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LONDON – Once again, the Philadelphia Eagles were down their top two offensive weapons in Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith. The offensive line featured yet another reconfigured starting combination.
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And once again, the Eagles were in a position to win, but they couldn’t put the game away.
The Eagles went up, 17-16, over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a Jake Elliott 48-yard field goal with just eight seconds remaining in the game. But Jaguars return man Ameer Abdullah ripped off a 53-yard return to the Eagles’ 39, leaving one second remaining. Jaguars kicker Cam Little nailed a 57-yard field goal to win it, 19-17.
After the game, Nick Sirianni put the blame on himself for not instructing Elliott to kick the ball out of bounds on the kickoff.
“I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game,” Sirianni said. “And that’s what I said to our guys. And what hurts there is that the guys fought so hard and then I don’t make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game and I put that fully on me.”
Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ third straight loss:
Tale of two halves, again
The Eagles led at halftime, 14-7, thanks to touchdowns from Will Shipley and Darius Cooper. Shipley’s touchdown, the first of his career, came on a 2-yard rush, capping off a 13-play, 50-yard drive.
Cooper scored on the following possession, turning a 22-yard pass from Jalen Hurts into a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
By halftime, the Eagles were 4 for 6 on third down, with all four conversions coming on third-and-long. Dontayvion Wicks contributed two of those third-down catches on Cooper’s touchdown drive. Wicks also drew a defensive pass interference call against Travis Hunter on third-and-17 to keep the drive alive.
But the Eagles’ offensive struggles in the second half continued against the Jaguars, following a similar trajectory as their loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Despite having the first possession coming out of halftime, the Eagles gained 59 yards in the third quarter on three series, never making it past the Jaguars’ 43.
Granted, the Eagles offensive line featured two players making their NFL debuts – Willie Lampkin at left guard and Jake Majors at center – and another making his second start in Markell Bell at right tackle. Running back Will Shipley (foot) was injured in the second quarter, forcing Dameon Pierce, who wasn’t on the Eagles active roster until this week, into action.
On the drive that sputtered at the 43, the Eagles failed to convert on fourth-and-3. Hurts threw an incomplete pass for Lemon, marking the second failed fourth-down attempt of the game (the Eagles also failed to convert fourth-and-1 from the Jacksonville 37 on a handoff to Shipley on their opening drive).
Hurts later missed a wide-open Wicks down the left sideline on third-and-13 from the Eagles’ 41, the ball sailing incomplete just in front of the receiver.
Their woes continued early in the fourth quarter. The Eagles incurred back-to-back penalties, a false start from Jordan Mailata and an offensive pass interference from Cooper, backing them up to their own 3-yard line. They eventually failed to convert on third-and-10, bringing Braden Mann on to punt for a third time in the second half.
“We’ve got to keep at it,” Hurts said after the game of the Eagles’ second-half scoring woes. “Got to keep getting up and keep finding out ways that we can improve. In the end, that’s not the standard, and it’s inexcusable. So we’ve got a lot of opportunity to grow.
The Jaguars went up, 16-14, on an acrobatic one-handed touchdown grab late in the fourth quarter by Parker Washington, beating tight coverage by Riq Woolen. The teams subsequently traded punts, and the Eagles got the ball back at their own 38 with over a minute and a half remaining in the game.
A Markel Bell false start penalty on the second play of the drive backed them up, but Wicks, Dallas Goedert and Lemon made catches to put the Eagles into field goal range for Elliott. Ultimately, Elliott’s field goal wasn’t enough.
Defense makes plays, but not enough
Earlier in the week, Vic Fangio noted that Jalen Carter’s lingering wrist injury seemed to affect him in the Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
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Carter didn’t seem affected much by the injury a week later.
While he was still sporting a cast on his wrist, Carter had his most disruptive game of the season, strip-sacking Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence twice. The Eagles did not recover either fumble. Carter’s first strip-sack came on the Jaguars’ opening drive on first-and-20 from their own 28-yard line after a holding call against left guard Emmanuel Pregnon.
His play backed the Jaguars up another 15 yards, and then they took a delay of game to back them up another five. Jacksonville ultimately punted, gaining just seven net yards on their opening drive.
Carter struck again in the second quarter on second-and-11 from the Jaguars’ 34. Lawrence recovered the loose football for a loss of 10 yards, eventually bringing up another punt when he couldn’t connect with running back LeQuint Allen on third down. At that point, the Jaguars were 0 for 3 on third down.
Carter wasn’t the only Eagles defender who made big plays. The whole group stepped up late in the second quarter as the Jaguars attempted to tie the game.
On their last possession of the first half, the Jaguars drove 68 yards to the Eagles’ 1-yard line. However, on four tries, they couldn’t find a way into the end zone. Zack Baun had the play of the series on fourth-and-goal, stuffing Jaguars running back Bayshul Tuten for a loss of six yards on an outside run.
Late in the third quarter on third-and-7 from the Jaguars’ 46, Nolan Smith and Arnold Ebiketie pressured Lawrence, who stepped up in the pocket and launched a deep pass intended for wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
But the pass was short, allowing Quinyon Mitchell to swoop in and intercept the pass. The play marked the first regular-season interception of Mitchell’s career (he has four interceptions in the playoffs).
The Jaguars still capitalized on the defense’s handful of mistakes. Washington made his presence felt after making just one catch for seven yards last week. He had two touchdown receptions – once in the first quarter on a play-action bootleg for 51 yards to put the Jaguars up, 7-0, and again late in the fourth quarter on the 27-yarder against Woolen.
Drew Mukuba took ownership after the game for not getting out to the flat in time to make the tackle on Washington on the first touchdown. Woolen acknowledged he could have played the second touchdown better, but he also said that Washington made a great play.
“It [stinks] to have a person score a touchdown on you, but at the same time, you just got to go and keep playing and make plays for your team,” Woolen said.
Late in the fourth quarter, the defense forced a three-and-out, giving the Eagles offense an opportunity to win it with just over a minute and a half remaining in regulation.
Injury report
The Eagles’ injury issues worsened against the Jaguars.
Shipley exited during the second quarter with a foot injury and was eventually ruled out.
Shortly before the end of the first half, Michael Carter II dropped out with an abdomen injury. He was ruled out.
After Baun’s fourth-down stop to end the first half, Jalyx Hunt went down with knee and ankle injuries. He walked off the field with the help of trainers and was later ruled out.
Tyler Steen came off the field in pain and went straight to the medical tent after the Eagles went three-and-out on their first drive of the second half. Steen missed a series with a shoulder injury, and Fred Johnson took over at right guard, but Steen later returned to action.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was ejected from the game after getting into a scrum on the opening kickoff with Jaguars defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr., who was also disqualified. Baun said after the game that Fangio’s initial plan was to have Trotter rotate with Jihaad Campbell at inside linebacker, but that was scrapped following the disqualification.
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