EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Get a first down.
That’s all the Philadelphia Eagles had to do to protect their 14-12 lead over the New York Jets, milk the final two minutes off the clock and remain undefeated after six weeks of NFL action.
Maybe all is a bit strong considering the uncharacteristic struggles that plagued Philadelphia for the majority of the second half of its game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday evening. But given the NFC-leading success rate on third downs the Eagles boasted entering the contest, a first down on third-and-9 from their own 46-yard line normally would have been attainable.
That’s why Eagles coach Nick Sirianni went with an aggressive play call — a downfield Jalen Hurts pass to tight end Dallas Goedert — rather than the conservative option (a run and then a punt to pin the Jets, who had no timeouts remaining, deep in their own territory).
GO DEEPER
The Eagles' 'tush push' play is taking over the NFL. But is it working?
But Sunday just wasn’t the Eagles’ day, and that late-game situation just served as further confirmation. Hurts, by his admission, made a bad read, and Jets safety Tony Adams picked off the pass and returned it 45 yards to the 8-yard line. One play later, Jets running back Breece Hall sprinted into the end zone to give his team the lead. Quarterback Zach Wilson rifled a successful two-point conversion pass to Randall Cobb to extend the Jets’ lead to 20-14 with 1:46 left.
Advertisement
Four futile plays later, DeVonta Smith dropped a fourth-and-8 Hurts pass, and the Eagles fell to 5-1. The San Francisco 49ers also lost Sunday, meaning there are no unbeaten teams left in the NFL.
“So many missed opportunities,” Hurts later said, “and, really, so many mistakes, as if you’re kind of giving it away.”
Hurts and the Eagles certainly did give the game away. They turned the ball over four times in the final three quarters, didn’t score a point in the second half and further helped the Jets with inopportune penalties and a missed field goal. Those missed opportunities, and others, served as the theme of the game. The blown chances will haunt Philadelphia’s players and coaches for days and maybe weeks.
GO DEEPER
NFL Week 6 takeaways: 49ers finally falter; time for QB changes in New England, Atlanta?
Sticking with their season-long quest for growth, however, the Eagles say they have no choice but to take all of the negatives from Sunday’s performance, all of the frustrations stemming from their sudden ineptitude in key areas, and use it as fuel for improvement.
“I’m not even upset at the loss,” said wide receiver A.J. Brown, who recorded seven catches for 131 yards. “I’m upset about us just not holding up to that standard like how we talk about. It’s OK to have a little frustration because sometimes you need … to light a fire on everybody’s ass. … We’re gonna be fine. We’re gonna grow from it.”
After retreating to the locker room — reeling from the way they had blown a very winnable game — the leaders of the team decided they didn’t need to hear from Sirianni. They didn’t see their failings as schematics- or leadership-related. They placed the onus squarely on themselves.
It wasn’t the coaches’ fault they never scored again after D’Andre Swift’s touchdown catch from Hurts with 5:32 left in the second quarter. Bad play calls hadn’t caused the Eagles’ final nine possessions to end in an interception, touchdown (Swift’s), fumble, punt, punt, interception, missed field goal, interception and a game-sealing turnover on downs.
The New York Jets just beat the Philadelphia Eagles, the last undefeated team in the NFL this season, for the first time in franchise history 🤯
🎥 @nyjetspic.twitter.com/t2pq2gs6nt
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 15, 2023
The Eagles should have won handily.
Although short-handed both along the line and in the secondary, Philadelphia’s defense held the Jets to an 0-for-3 showing in the red zone and 2-for-11 performance on third downs. The unit forced New York to settle for four field goals.
So why couldn’t the Eagles offense compensate for deficiencies and summon enough magic necessary for game-winning plays as it had in the five previous games this year?
Advertisement
They didn’t blame injuries — not the absences of key defenders Jalen Carter and Darius Slay, who were ruled out Friday, and not the first-quarter exit of Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson.
The Eagles said they didn’t feel off even though their production certainly seemed to reflect otherwise. And they insisted they weren’t looking past the Jets, who entered the game 2-3, and ahead to the 5-1 Miami Dolphins.
“I sure as heck wasn’t,” center Jason Kelce said. “I mean, if you look at the tape, you look at the games the New York Jets have played, they’ve been at it with pretty much everybody. They’re a really, really good defense, coached very well, create turnovers on defense. They create issues. I think that this is a really, really good defense. I don’t think that we looked past them. We just didn’t execute to the standard.”
Part of that standard involves ball security and winning the turnover battle. The Eagles instead lost 4-0 in that aspect of the game.
The Jets do have a strong defense, but the Eagles players believed their turnovers had more to do with their own lack of execution. Philadelphia had an interception that went in and out of Goedert’s hands and into those of Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, a Swift fumble, another interception caught by Bryce Hall after Hurts was hit while throwing, plus the pick at the two-minute mark.
The giveaways and Sunday’s outcome gave Hurts a case of deja vu. The quarterback was reminded of Week 10 last season, when the Eagles saw their perfect 8-0 record ruined by a four-turnover loss to the Washington Commanders. The response to that loss was a motivated Eagles team that attacked its individual and collective jobs with a fervor that resulted in a five-game winning streak.
Ever the optimist, and confident in his teammates, Hurts said he expects a similar approach out of this team.
Advertisement
“It’s a tough one, for sure,” he said of Sunday’s loss. “But it’s an opportunity for us to grow. And these things in these moments build a ton of character, so if you go into it and handle it the right way, you could turn that negative situation into a positive. And that’s what we plan to do.”
(Photo of Jalen Hurts and Michael Carter II: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
“The Football 100,” the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, goes on sale this fall. Preorder it here.
