The giant, inflatable positivity rabbit got the boot from the Eagles locker room after less than a week, but its spirit lives on a few stalls away.
Jordan Davis, whom defensive line coach Clint Hurtt referred to on the latest episode of Hard Knocks as a “big ass [freaking] Care Bear,” couldn’t shake the perpetual smile on his face on Wednesday. His optimism, he explained, hasn’t wavered, even amid a three-game losing streak in which the offense hasn’t eclipsed more than 21 points.
Vic Fangio’s defense has been operating on a different wavelength. Since the bye week, the Eagles have conceded nine total touchdowns, tied for the second-fewest in the league among teams that have played five games in that span. Davis was brilliant Monday night in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, notching 1½ sacks, six pressures, and six stops, which Next Gen Stats defines as tackles that result in a successful play for the defense.
Jordan Davis has had a breakout year after receiving an offseason contract extension.
Last month after the Eagles’ narrow win over the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Brownexpressed his dismay about the defense putting a Band-Aid over the offense’s shortcomings too frequently. But the offense’s inconsistencies haven’t shaken the confidence of the defense, Davis explained Wednesday, four days before the Eagles’ Week 15 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I know for me, personally, I’m never wavered by that stuff,” Davis said. “Offense is going to have their games. And I’m so deep into this faith in the offense that I have, that one day, hopefully very, very soon, it’s going to click. And when it does click, watch out. ’Cause we all know what we’re capable of. We all know that we’re capable of much more.
“We have to keep keeping the faith, because I feel like a lot of people are just kind of losing faith. And whether that’s y’all or whether that’s the fans, whatever. But me, I’m still 10 toes down for this team. I hope that we just go out there one game and we just put a 100 ball on them and we play a high level of defense. I‘m always telling them, I’m always confident. I always say before we walk out, go on the field for the game, I say, ‘Each and every [expletive] in this locker room, I have full faith in.’ Because I wouldn’t be playing this game at my purest confidence if I wasn’t confident in the team that I have behind me.”
Outside the locker room, that sense of confidence in the Eagles offense is waning. Jalen Hurts committed five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble) in the loss to the Chargers. Brown and DeVonta Smith each had drops. Saquon Barkley had his second-longest rush of the season (a 52-yarder for a touchdown), but he also had his share of negative runs that have plagued him all season.
Still, Davis, the No. 13 overall pick for the Eagles in 2022 out of Georgia, remains a beacon of positivity inside the NovaCare Complex. He ought to understand the power of belief. Despite the slow start to Davis’ career, the Eagles picked up his fifth-year option in the offseason. Now, he is becoming the every-down defensive tackle the Eagles envisioned when they drafted him, stepping up while Jalen Carter has been dealing with shoulder injuries this season.
Davis is lending a bit of that sense of belief to his teammates on the other side of the ball, even if they might be lacking in it themselves.
“I’m grateful,” Davis said. “Because even though we’re not doing too hot on the offensive side, when you have somebody that they believe in you, they at least want to play hard for them. And if that’s all they give me, I’m cool with that. I’m cool with that. I just want them to feed off that energy, feed off that faithfulness that I have in them. I just want them to have that for themselves.”
He is consciously trying to keep the energy high despite the team’s misfortunes on the field. Davis cracks jokes when he can. He calls his teammates out when they aren’t smiling.
The offense’s struggles haven’t deflated him, nor has the external criticism, Davis explained. If anything, those factors have motivated him to play harder.
“I love the guys and it hurts my soul when I see all the talk and all the stuff going out here and just seeing everybody down and everybody kind of putting people down,” Davis said. “’Cause that’s not how I live. I live positively. But, two, these are my people you’re talking about.
“I see people talking negative about this stuff. I’m like, man, I really want to go to war for these guys, because man, these are my people you’re talking about. And I’m so confident in the things that they’re capable of doing.”
Injury report
The Eagles did not practice on Wednesday, so the injury report was an estimation. Carter (shoulders) and Lane Johnson (foot) were listed as would-be non-participants.
Johnson has missed the last three games, but the tackle was not put on injured reserve following the win over the Detroit Lions, indicating that he could return in less than four weeks.
Landon Dickerson (calf) was listed as limited. Zack Baun (hand) and Charley Hughlett (abdomen; injured reserve) were listed as full participants.
The Eagles are scheduled to practice for the first time this week on Thursday.
The positivity bunny couldn’t save the Eagles offense on Monday night if it tried.
Jalen Hurts threw a career-high four interceptions in the Eagles’ 22-19 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, extending their losing streak to three games. Just as it has for most of the season, the passing game continued to flounder, as Hurts completed just 21 of 40 passes (52.5%) for 240 yards.
The game was somewhat reminiscent of Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers, in which the Eagles defense dominated its way to victory. This time around, though, the Eagles’ stellar play, especially against the pass (Justin Herbert completed a season-low 46.2% of his attempts), wasn’t enough to earn the Eagles the win.
Is a get-well game finally on the way? On Sunday, the Eagles will face the 2-11 Las Vegas Raiders, who haven’t won a game since mid-October (over the 2-11 Tennessee Titans).
Or are the Eagles walking into a 2023 Week 17 Arizona Cardinals-esque trap game? After all, since Week 9, the Eagles have scored only one more touchdown (eight) than the Raiders. Here’s what we know (and what we don’t) about the Eagles heading into Week 15:
How will Jalen Hurts rebound from perhaps the worst outing of his NFL career?
Slopfest continues
After Monday night’s loss, Nick Sirianni described the Eagles’ five turnovers as being “uncharacteristic.”
In the greater context of the season, yes, the Eagles’ turnovers indeed were uncharacteristic. Entering the game, the Eagles had given up the ball 13 times, tied for the fourth-lowest total in the league.
But the turnovers have become characteristic of the Eagles over the last three weeks, a byproduct of their lack of attention to detail. They’ve coughed up the ball nine times, the worst total in a span of three games under Sirianni. Hurts has been responsible for seven of those turnovers, although it’s fair to point out that those mistakes aren’t always exclusively on him (especially his fourth-quarter interception on a pass deflected by A.J. Brown).
For the first time since Week 8 against the New York Giants, the Eagles were not the more penalized team in a game (the Eagles had six penalties and the Chargers had seven). But the offense still found a way to lose the game because of its copious mistakes, even though the defense forced three turnovers and sacked Herbert seven times.
Before the Eagles’ three-game losing streak, Sirianni spoke of the importance of winning the turnover battle. He said, “When you combine good talent with good detail and good fundamentals, that’s where you get some special things happening.” The Eagles have enough talent on offense, but the lack of fundamentals has been holding them back.
If they can’t put it together, regardless of how they fare for the rest of the regular season, their playoff run won’t have much life.
Old pal Kenny Pickett, who relieved Geno Smith last week, could get a shot against one of his former teams on Sunday.
Geno goes down
The blows keep on coming to the Eagles’ upcoming opposing quarterbacks.
After facing Herbert, who played through a surgically repaired nonthrowing hand on Monday, the Eagles may not see Raiders quarterback Geno Smith on Sunday. The 35-year-old quarterback exited their Week 14 loss to the Broncos with an injury to his throwing shoulder after taking a hit in the third quarter. According to the NFL Network, Smith is unlikely to start on Sunday.
With Smith sidelined last week, the Raiders turned to backup Kenny Pickett, who served in the same role with the Eagles in 2024. The Ocean Township, N.J., native fared well in relief of Smith, going 8 of 11 for 97 yards and a touchdown, but his efforts weren’t enough to help the Raiders pull off a comeback.
The game marked Pickett’s first meaningful action with the Raiders, who acquired him from the Cleveland Browns in late August.
Pete Carroll has not found the magic formula in his first season at the helm of the Raiders.
Raiders coach Pete Carroll said postgame that Smith’s shoulder “locked up,” and initial tests indicated that he avoided damage. If Smith can play, Carroll suggested that he would go with his starter. Otherwise, Pickett will be ready for his first start since he was a member of the Eagles in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys while Hurts was in concussion protocol.
With Smith at the helm this season, the Raiders offense has been one of the worst in the league, ranking 30th in expected points added per play (-0.22), a statistic that measures the average points an offense generates on a play.
One of the passing game’s bright spots lately, though, has been Jack Bech, the second-round receiver out of TCU. His usage has increased over the last couple of weeks, culminating with a career-high 80.9% of the snaps against the Broncos. He caught all six of his targets for 50 yards.
But the Raiders’ running game, headlined by sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty, is worse than their passing game. The Raiders rank last in expected points added per rush at -.28. The next closest teams, the New Orleans Saints, the Tennessee Titans, and the Browns, are tied at -0.12. The offense’s dysfunction led to the firing of Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the former Eagles head coach, in late November after the team started its season 2-9.
If Vic Fangio’s defense can’t stop the Raiders offense, regardless of who starts at quarterback, the Eagles have a major problem on their hands. The group was stellar against the Chargers, despite the result, limiting Los Angeles to 1 of 3 in the red zone and 7 of 19 on third down.
Meanwhile, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels exited his first game back since Week 9 after reinjuring his left elbow. That’s a topic for next week.
Can Saquon Barkley build on the positive signs of his Monday night performance?
Run defense slide
Despite the teamwide turmoil, the Raiders defense has been solid against the run for most of the season. Through the first 12 weeks, the Raiders had given up 1,137 rushing yards (94.8 per game), the 12th-lowest total in the NFL.
The last two weeks have been a different story. The Raiders have conceded 344 rushing yards (172 per game), which is tied with the Arizona Cardinals for third-worst.
Six ballcarriers contributed to the Broncos’ rushing total of 152 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries. RJ Harvey, the Broncos’ rookie running back, led the way with 75 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries (4.4 yards per carry).
Missed tackles have been an issue for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s unit. The Raiders have missed the third-most tackles in the NFL at 106, according to Pro Football Reference. Former Eagles inside linebacker Devin White is tied for second-most in the NFL with 18 missed tackles this season.
But the Raiders still made plays against the run on Sunday. Four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby set a new career high with 25 tackles for loss. According to Next Gen Stats, Crosby leads all defensive linemen with 52 run stops, 10 of which have come in the last two weeks.
Despite the Eagles’ offensive struggles on Monday night, Saquon Barkley had some positive moments in the running game. He finished with 122 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, good for his second-best output of the season and just the second time he has eclipsed 100 rushing yards.
Barkley was particularly effective when Hurts handed the ball off from under center. His longest gain — a 52-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter — came off a Tush Push fake when Hurts was lined up under center. If Barkley and his blockers can build on their latest performance, and if Lane Johnson returns this Sunday, the Eagles could have continued success on the ground against the Raiders.
Could a big Britain Covey week be coming against the porous Raiders special teams?
Special teams nightmare
Kelly wasn’t the only coordinator who got the ax this season. The Raiders also fired special teams coordinator Tom McMahon in early November.
The Raiders’ special teams unit is one of the weaker groups in the league. They have conceded two touchdowns on punt returns this year, most recently on Sunday when Denver’s Marvin Mims scored on a 48-yard return in the second quarter to break a 7-7 tie. The Raiders joined the Browns as one of two teams that have given up two touchdowns on punt returns this season.
Britain Covey could have an opportunity to take advantage of the Raiders’ shaky punt coverage. The 28-year-old return specialist has proved over the last two weeks why he should have been the Eagles’ punt returner to start the season.
Covey averaged 18 yards per punt return against the Chargers. For reference, Xavier Gipson averaged 11.2 yards return during his stint as the Eagles’ punt returner and Jahan Dotson averaged 9.6. Covey is still seeking his first career touchdown on a punt return.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — On Monday night, the Hollywood lights were too bright for Jalen Hurts.
The fifth-year starting quarterback tossed a single-game career-high four interceptions in the Eagles’ 22-19 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Backup safety Tony Jefferson called game, picking off Hurts near the end zone on a pass intended for Jahan Dotson.
The game went to overtime after Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker tied it, 19-19, with eight seconds remaining in regulation. The Eagles won the toss, and the Chargers had the first possession. Vic Fangio’s defense got gashed on the ground, but limited the Chargers to a field goal, giving the offense a chance to win the game with a touchdown.
On the first play of the drive, Justin Herbert kept the ball and rushed right for a 12-yard gain punctuated by a stiff-arm on Reed Blankenship with his injured left hand. Omarion Hampton followed it up with an 18-yard run to the same side.
Ultimately, the Chargers were forced to settle for a 54-yard field goal.
The Chargers and the Eagles scored one touchdown apiece. Los Angeles scored on its opening drive on a 4-yard pass to Hampton, while Saquon Barkley notched a 52-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter off a Tush Push fake.
Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ third straight loss:
Hurts throws four picks
Entering Monday, Hurts had thrown two interceptions all season. He tossed four against the Chargers and also fumbled the ball away as he went 21-of-40 for 240 yards (31.2 quarterback rating).
No play better encapsulated Hurts’ struggles than his second-quarter interception and the chaos that ensued. On third-and-2, with the Eagles in the red zone for the first time that evening, Hurts dropped back out of an empty set. He tried to fit the ball into a tight window over the middle for A.J. Brown, but Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand was lurking underneath and made the interception.
Will Shipley tried to save the day, punching the ball out of Hand’s hands. Hurts grabbed the loose, bouncing ball, but Chargers defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell then knocked it free from the quarterback’s grasp. Linebacker Troy Dye fell on the ball at the Chargers’ 43, bringing the wonky — and extremely rare — play to an end.
Da'Shawn Hand picks off Jalen Hurts. Da'Shawn Hand fumbles. Jalen Hurts recovers. Jalen Hurts fumbles. Troy Dye recovers. @Chargers ball.
Hurts turned the ball over a third time on the ensuing drive. On second-and-10 from the Eagles’ 28, Hurts attempted a pass for DeVonta Smith, but cornerback Donte Jackson undercut the pass and picked it off.
The third interception came halfway through the fourth quarter on a pass over the middle intended for Brown. The ball bounced off Brown’s hands and into cornerback Cam Hart’s.
Jalen Hurts had one of the worst performances of his NFL career in LA.
Hurts nearly had two more interceptions. On the first play of the second quarter, Hurts overthrew Jahan Dotson in the slot on third-and-4 from the Eagles’ 15-yard line. His pass was nearly intercepted by safety R.J. Mickens, but the ball hit the turf before he corralled it, making it an incomplete pass.
He also missed Brown late in the fourth quarter as the Eagles attempted to break the 16-16 tie. Hurts was hit by outside linebacker Khalil Mack as he tried to fit a pass into a tight window. Jackson got a hand on the ball, forcing the Eagles to punt.
When it was pointed out to Hurts after the game that not turning the ball over has typically been a point of pride for the quarterback, he reframed the statement.
“I think winning is a point of pride to me,” Hurts said. “That’s why we play the game. And I’ve got to find ways to lead our team to victories. It’s not something that’s foreign to us. We’re just not able to do it at the moment. It starts with me and how I play, how I lead, and how I go out there and do my job. So, when I look at it at any point, it’s about how I respond to a test. How I respond to it and what level of resilience and resolve I have to push forward and figure things out.”
Hurts wasn’t the only player who faltered. Drops plagued the Eagles receivers in critical moments. With just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Brown dropped a would-be 26-yard touchdown pass. On the following play, Hurts got the ball out to Smith while being blitzed, but the wide receiver failed to control it.
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown drops a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter Monday.
Near defensive domination
The Chargers ultimately had just six points to show for Hurts’ turnovers.
The defense, especially Nakobe Dean, tightened up after conceding a touchdown on the Chargers’ opening drive that gave them a 7-0 lead. Dean failed to pick up Chargers running back Kimani Vidal on a dump-off pass, a desperation play that turned into a 60-yard gain.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean was part of a group that made life rough on Justin Herbert.
But Dean was one of the keys to the Eagles’ ability to generate pressure up front in the absence of Jalen Carter. On the Chargers series following Hurts’ second interception, Dean blitzed the A gap, and Hampton didn’t hold up in pass protection.
Dean took down Herbert and knocked the ball out in the process. Byron Young fell on top of the loose ball, ensuring that the Chargers wouldn’t capitalize on the interception.
The defensive line also got pressure on Herbert by taking advantage of a weak offensive line. On third-and-4 from the Chargers’ 37, Jaelan Phillips pushed third-string right tackle Bobby Hart back and managed to get a hand on Herbert’s right arm as he launched a pass for tight end Oronde Gadsden. But the ball fluttered in the air short of its intended target, allowing Adoree’ Jackson to leap up and snag it.
Zack Baun also got a piece of Herbert when he blitzed the A gap late in the third quarter, breezing past Hampton for a sack split with Jordan Davis on second-and-13.
After Hurts’ third interception, the Eagles defense limited the Chargers to a 31-yard field goal, which tied the game, 16-16. Once again, the Eagles’ defensive front swarmed Herbert on the third-and-3 drop back beforehand, forcing the quarterback to throw the ball away.
Davis earned a full sack late in the fourth quarter as the Chargers sought to break the tie. He cleaned up the initial pressure generated by Nolan Smith that forced Herbert to step up in the pocket on third down.
Jake Elliott made four field goals but also had a critical miss just before halftime.
Special-teams woes
It’s been a tough second half of the season for Jake Elliott, the Eagles’ ninth-year kicker. In his last six games entering Monday, he missed four field goal attempts and an extra point.
His struggles continued against the Chargers. At the end of the first half, Elliott missed a 48-yarder wide left. The Eagles trailed, 10-6, at halftime.
After the game, Elliott said that he felt like he struck the ball well on the miss, even though he was forced to prepare for the attempt quickly on the heels of Herbert’s interception and before the end of the half. Still, he lamented his misses in recent weeks.
“They need to stop,” Elliott said. “I feel like I’m striking the ball well. Last week [against the Chicago Bears], obviously, windy conditions. But no excuses here indoors. It’s frustrating.”
Elliott wasn’t the only special teams player who made mistakes. On the Chargers’ 36-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, Moro Ojomo used leverage to boost himself on the back of left tackle Jamaree Salyer, earning Ojomo an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The play gave the Chargers a fresh set of downs from their own 9-yard line.
Luckily for Ojomo, the Eagles defense held up in the red zone again. Young sacked Herbert on second down, and the Chargers quarterback threw an incomplete pass for Vidal on third. Los Angeles settled for a field goal again for a 13-6 lead late in the third quarter.
Elliott attempted to make up for his miss late in the third quarter. The Eagles had sputtered at the Chargers’ 36, partially thanks to Barkley’s shotgun run for a loss of four yards on second-and-10. This time, Elliott made the 54-yard field goal, cutting the Chargers’ lead to 13-9.
Injury report
Late in the second quarter, Landon Dickerson exited the game with a calf injury. Brett Toth took over for him at left guard.
However, Dickerson returned late in the third quarter with the Eagles down, 13-9.
For the past month, Ty Robinson has been grappling with what he calls a “strange feeling.”
Robinson, the Eagles’ fourth-round defensive tackle out of Nebraska, has been inactive for the last four games. It’s not surprising given the depth chart at the position, but it has been an adjustment for the 24-year-old. After all, Robinson went from being a five-year starter at Nebraska to an Eagles rookie behind Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo.
Still, when Robinson joined the Eagles in April, he said he understood that playing time was going to be hard to come by in a room full of “a bunch of dudes.”
“I’m a realistic person,” Robinson said Friday. “So just being patient and understanding that football has its tendency to be violent. Guys are going to go down with something. Obviously you never want that, but it’s the reality of the game. So just to continue to work and help that motivates me in a good way to be ready when the time comes.”
That patience could pay off on Monday. Carter, the Pro Bowl defensive tackle, is week-to-week after undergoing a procedure to treat both of his shoulders. With Carter out of the lineup against the Los Angeles Chargers, Robinson could be active for the first time since Week 9 against the New York Giants.
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Wednesday that it’s “possible” Robinson could factor into the defensive tackle rotation with Carter injured. Robinson said that the coaching staff hasn’t had a conversation with him about his role against the Chargers. But that isn’t to say he won’t have a role, Robinson clarified.
“Whatever they’re willing to give, whatever that role’s going to be, I’m here for the room,” Robinson said. “We’ve got an awesome room that’s going to also step up on Monday. I’m excited to be behind those guys.”
Monday’s game wouldn’t be Robinson’s first, but it could be an opportunity for him to play meaningful defensive snaps for the first time in more than a month.
The 6-foot-5, 288-pound defensive tackle has played 35 defensive snaps in six appearances. The majority of his playing time came in the Week 6 loss to the New York Giants when Carter was inactive due to a heel injury.
In his 19 defensive snaps in that game, Robinson made a tackle on Cam Skattebo in the red zone and batted a pass from Jaxson Dart at the line of scrimmage. Even though his last game action was in late October for the Eagles’ second meeting with the Giants, Robinson said he feels better prepared now to step into a more substantial role on defense.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart slips by a tackle attempt by DT Ty Robinson on Oct. 9.
“I didn’t know nothing coming into this season,” Robinson said. “But being around the guys for halfway through the season, I definitely feel like I’ve grown as a player. And obviously I feel a little bit more ready. It’s a challenge. I’m not going to back away from a challenge. I’m going to take what I can with it.”
Davis concurred that Robinson is ready for the challenge that could await him on Monday. His confidence is rooted in what Robinson has shown him in practice, going up against the Eagles’ starting offensive line. Now, Robinson must translate his growth on the NovaCare Complex practice field to SoFi Stadium when he faces the Chargers.
“Just the reps that he’s getting against Landon [Dickerson], against Jordan Mailata, against Cam [Jurgens], all those compound and add up,” Davis said. “So when he gets his opportunity to go against a former Eagles player, Mekhi Becton, or somebody that’s on the Chargers’ line, we have full confidence in him that he can go out there and execute.
“It’s more about the mindset that he has, carrying it out there and understanding that he is meant to be here. He is here for a reason. It’s the same thing I went through as a rookie. I didn’t have a lot of experience going into this, and looking at the offensive line, I was like, ‘Man, these guys have years of experience on me.’ But as time goes on, the more experience that I have, execution breeds confidence.”
Robinson (9) is looking to break out as a pro after a decorated five-year career at Nebraska.
Robinson will need to tap into that confidence to help the defense rebound after a porous Black Friday performance against the Chicago Bears. This time around, the Eagles will face one of the league’s top passers in Justin Herbert — if he’s healthy enough to play — and a strong rushing attack that is poised to welcome the return of standout rookie Omarion Hampton on Monday.
Even if he hasn’t earned many meaningful defensive snaps this season, Robinson can still detect his own growth. Between his practice reps and his time spent with the Eagles’ developmental program, Robinson said he has taken strides in “everything” related to his game.
“Just in the kind of aspect of building up the player that I am,” Robinson said. “With awesome people in this building, being able to put in extra work with them and just to see that continued growth.
For one play during an otherwise dismal Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears, Jalen Hurts gave the Eagles’ offense a jolt. The ball never even left his control.
Rather, he tucked it into the crook of his left arm and dashed through a lane created on the left side of the offensive line by a pulling Cam Jurgens and Jordan Mailata. With neither linebacker in the picture — one was picked up by Jurgens on a blitz and the other ran with Saquon Barkley as he motioned out wide before the snap — Hurts dashed upfield unabated for 23 yards, the Eagles’ most explosive rushing play of the day.
It set up A.J. Brown’s 33-yard touchdown reception on the ensuing play, capping off the Eagles’ longest drive of the afternoon: 92net yards.
It was also like seeing a unicorn.
Designed runs have become rarities for Hurts in his fifth season as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. After averaging 3.6 designed runs per game in his first four seasons as the starter, Hurts has dropped to 1.1 designed runs per game in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus. Hurts has gone without a single designed run in six of this season’s 12 games.
On one hand, that drop-off should come as a surprise, seeing as Hurts once proclaimed himself a “triple threat” capable of dissecting defenses with his arm, his legs, and his mind. Among quarterbacks from 2021-2025, only Lamar Jackson boasts more rushing yards (3,531) than Hurts (3,108).
On the other, though, there is plenty of precedent for quarterbacks who rush less as they progress in their careers, either by choice or by physical limitation. Those examples include Hurts’ contemporaries such as Jackson (6.6 designed attempts per game before Year 5; 4.0 after) and Josh Allen (2.0; 1.6).
As evidenced by that 23-yard run on Friday, the 27-year-old Hurts can still burn defenders on the ground. His ability to serve as a run threat has historically forced opponents to defend all 11 players on the field, creating more opportunities in the run game as a whole.
Could the Eagles lean into the quarterback run game as one fix to help revitalize Kevin Patullo’s floundering offense that is running out of time to achieve consistency?
Hurts was asked after the Bears loss whether he would do anything different during the extended break before the Chargers game to help improve the offense. He was then asked whether he needed to use his legs more to fuel that improvement.
Flashing a slight smile, Hurts offered the same three-word answer to both questions.
“I’ll be working,” he said.
Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo must consider the risk to Jalen Hurts when the quarterback carries the football.
Why is Hurts rushing less?
Hurts is a full-time quarterback, part-time philosopher. His penchant for dropping philosophical sayings at the podium has become part of his brand, according to Mailata.
One of the sayings that Hurts helped popularize, “Keep the main thing the main thing,” offers a window into his approach. Winning, regardless of how it looks, is the most important facet of the game. Everything else is secondary.
So, when asked the week before the Bears game if he was open to more designed runs, Hurts emphasized that he is “open to doing whatever it takes to win.” Similarly, days later after the loss, Nick Sirianni seemed to refute the notion that Hurts wanted to run less this season by suggesting self-preservation is a factor in the decision to call fewer designed runs.
“We’re always thinking about how to protect Jalen and make sure that he is healthy for the long haul,” Sirianni explained.
It isn’t hard to fathom why the Eagles would want to protect their investment. Hurts is the highest-paid player on the team at $51 million on an average annual basis. As the offensive player with the ball in his hands on every down, he’s arguably the team’s most important player, too.
But Hurts has injured himself both in and out of the pocket throughout his NFL career, which has caused him to miss games. In 2021, he sprained his ankle when he was sacked in the Week 12 loss to the New York Giants. The injury forced him to sit out the following week’s game against the New York Jets and required offseason surgery.
His other two serious injuries occurred on designed runs. Hurts sprained his throwing shoulder in 2022 after getting tackled on a 3-yard zone-read keeper in Week 15 against the Chicago Bears. Hurts had plenty of wear-and-tear in that game, running the ball on 17 occasions on a frigid day at Soldier Field. While he finished (and won) that contest, he missed the next two.
Hurts also suffered a concussion in Week 16 in 2024 against the Washington Commanders on a play very similar to his 23-yard gain on Black Friday. After Hurts exited in the first quarter, the Eagles went on to lose their first game in roughly three months. He missed the final two games of the regular season in concussion protocol, though he likely wouldn’t have played in the season finale against the Giants anyway.
But the lack of carries for Hurts isn’t always in the Eagles’ control. Sometimes, that can be dictated by the defense.
While the Eagles run fewer run-pass options (7.4 per game, per Pro Football Reference) than they did in the past — especially compared to 2022, when they led the league with 10.9 — it was a substantial part of the game plan in the Week 5 loss to the Denver Broncos. More often than not, though, Hurts opted to throw. Sirianni explained in the aftermath that on those plays, “when you have that ability to get that to a playmaker in the flat, you take it.”
At the time, that game marked Hurts’ lowest rushing total of his career as the starter (one scramble, one kneel-down for a total of three yards).
“Sometimes when you’re calling those plays, he can run it, Saquon can run it, or we can throw it, so it’s kind of a three-way monster right there,” Patullo said. “It’s kind of a dealer’s choice, so it is just kind of a different kind of style, and it worked in that moment.”
Lamar Jackson remains elusive, but has spent time in 2025 battling a myriad of injuries.
Hurts isn’t alone
Hurts is far from the only quarterback who has experienced a dip in runs as he has progressed in his career. Jackson is perhaps the best case study among active quarterbacks this season in his seventh full year as the Baltimore Ravens’ starting quarterback.
Jackson, 28, is averaging 4.7 carries per game, according to PFF (2.1 designed runs, 2.6 scrambles). He had already been on a downward trajectory after his first few seasons in the league, but this year is a new low for the two-time MVP quarterback.
Injuries have held Jackson back this year. He missed three games from Weeks 5-8 with a hamstring issue. He’s been active since Week 9, but over the past month, he has dealt with injuries to his knee, toe, and now his ankle. He has not participated in a full week of practice in a month.
Carson Wentz, the Eagles’ starter from 2016-20, was heralded for his athleticism, especially in 2017 when he was briefly the Eagles’ leading rusher through the first two weeks of the season. His asset became an issue, though, when he scrambled his way into an ACL tear later that season, marking the beginning of the end of his Eagles tenure. While his play style didn’t change upon his return in 2018, his efficacy deteriorated.
Donovan McNabb was celebrated as a runner early in his career but evolved into one of the NFL’s top pocket passers.
But injuries — and the threat of incurring them — aren’t the only factors at hand when it comes to the frequency of the quarterback run game. Donovan McNabb experienced a shift in his playing style throughout his 11-year tenure with the Eagles from 1999-2009. After posting 5.2 carries per game in his first four years as the full-time starter, McNabb averaged 2.9 over his final six in Philadelphia.
McNabb came up in an era when the “dual-threat” label on Black quarterbacks often came with racist undertones. Regardless of his detractors, McNabb’s emphasis on the passing game seemed to be more of a personal preference.
Even early in his career, before he leaned more into the passing game with the arrival of Terrell Owens in 2004, McNabb responded “no” when asked if he enjoys running.
“When I hear ‘running quarterback,’ that sort of upsets me,” McNabb said in 2000. “That takes away from my drop-back ability, my play-action ability and my ability to get the ball downfield. Any time that you talk about how athletic a quarterback is, and you continue to talk about his running ability, you sort of forget about him passing the ball.”
McNabb and Hurts aren’t one-for-one comparisons from a rushing perspective. McNabb was more of a scrambler, while Hurts has demonstrated a proficiency both in scrambles and designed runs. As passers, McNabb is arguably the best in franchise history. Hurts has had excellent games — including both Super Bowl performances — but is still working to find a sense of consistency in the passing game this season.
Jalen Hurts could help free things up for Saquon Barkley … and vice versa.
Uptick on the way?
Can the Eagles achieve some sort of middle ground, aiming to protect their quarterback while also injecting life into a listless offense, specifically the run game?
It’s been a tough season for Barkley and the Eagles’ rushing attack as a whole. The 2024 offensive player of the year has averaged 3.7 yards per attempt, a decrease of more than two full yards per carry from last season. His run blockers haven’t been doing him any favors, leaving him with 2.3 yards before contact per attempt (down from 3.8 last year).
Hurts could help through the use of his legs, according to Dan Orlovsky, the former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst. Orlovsky said he expects to see more designed runs for Hurts in the last five games of the season. That increase is imperative if the offense wants to continue to live out of the shotgun, he explained.
According to Next Gen Stats, approximately 70% of the Eagles’ offensive plays occur when Hurts is lined up in the shotgun. That alignment can make a run game too predictable if the quarterback isn’t a threat on the ground, too.
“If you don’t, there’s really no reason for you to be in the shotgun, because the defense can see constantly what’s going on in the run,” Orlovsky said. “So their lack of running the quarterback this year … defenses fly to Saquon a lot more. They’re much less disciplined. They can constantly see the football. Those giveaways with Saquon’s alignment of what kind of run and when they’re running. And a lot of times, there’s 3 yards that aren’t taken advantage of from the quarterback run. So it’s had a negative impact on their ability to run the football.”
The Eagles broke that tendency briefly against the Bears. Hurts opted to keep the ball on a zone-read play that gained 3 yards. He read the unblocked defensive end who began to crash down hard on Barkley before pulling the ball and turning upfield. Instead of a handoff to Barkley for likely no gain or negative yards, Hurts created a positive play.
According to Smael Mondon, the Eagles’ fifth-round linebacker out of Georgia, an offense that runs out of the shotgun and boasts a quarterback who poses a threat on the ground “opens up the menu a lot.”
“If you don’t really have a running quarterback, like he’s not really a threat in the run game, then the menu kind of simplifies for what set you see in the backfield for what runs you could get,” Mondon said. “But if you got a quarterback that can run, then that menu of options of plays they could run kind of opens up even more. So it’s more things you’ve got to potentially have to defend. So it’s more stuff for a defense to think about.”
A quarterback run threat can also help with the offense’s “numbers disadvantage,” as backup Tanner McKee puts it. On a typical run play in which the quarterback hands the ball off to the running back, the offense has nine players that can block for the ball carrier. The defense has 11 who can tackle, putting the offense at a mathematical disadvantage.
There are different ways for quarterbacks to “get your block,” according to McKee, and keep defenses honest, including the use of play action and bootlegs. But a quarterback who keeps the ball for himself gains an actual blocker in the running back, minimizing the numbers disadvantage and, in theory, giving the offense a chance to rack up extra yardage.
Jalen Hurts vowed “I’ll be working” when asked about his methods to help fix the offense in the lead-up to the Chargers game.
An extra blocker means two extra gaps — the space between each blocker — for a linebacker like Mondon to fill.
“It just kind of makes it harder,” Mondon said. “Everybody has to fit perfect with QB designed runs, just ‘cause they’ve got that extra hat and extra two gaps in the game.”
Time is running out for the offense to hit its stride before heading into the playoffs. Still, Sirianni expressed an understanding that there’s a fine balance between keeping Hurts healthy and doing what it takes to win.
“You’re always thinking first about what the players do well, especially with your quarterback, how do you make sure that you’re keeping them safe on those?” Sirianni said. “Even when you think about those, there are quarterback runs you can run that are a little [safer] than another quarterback run. But it’s still football and you still [face] a risk with every snap that you take, and that’s on a drop back, too.
“But again, you look at the defenses, how you want to attack, you look at what you do well, how to protect the guys, and you’re just looking for the best way to go about that. I don’t think anybody wants to come out of a game with Jalen having 15 carries, designed carries. But again, we’re looking at everything, and we’ll see how that looks going forward.”
Vic Fangio’s defense could feature a different starting safety on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.
On Tuesday, the Eagles opened the 21-day practice window for Marcus Epps, who has been on injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment for the last month. Fangio answered affirmatively on Wednesday when asked if Epps would be ready to play on Monday and if he was in contention to start.
“He’s an experienced safety,” Fangio said. “He’s got good instincts. Got [a] good feel for the game. We’ll have to get a feel and a barometer about where he’s at missing the last four, five weeks, whatever it was where he couldn’t practice, anyway.”
Epps, 29, returned for a second stint with the Eagles when he signed to the practice squad in late August. Epps appeared in 59 games as an Eagle, including playoffs, from 2019-22. He had been elevated from the practice squad to the game day roster for the first three weeks of the 2025 season before he signed to the active roster in late September.
Before going on injured reserve, Epps was the third safety behind Reed Blankenship and Drew Mukuba, who went on injured reserve with an ankle injury last week. When Blankenship was injured in the Week 6 loss to the New York Giants, Epps entered the game in the third quarter ahead of Sydney Brown, the Eagles’ 2023 third-rounder out of Illinois.
With Epps out for the last four weeks, Brown earned his first full-time start of the season in place of Mukuba in Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bears. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown finished with six tackles and one missed tackle. He also conceded two receptions on five targets for 13 yards. Fangio equated Brown’s individual performance to the rest of the defense’s.
“It was a lot like the rest of us,” Fangio said. “Some good, some bad.”
Fangio could prioritize Epps’ experience if he decides to make a change at safety. Epps was a starter on the 2022 Eagles team that fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. He first joined the Eagles in November 2019 after he was waived by the Minnesota Vikings, the team that drafted him that year in the sixth round out of Wyoming.
Epps spent 3½ seasons (one as a full-time starter) in his first stint in Philadelphia before moving on to the Las Vegas Raiders from 2023-24. He played just three games last season before he suffered a torn ACL.
Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter has been dealing with a shoulder injury, which coordinator Vic Fangio acknowledged Wednesday.
Carter still nursing shoulder injury
Speaking of players who had some good and some bad moments against the Bears, Fangio discussed Jalen Carter.
Carter played just 70.1% of the defensive snaps, his second-lowest share of the season. But Carter’s issues run deeper than one off game. In the locker room afterward, the 24-year-old defensive tackle said he didn’t want to get into what he has been “going through,” seeming to allude to a shoulder injury that he had been playing through earlier in the season.
Fangio confirmed Wednesday that the ailment is still plaguing Carter.
“He does have a shoulder issue,” Fangio said. “He’s been playing with it. Late in the game, he had a great play with it. But, yeah, it’s definitely something there.”
The injury limited Carter’s playing time and his effectiveness on the field, especially while the Eagles conceded a season-worst 281 rushing yards. He still managed to sack Caleb Williams in the second quarter and finish the game with four tackles (including two for losses) and two batted passes.
Before Friday’s game, Carter had played a single-season career-high 87.5% of the defensive snaps. When asked whether Carter can continue to play the high volume of snaps that he had previously been accustomed to this season, Fangio said, “We’ll see.”
Kevin Patullo said Wednesday that he’s ready to “move on” after becoming the victim of a vandalism incident in the aftermath of the Eagles’ loss to the Chicago Bears.
According to the Moorestown Police Department, Patullo’s home was vandalized with multiple eggs early Saturday morning, just hours after the Eagles dropped their second consecutive game and fell to 8-4. A video of the act had spread online on Monday morning.
Speaking for the first time since the incident, Patullo acknowledged that the vandals crossed a boundary. Still, the first-year offensive coordinator expressed a desire to move forward and direct his attention to the Eagles’ next opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers.
“At this point, we’re ready to focus [on] winning the game,” Patullo said. “Unfortunately, it happened. I’ve been here for five years now, and it’s been awesome. This is such a unique place to coach and play. It’s very special. We’ve been to two NFC championship games. We’ve won at Lincoln Financial. The Super Bowl, the parade. It’s an amazing atmosphere to be a coach and a player.
“As coaches and players, we all know that part of our job is to handle criticism. So it’s perfectly acceptable to sit up here and talk about what’s going on, how to fix it, what we’re going to do going forward, and we know that. But when it involves your family, it obviously crosses the line.”
Patullo continued: ”And so that happened. And at this point, we’ve just got to move on. We’re trying to win. That’s all we want to do is focus. Whether it’s my family, whether it’s the team, all we’re trying to do together is focus on this week. We’ve got a long week, which has been good to have an extra day of preparation and go out to LA and beat the Chargers.”
The 44-year-old Patullo is in his first year as Eagles offensive coordinator but has been with the team since 2021. Before his promotion, Patullo was the team’s passing game coordinator. He previously served as the wide receivers coach (2018-19) and passing game specialist (2020) with the Indianapolis Colts while Nick Sirianni was the offensive coordinator.
Kevin Patullo (right) served as passing game coordinator under OC Kellen Moore (left) last season, including in the team’s Super Bowl LIX victory.
Despite the incident, Patullo emphasized that he and his family have “had a great experience here” throughout his tenure in Philadelphia.
“Us as a family, we know we’ve got to stick together, and to be honest, there’s a lot of great people in the community,” Patullo said. “I have great neighbors. So many people have reached out to my wife and I and our family. So it’s not anything at one specific person. It happened, and we’ve just got to move on from it at this point.”
Patullo will move on by continuing to serve as the Eagles’ offensive play caller. Sirianni reiterated Monday that Patullo will retain play-calling duties, and Patullo confirmed as much on Wednesday.
Sirianni said the Eagles would be “evaluating everything” before the mini-bye to improve the team’s overall performance. The offensive numbers are particularly glaring, as the group ranks 19th in the league in scoring and 24th in yards.
But don’t expect one of those changes to include Patullo moving from the sideline to the booth to call plays. Nick Foles, the Super Bowl LII-winning quarterback, has been one of the more outspoken advocates of Patullo making that transition.
However, Patullo unequivocally shot down that suggestion on Wednesday.
“I think the communication with the players is important,” Patullo said. “ … since I’ve been here, in ’21, I’ve been on the field every time. I think there’s a lot of communication with players, coaches on the field. Making sure adjustments are done correctly. Conversations I have with Jalen [Hurts], with the O-line, with the receivers, that are very important.
“I’ve been on the field for a long, long time. I don’t think I’ve been in the box since maybe 2011 as a coach. So it’s been a while. I think just the relationship I have with the guys and the communication has been good and we’ve just got to continue to improve in other areas, and we’ll be all right.”
After three consecutive weeks of the Eagles defense trying to compensate for an ineffective offense, the group seemed to hit its breaking point on Black Friday.
The Eagles conceded 425 yards of offense in their 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears, bringing their total over the last two weeks to a league-high 898 yards. But Vic Fangio’s defense hasn’t been getting much help from the offense. The Eagles boast the fourth-worst time of possession in the NFL in the last two weeks among 26 teams that have played two games.
Can the Eagles stop the bleeding against the 8-4 Los Angeles Chargers, who are coming off a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders? That task might be easier if Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is hindered by his injured nonthrowing hand.
Here is what we know (and what we don’t) about the Eagles heading into their Week 14 matchup:
Nick Sirianni’s mantra has not equaled a win over the last two weeks.
Tough, detailed, together?
Something about the timing of the Bears game just seemed cruel.
The Eagles offense, with all of its talent, had been floundering for weeks entering that contest. The strides taken in wins over the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants before the bye week seemingly were blips within the greater context of a shaky season.
There were the Bears, led by a first-year head coach in Ben Johnson who has been getting the most out of his offensive players. They could establish the run and build a play-action passing game off it with a young, inconsistent quarterback in Caleb Williams and had success with the approach in a way that has evaded the Eagles this season.
Everything the Eagles offense could be this season is what the Bears are right now, and the Eagles should be even greater, considering their personnel. The side-by-side disparity was glaring.
“They played a good game; they coached a good game,” Nick Sirianni said Friday night. “They outcoached us; they outplayed us.”
Both admissions were alarming but not surprising. The Eagles, especially on offense, are searching for an identity entering Week 14. Still, Sirianni said in the aftermath of the loss to the Dallas Cowboys that the team always wants to play “tough, detailed, together.”
The Eagles haven’t been living out that mantra lately. Tough? Nakobe Dean pointed to a lack of violence on defense against the Bears’ rushing attack. Detailed? From the Eagles committing the sixth-most pre-snap penalties in the NFL to Jalen Hurts and his receivers not always being on the same page, the offense hasn’t been executing the finer nuances of its responsibilities to the standard of a Super Bowl contender.
Time will tell if the Eagles truly are together as they embark upon the final five games of the regular season, starting Monday night against the Chargers. Otherwise, the Eagles are staring down a 2023-like fate.
A helping hand for Herbert
As of Tuesday, Herbert was expected to play against the Eagles after fracturing his left hand Sunday against the Raiders.
Herbert, the sixth-year starter, underwent surgery Monday. He managed to play through the injury, which happened when Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn tackled him on a scramble late in the first quarter. Herbert even completed a 10-yard touchdown pass on the following play.
Justin Herbert finished the game Sunday despite suffering a fractured non-throwing hand against the Raiders.
He went 15-of-20 for 151 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. A 108.5 quarterback rating isn’t too shabby for a player with a broken nonthrowing hand.
Still, 20 attempts represent Herbert’s second-lowest total of the season and tied for third lowest in his career. He was limited to handing the ball off with his right hand and didn’t take snaps under center for the rest of the game.
With Herbert limited, the Chargers leaned into the running game, led by running backs Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson. The duo combined for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 36 attempts. Vidal earned the majority of that share (126 yards on 25 carries) and forced a career-high 12 missed tackles along the way, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Raiders might be 2-10, but their defense has given up just 3.8 yards per carry this season, which ranks third in the NFL.
The Eagles should expect to see a continued effort to run the ball from the Chargers, given Herbert’s injury and the Eagles’ porous run defense (281 yards conceded on 47 attempts) against the Bears.
Plus, Monday night’s game could mark the return of Omarion Hampton, the rookie running back who has been out since Week 5 with an ankle injury. Before going down, Hampton had been averaging 4.8 yards per carry, which would rank in the top 10 in the NFL if it were sustained over 13 weeks. The Eagles ought to fix their running-game woes to avoid D’Andre Swift-Kyle Monangai 2.0.
Offensive line lacking
The Chargers might be extra run-happy, given the state of their pass protection. Herbert has been pressured on 41.8% of his dropbacks this season, which is the third-highest rate in the league. His 38 sacks also rank third.
Herbert hasn’t been getting much help from his offensive line. The Chargers have lost both of their starting tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, to injury this year. In August, Slater suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee in practice, ending his season before it began. Alt had season-ending ankle surgery after getting hurt in early November.
But the tackle spots aren’t the only weaknesses along the Chargers’ offensive line. The interior, namely former Eagles right guard Mekhi Becton, hasn’t fared much better.
Mekhi Becton has not parlayed a strong 2024 season with the Eagles into consistent success with the Chargers.
After signing a two-year, $20 million contract with the Chargers in free agency, Becton has been lackluster in Los Angeles. He has played a career-low 72% of the offensive snaps this season — primarily because of injury — although Becton told ESPN last week that he was pulled from the Week 11 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars without an explanation.
The Raiders pressured Herbert on 26.9% of his dropbacks, his second-lowest rate of the season, according to Next Gen Stats. The Chargers’ decision to lean into the running game kept the Raiders’ pass rush, namely defensive end Maxx Crosby, at bay.
Still, the Eagles’ pass rush could have a prime opportunity whenever Herbert drops back, especially if the Chargers fall behind and are forced to throw.
The Eagles are coming off a season-low 25% pressure rate against the Bears. Nolan Smith led the way with four pressures on Williams, followed by Jalyx Hunt with three.
Barkley beware
The Chargers have statistically one of the best passing defenses in the league, allowing the second-fewest passing yards (2,020) and passing touchdowns (12) in the NFL. However, entering Sunday’s game, the Chargers’ rushing defense was conceding 4.7 yards per carry, which was tied for the sixth-highest average.
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s unit tightened up against the run following the bye week. The Chargers limited Raiders No. 6 overall pick Ashton Jeanty to 31 yards on 15 carries (2.1 yards per carry, the sixth-lowest clip by a running back in a game this season with a minimum of 15 carries).
They achieved this by bringing more bodies closer to the line of scrimmage, whether that was inside linebacker Daiyan Henley lining up on the edge or safeties Elijah Molden and Tony Jefferson rotating into the box before the snap.
The Chargers earned the right to rush the passer by stopping the run. The 34-year-old Khalil Mack led the way with six pressures (tied for the second-best performance by a Chargers defender in a game this season). His 46.2% pressure rate was his highest in a game since at least 2018, according to Next Gen Stats.
Surely, the Chargers will look to limit the Eagles’ rushing attack led by Saquon Barkley, who had just 13 carries (4.3 yards per carry) in the loss to Chicago. Run blocking has been an issue for the team all season long, especially in the last two games in the absence of an injured Lane Johnson.
Nick Sirianni’s decision to go for two points following the Eagles’ late touchdown came under the microscope in the aftermath of their 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Trailing 24-9, A.J. Brown caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts on a slant, cutting the Eagles’ deficit to nine points with three minutes, 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The Eagles could have kicked an extra point to make it a one-score game and waited to go for two on their next possession if Vic Fangio’s defense made a stop.
At the time, the Eagles had all three timeouts, plus they scored the touchdown before the two-minute warning.
However, Sirianni opted to go for two immediately. The decision didn’t work out in the Eagles’ favor. Facing pressure, Hurts scrambled from the pocket and fired an incomplete pass for Saquon Barkley in the back of the end zone. Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze recovered the ensuing onside kick, marking the beginning of a nearly two-minute drive for the Bears’ offense.
The Eagles used all three of their timeouts to stop the clock on the Bears’ drive. By the time the Eagles got the ball back at their own 30-yard line, they had just 1:12 remaining in regulation. Hurts had to spike the ball twice on the drive to stop the clock, with the Eagles making it as far as the Bears’ 34 before settling for Jake Elliott’s missed 52-yard field goal attempt.
After the game, Sirianni defended his decision to go for two in that scenario.
“Obviously, we had to get one at one point,” Sirianni said. “We had to get a two-point conversion at one point. I’ve done a lot of studies on that in my notes down nine. I’m always going to go for a two in that scenario, so I followed the plan that … again, I don’t try to wing anything in situational football.
“Now, the thought behind it is you want to know exactly what you need right there. If you go down seven, then obviously it’s a one-score game. If you go down eight, I know it’s a one-score game as well. That’s what we do in that scenario.”
Sirianni added: “I’ll always go back and look and reconsider things. Had three timeouts there to be able to potentially kick it deep there if we did get it. Obviously, we didn’t in that particular case, but at some point, you’re going to need it and I always want to know early what I need going forward.”
Fox Sports color commentator and former Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen defended Sirianni’s decision in a post on X. He pointed to the analytics fueling that decision, asserting that a team that trails by 15 points will need three scores to make up that difference more than half of the time. The probability of scoring eight points on one possession is not high, he argued.
Olsen echoed what Sirianni said in his postgame remarks — the earlier a team knows how many possessions they need to erase the deficit, the better.
J.J. Watt, the CBS analyst and former All-Pro defensive end, responded to Olsen’s post and played devil’s advocate. While he agreed with the analytical rationale, he also asserted that the team’s mindset might be impacted knowing they are down one score instead of two.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is pressured by Chicago’s Austin Booker during the two-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter.
Two-minute warning
Sirianni’s decision to go for two wasn’t the only eyebrow-raising situational decision he made.
The Eagles began their fourth possession of the game on their own 35-yard line with a 1-yard play-action pass to Brown on an out-breaking route. The 28-year-old receiver was marked down inbounds, though, with roughly 40 seconds remaining until the two-minute warning in the first half.
Instead of trying to get another play in before the clock hit two minutes, Sirianni decided to let the play clock wind down. Again, he defended his decision and took umbrage with the assertion that he wasn’t pushing to score.
“We had three timeouts, ball at the [36-yard-line],” Sirianni said. “We had plenty of time to go and score a touchdown and be the last ones with the football, so we got the one yard on the completion with 2:37. Then took it to the two-minute warning and we were going on the ball after that.”
The Chicago Bears brought a piece of the Windy City to Philly and blew the Eagles away.
On a gusty Black Friday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field, the visiting Bears got to work on the ground, pounding their way to a 24-15 victory. Vic Fangio’s defense turned porous as running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai combined for 255 rushing yards (130 for Monangai, 125 for Swift).
The Eagles offense, meanwhile, sputtered too frequently, going three-and-out on four possessions and committing two turnovers (one interception, one fumble). Kevin Patullo’s unit finished with just 51 plays (317 yards) to the Bears’ 85 (425 yards).
Jake Elliott also struggled, missing an extra point attempt in the third quarter and a 52-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds of the fourth.
Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ fourth loss of the season, and second straight:
Bears on the run
The Bears won the time of possession game, especially in the first half, with their offense on the field for 21 minutes compared to just nine for the Eagles.
Chicago’s offense dominated early, thanks to its running game, headlined by a running back duo of former Eagle Swift and Monangai. They combined for 7.2 yards per carry in the first half (129 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries).
It was a happy homecoming for former Eagle and St. Joseph’s Prep product D’Andre Swift on Friday.
Swift was particularly efficient on the ground, averaging 8.8 yards per carry through the first 30 minutes of the game. The St. Joseph’s Prep alumnus put the Bears up, 7-0, with just over a minute and a half remaining in the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run.
He also was adept at forcing missed tackles, especially on the first play of the Bears’ third possession of the afternoon. Swift took a handoff from an under-center Caleb Williams, then scurried to the right for a 17-yard gain, leaving Adoree’ Jackson in his wake.
“We’ve just got to be more violent,” Nakobe Dean said of the Eagles’ shortcomings against the run. “We’ve got to get off blocks. We’ve got to fit the run and like I said, that happens. And that’s with all 11, not just the D-line, not just the linebackers, not just the DBs. Everybody’s got to fit the run better.”
Williams contributed on the ground, too, scrambling on third-and-5 to pick up a first down on the Bears’ third possession. However, the Bears got away from the running game briefly in the red zone, as Williams threw three straight incomplete passes. Chicago settled for a 30-yard Cairo Santos field goal and pulled ahead, 10-3.
The Bears got back to the running game in the fourth quarter, as Monangai added another rushing touchdown to put Chicago up, 17-9. The running game became a focal point because both quarterbacks had their share of misses in the passing game.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles passing game had their moments against the Bears, but not enough of them.
Williams went 17 of 36 (47.2%) for 154 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Jalen Hurts went 19 of 34 (55.9%) for 230 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Williams sealed the Eagles’ fate with his 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet late in the fourth quarter that made it 24-9.
While neither team thrived in the passing game, the Bears could at least run the ball. Saquon Barkley had some solid early runs, averaging 6.3 yards per carry in the first quarter, but the Bears defense tightened up and limited him to 4.3 per carry by the end of the game. Barkley finished with 56 yards on 13 carries.
The Eagles’ passing attack couldn’t compensate for the lack of explosiveness on the ground. Hurts wasn’t always on the same page with his receivers, including a third-down incompletion to DeVonta Smith on a slant that forced the Eagles to settle for a 44-yard field goal.
Hurts’ pass for Smith was slightly behind the 27-year-old receiver as he ran across the middle of the field. After the game, Hurts called the missed connection “two guys on two different pages.”
“That’s a bit of the issues that we’ve kind of been having,” Hurts said. “We weren’t detailed enough in that. I wasn’t detailed enough in instructing him what to do, have him prepared, and making myself clear on that. So I’m trying to find as many particulars as I can when it comes to the level of execution we have and that’s a group effort that has to be there.”
The field goal made it 7-3 in favor of the Bears. In the first half, the Eagles mustered just two first downs and 83 total yards, while the Bears amassed 16 first downs and 222 yards.
Ex-Eagles safety Kevin Byard celebrated an interception of his former teammate Jalen Hurts in the third quarter.
Ex-Eagle Kevin Byard’s third-quarter interception of Hurts continued the negative trend, but the Eagles offense showed a spark on the next possession — with a foolish Bears penalty helping the cause.
Bears defensive lineman Gervon Dexter was flagged for a late hit on Hurts, moving the Eagles up 15 yards to their own 40. On the following play, Hurts had a rare designed run for 23 yards, bringing the Eagles to the Bears’ 33-yard line. On the ensuing play, Hurts hit A.J. Brown for a 33-yard touchdown pass, but Elliott missed the extra point to make it 10-9 Bears.
That spark wasn’t enough. The next two Eagles possessions ended in a Hurts fumble and a three-and-out. They eventually turned it back on, reeling off a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, capped by a 4-yard Brown touchdown catch and an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt.
Turnover time
Entering the game, the Eagles led the league with just six turnovers lost this season. The Bears, meanwhile, had forced a league-best 24 turnovers.
The Bears won Friday’s turnover battle. Byard picked off Hurts early in the third quarter after the quarterback rolled out to his right while being pressured and launched a pass deep down the right sideline for Brown. Byard undercut the pass and snared his NFL-best sixth interception of the season.
“I saw Kevin coming over and I knew there was a chance he was going to be able to make a play on the ball,” Hurts said. “Just was trying to give him a chance and throw it to the sideline where A.J. could try and make a play on it, and I wasn’t able to connect with him.”
Luckily for the Eagles offense, the Bears failed to capitalize on Byard’s efforts. Williams was under duress up front on second and third downs, scrambling for no gain and throwing an incomplete pass intended for Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze to go three-and-out.
Pass rusher Jalyx Hunt looked like the collegiate safety he once was on an interception of Caleb Williams in the second half.
Later in the third quarter, Jalyx Hunt picked off Williams and returned the ball to the Bears’ 36-yard line. His play gave the Eagles offense excellent field position to try to pull ahead while they were down, 10-9.
However, on third-and-1 at Chicago’s 12, Hurts fumbled on the Tush Push, a play that Bears head coach Ben Johnson previously denounced. Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright recovered the fumble, ending the Eagles’ attempt to go ahead. Hurts said he had hoped that his progress was stopped before the fumble, but the officials “didn’t blow the whistle as soon.”
“That’s not to point the finger at anyone else,” Hurts said. “I’ve got to hold on to the ball.”
This time, the Bears made the turnover count, as Monangai punched in a 4-yard rushing touchdown to cap a 12-play, 87-yard drive and put Chicago up, 17-9, early in the fourth quarter.
