagles elite cornerback production right now. I thought he\u2019d be better than this.<\/p>\n
9. The Eagles\u2019 continued inability to run the football is another factor that\u2019s really hampering the offense. Obviously, down Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby and for the second half Will Shipley and playing behind a new o-line isn\u2019t ideal, but these guys are all in the NFL for a reason and 1.2 yards per carry just can\u2019t happen. Puts too much pressure on the passing game. That\u2019s their lowest yards per carry since a 2015 game against Dallas when they had 17 carries for seven yards, their 2nd-worst in the last 30 years and their 4th-worst since 1964. The Jags have a very good run defense and there was a lot conspiring against the Eagles\u2019 run game Sunday but there\u2019s no excuse for 1.2 yards per carry. Their longest run was a six-yarder by Dameon Pierce, and in the second half they had eight carries for six yards. I don\u2019t care how many injuries you have or who you\u2019re playing. That\u2019s just inexcusable.<\/p>\n
10. When Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was disqualified for fighting with Bryan Thomas Jr. on the game\u2019s opening kickoff it struck me that it wasn\u2019t even the earliest a member of his family was ejected. In the Eagles\u2019 2005 opener at the Georgia Dome against the Falcons, Jeremiah Trotter Sr. and Falcons cornerback Kevin Mathis were ejected for fighting about 40 minutes before the game even began. The Eagles were forced to use Mike Labinjo, an undrafted 2nd-year player, who made his first career start in place of Trotter, a four-time Pro Bowler. With Trotter out of the game, the Falcons won 14-10. That DQ was probably deserved. This one wasn\u2019t. Trotter Jr. didn\u2019t do anything to warrant a disqualification. Vic Fangio said last week that Trotter might have an expanded role on defense moving forward, but we\u2019ll have to wait another week to see what that might look like. Also, one of the first things that occurred to me after Abdullah’s kick return was that Trott would have been on kick coverage. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed the result, but it wouldn’t have hurt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All they had to do was tackle Ameer Abdullah. Tackle him, win the game. Make a tackle, win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":929471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,319166,514,82],"class_list":["post-929470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-eagles-blog","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=929470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/929471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=929470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=929470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}