If you want to keep beating your head against the wall, keep expecting Jalen Hurts to turn into Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen.
If you want to preserve your sanity, however, just accept Hurts as a complementary player.
That’s not an insult. It’s objective analysis. He’s playing a little bit better than his draft projection, which, on the NFL’s website in 2020, read thus:
“Slow recognition of early throw opportunities. Leaves slants and crossers behind targets. Misses check-downs. … Quick to drop his eyes when pressure mounts. … He’ll struggle to beat NFL defenses from the pocket.”
Granted, these were the most negative aspects of Hurts’ profile, which projected him as a second-round pick who might one day develop into a competent starter. Which, to date, is exactly what he became.
Look around the league. Philadelphia is lucky to have him.
He’s a competent starter with a few special gifts. He is a tireless worker, a steady hand on the tiller, a fine runner, fearless, tough, accurate, with exquisite touch on deep passes. He is not the total package. To expect him to be so only courts disappointment.
Eagles first-year coordinator Kevin Patullo might not be calling all the best plays, and his sequencing might be imperfect, but the consensus among analysts and several Eagles sources is that Patullo’s not the problem. Hurts is missing wide-open receivers, sometimes missing multiple receivers on the same play, even when he’s not pressured.
But no sane entity in the Eagles’ organization, to my extensive knowledge, is wishing for Hurts to be replaced by Tanner McKee, who has yet to take a meaningful snap in a meaningful game since being drafted in the sixth round three years ago.
Hurts played his best in 2022, which was his second season with offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, now the coach in Indianapolis. He was superb at times in 2024 under Kellen Moore, who’d coached and coordinated Dak Prescott for five years in Dallas; Prescott had a similar pedigree and projection as Hurts.
This year the Eagles hoped Hurts would develop past the need for an experienced coordinator. He has not.
Have there been streaks over the years in which Hurts looks like a star? Sure. Has he produced in several big games? Absolutely.
Jalen Hurts’ second season with offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, in 2022, perhaps gave a false sense of what the quarterback was capable of.
But the league clearly caught up with him after that first Pro Bowl season in 2022, when his legs were as much as a weapon as his feet. He is running far less frequently this season, on pace for 119 runs, which would be his career low as a starter. The player we’ve seen for large stretches of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 seasons matches that NFL.com draft profile better than it matches the Super Bowl LIX MVP.
Hurts isn’t the superstar owner Jeffrey Lurie and the Jordan Brand wish he was. Rather, he’s at the right place at the right time. He finds himself surrounded by elite talent on both sides of the ball, led by a very good coaching staff, with the NFL‘s best owner and its best GM. Together, they make it work. They win, a lot. But when good defenses set their minds to making Hurts beat them, and disguise their defenses, winning is less certain and much uglier. That’s what has happened in 2025.
There are other issues, of course. Chief among them: Twelve games in, the projected starting offensive line has yet to start and finish consecutive games, and probably won’t do so for at least three more weeks. The defense started poorly but has improved. Saquon Barkley isn’t as explosive, and his debut as an Eagle in 2024 was the best season a back has ever had, and that provided the best sort of camouflage for Hurts.
Most big-money quarterbacks are asked to be the best player, but Hurts’ real job is to complement players who are better at their job than he is at his, when compared with players who play their positions. Led by Barkley, those players include, without question, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and linemen Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson. Tight end Dallas Goedert and center Cam Jurgens might qualify, too.
That’s no insult to Hurts. It’s really a compliment to Howie Roseman, who acquired them all, including Hurts, at excellent draft and salary values.
Howie Roseman surrounded Jalen Hurts — a complementary piece — with stars like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
It’s true that a better quarterback would not be diminishing prime years of Brown, Smith, Barkley, and Goedert. But Hurts isn’t going anywhere. He is the darling of Lurie, who insisted on both the drafting of Hurts in 2020 (which devastated franchise QB Carson Wentz) and the unnecessary, $255 million contract extension in the spring of 2023, after which Lurie said Hurts already was one of “the great ones.”
The “great ones” don’t miss receivers, misdiagnose defenses, and make decisions too late to matter. Not this often.
He’s only 27. Maybe Hurts can be great yet. Giants bust Daniel Jones is thriving in his seventh season now that he’s in Indianapolis. Jets bust Sam Darnold resurrected his career in Minnesota in 2024, his seventh season, and he’s even better this season in Seattle. Browns bust Baker Mayfield found new life in his sixth season with his fourth team, Tampa Bay, where he’s gone to the past two Pro Bowls.
That’s not much solace here on the homestretch of a muddled, 8-4 season in which the offense still hasn’t played four quarters of proficient football against a good defense.
The Eagles, as defending champs, have endured a hellish schedule, one that includes losses to unexpectedly good teams like Denver and Chicago. Hurts has yet to deliver the sort of wire-to-wire performance you would expect from a quarterback averaging $51 million per season (even though that ranks just 11th in the NFL).
What 2025 has proved is that Hurts, today, is a pretty good quarterback who can win you games if things fall just right. If that’s not good enough for you, well, too bad.
You can get angry, and you can beat your head against that wall, but nothing’s going to change except the level of your headache.
The Cult of Analytics
You never start an argument with an analytics zealot because you will always lose. They have data and numbers and history. They generally ignore intangibles such as momentum, atmosphere, competition, site, and psyche.
This matters this week because of the meaningless yet fiery debate, fueled by superb (if somewhat self-anointing) NFL analyst Greg Olsen, surrounding the Eagles’ decision to try a two-point conversion with more than three minutes to play, trailing by nine, to make it a seven-point game. It failed. That meant the Eagles needed two more possessions to win, which was unlikely considering the limited time remaining. It made more common sense to kick the PAT and make it an eight-point game.
Nick Sirianni said, “I’m always going to go for a two in that scenario,” citing his personal research on the matter over several years. Sirianni is winning at a legendary clip, so maybe his studies show something publicly available that analytics do not. Those analytics give a slight edge to doing what Sirianni did.
But what Sirianni did virtually assured the loss. By doing so, it removed any real incentive from the defense, which had already been on the field 14 minutes more than the offense. The most realistically hopeful scenario after the missed two-point try was for the defense to hold, for the Eagles to score a TD, then for the Eagles to recover an onside kick, which happens at only about a 5% rate in the last two seasons.
Olsen and his tribe used X/Twitter to preach their message, which, predictably, incensed the anti-analytics barbarians.
The 2 pt conversation is this
Philly trailed by 15
That’s a 2 score game slightly less than 50% of time (2pt success rate)
It’s a 3 score game the remaining %
You want to know as early as possible how many possessions you need.
Nobody’s any good, right? The Eagles lost at home to the Bears, who are the NFC’s top seed. The Colts lost at home to the Texans, the mighty Rams lost in Carolina, the Chiefs lost at Dallas, and Jacksonville’s 8-4, the third seed in the AFC, behind the No. 2 Patriots and the No. 1 Broncos. And both the Chiefs and Lions would miss the playoffs if the season ended today, just like nobody predicted.
There’s a new king in the NFC, and it’s the team that strolled into Lincoln Financial Field on Black Friday, ran all over the Eagles, and silenced the critics — this writer included — who said its 8-3 record was fugazi.
Yes, if the season ended today, all roads would lead to the shirtless final boss, Ben Johnson, and his 9-3 Chicago Bears. And if that pole positioning holds, they’ll have earned it. Chicago’s final five games look like this: at Green Bay, home vs. Cleveland, home vs. Green Bay, at San Francisco, home vs. Detroit.
In other words, the Bears are holding on to that top seed in a similar way Jalen Hurts held onto the football during that fourth-quarter Tush Push on Friday.
There are six teams in the NFC now with eight or nine wins, and the Eagles — despite the sky falling on Philadelphia and Nick Sirianni fairly being asked about his offensive coordinator’s job status — are one of them.
Only two teams have an easier schedule the rest of the way than the Eagles, according to Tankathon, and neither team is in the aforementioned group.
How likely is the No. 1 seed for the Eagles? FTN Fantasy puts the chances at 3.3%. Not great. But not quite the one-in-a-million odds Christmas faced in Dumb and Dumber.
In fact, considering FTN puts the Eagles’ playoff chances at 93.3%, there’s a better mathematical chance this collapse ends with the Eagles blowing the NFC East and missing the playoffs than the Eagles turning it around and securing the No. 1 seed.
Still, that latter scenario seems pretty unrealistic given the schedule ahead. The Eagles could be facing a Chargers team without Justin Herbert, then they have the lowly Raiders and their minus-129 point differential. After that, the remaining three contests are a difficult road game at Buffalo sandwiched by two Commanders games.
The magic number — any combination of Eagles wins and Cowboys losses — to clinch the NFC East is four. FTN Fantasy has the Eagles at 91% to win the NFC East. The Eagles control their destiny there.
As far as the No. 1 seed goes, it’s out of their hands, thanks to Chicago’s 281 rushing yards and another stinker from one of the highest-paid offenses in the NFL.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) practices before the game at SoFi Stadium.
It hasn’t been a fun start to the holiday season for Eagles fans after watching their team lose back-to-back games to the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears.
After two consecutive losses, the Eagles will prepare for a prime-time matchup at SoFi Stadium, where they’ll face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. The last time these teams met was during the 2021 season in a game the Eagles lost, 27-24, at home.
While the Birds are sliding, the Chargers have won four of their last five games. But their latest win over the Las Vegas Raiders saw quarterback Justin Herbert suffer a broken bone in his nonthrowing hand. Ahead of the teams’ Week 14 matchup, the sportsbooks are favoring Philly, who opens as a 3-point favorite.
Police confirm Kevin Patullo’s home was egged over weekend
A viral video making the rounds on social media Monday appears to show Kevin Patullo’s home being vandalized. And according to the Moorestown Police Department, Patullo’s house was indeed targeted over the weekend, but the vandals weren’t throwing rocks — they were eggs.
According to police, Patullo’s Moorestown, N.J., home was vandalized with multiple eggs at around 2:50 a.m. Saturday morning, hours after the Eagles lost, 24-15, to the Chicago Bears on Black Friday.
Detectives are still working to determine the identities of those involved in the incident, a police spokesperson said.
Patullo, the first-year Eagles offensive coordinator, has shouldered the brunt of the blame for the Eagles’ struggles on offense. A website calling for his firing surfaced. Fans chanted for him to be fired during the game Friday.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reiterated Monday what he said after the game Friday: Patullo will remain the play-caller as the Eagles prepare for their Week 14 game at the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday.
Nick Sirianni reiterates Kevin Patullo will call plays
Nick Sirianni said Monday that the Eagles spent the weekend — and are still — “evaluating everything,” but he reiterated what he said after Friday’s game: Kevin Patullo remains the play caller.
The Eagles, Sirianni said, are working through “different things that we want to do” but declined to share any particulars.
“We’re working through everything,” Sirianni said. “I have a lot of faith in all the players. I have a lot of faith in all the coaches.”
Chargers rookie RB Omarion Hampton could return against the Eagles
Chargers running back Omarion Hampton has missed the past seven games with an ankle injury.
After opening his 21-day practice window last week, it appears likely Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton will make his return to the field against the Eagles Monday night.
CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz wrote “there’s optimism” the rookie could return to action this week after missing the past seven games with a broken ankle.
“Gosh, he looked good,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said of Hampton’s return to practice last week.
Without Hampton in the lineup, the Chargers have relied on the one-two punch of running backs Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson. It worked out well Sunday, with the two combining for 180 yards rushing in a blowout win against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Hampton, a standout at North Carolina taken with the No. 22 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, quickly became a key part of the Chargers offense, both rushing and receiving out of the backfield. He slid into the starting role after Najee Harris’ season-ending Achilles rupture against the Denver Broncos in Week 3.
If he returns, Hampton will likely find some open running lanes against the Eagles. The Birds defense is allowing 128.9 rushing yards per game, ninth-worst in the NFL, and just gave up 281 yards rushing to the Chicago Bears.
Former Eagles quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles has been weighing in on the team’s offensive struggles.
Nick Foles sees everyone’s frustrations with the Eagles offense, but he’s not ready to pull the plug on Kevin Patullo just for the sake of making a change.
Foles doesn’t believe Sirianni wants to call plays himself, and the solution to the Birds’ offensive woes in the long-term might be outside the building.
So, in the short-term, Foles pitched a few potential solutions, including moving Patullo up from the sideline back into the box, where he’s sat since joining the Eagles in 2021.
“Being a pass game coordinator, [Patullo’s] role was to be in the box, to be in the booth, to oversee what is happening on the field from an up-above perspective, not being on the sidelines with the players and feeling the emotions from the sideline,” Foles said on the most-recent episode of The SZN podcast he co-hosts with Evan Moore. “He was in a controlled environment to see coverages, to see plays, and to make recommendations for the passing game.”
Being on the sideline surrounded by the players provides a different perspective than being up in the box, which is also where Vic Fangio calls plays from. It’s a less distracting environment, and it can be easier to make adjustments as the drive develops instead of waiting to watch tape on delay.
“Kevin Patullo is probably a great dude, a great coach, but there’s an art to play-calling that not everyone has and it’s not showing up this year,” Foles said.
Vikings waive WR Adam Thielen, wants to join a contender
The Vikings are waiving WR Adam Thielen, who approached the team about moving on last week. The team granted the request out of respect for Thielen and will allow him to finish out his final NFL season elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/iSea83ELiK
FOX NFL analyst Greg Olsen agreed with Nick Sirianni’s two-point attempt.
You never start an argument with an analytics zealot because you will always lose. They have data and numbers and history. They generally ignore intangibles such as momentum, atmosphere, competition, site, and psyche.
This matters this week because of the meaningless yet fiery debate, fueled by superb (if somewhat self-anointing) NFL analyst Greg Olsen, surrounding the Eagles’ decision to try a two-point conversion with more than three minutes to play, trailing by nine, to make it a seven-point game. It failed. That meant the Eagles needed two more possessions to win, which was unlikely considering the limited time remaining. It made more common sense to kick the PAT and make it an eight-point game.
Nick Sirianni said, “I’m always going to go for a two in that scenario,” citing his personal research on the matter over several years. Sirianni is winning at a legendary clip, so maybe his studies show something publicly available analytics do not. Those analytics give a slight edge to doing what Sirianni did.
But what Sirianni did virtually assured the loss. By doing so, it removed any real incentive from the defense, which had already been on the field 14 minutes more than the offense. The most realistically hopeful scenario after the missed two-point try was for the defense to hold, for the Eagles to score a TD, then for the Eagles to recover an onside kick, which happens at only about a 5% rate the past two seasons.
The 2 pt conversation is this
Philly trailed by 15
That’s a 2 score game slightly less than 50% of time (2pt success rate)
It’s a 3 score game the remaining %
You want to know as early as possible how many possessions you need.
Seth Joyner does not hold back, calling out Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown:
"A lot of people are going to be pissed at me, and he might even be pissed at me, but in a lot of ways he's a typical wide receiver—21st century wide receiver diva and he's selfish…The Eagles lost… pic.twitter.com/MT70Ni6RWi
The Eagles’ path to the No. 1 seed in the NFC is difficult
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles have a difficult path to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
There’s a new king in the NFC, and it’s the team that strolled into Lincoln Financial Field on Black Friday, ran all over the Eagles, and silenced the critics — this writer included — that said its 8-3 record was fugazi.
Yes, if the season ended today, all roads would lead to the shirtless final boss, Ben Johnson, and his 9-3 Chicago Bears. And if that pole positioning holds, they’ll have earned it. Chicago’s final five games look like this: at Green Bay, home vs. Cleveland, home vs. Green Bay, at San Francisco, home vs. Detroit.
In other words, the Bears are holding onto that top seed in a similar way Jalen Hurts held onto the football during that fourth-quarter Tush Push on Friday.
There are six teams in the NFC now with eight or nine wins, and the Eagles — despite the sky falling on Philadelphia and Nick Sirianni fairly being asked about his offensive coordinator’s job status — are one of them.
Only two teams have an easier schedule the rest of the way than the Eagles do, and neither team is in the aforementioned group.
There’s a lot going on there. How likely is the No. 1 seed for the Eagles? FTN Fantasy puts the chances at 3.3%. Not great. But not quite the one-in-a-million odds Christmas faced in Dumb and Dumber.
In fact, considering FTN puts the Eagles’ playoff chances at 93.3%, there’s a better mathematical chance this collapse ends with the Eagles blowing the NFC East and missing the playoffs than the Eagles securing the No. 1 seed.
Kurt Warner finds a problem, and it isn’t Jalen Hurts
Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo during Friday’s loss to the Bears.
NFL Network analyst and Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner took a deep dive on the Eagles’ offense following their Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears, and came away noticing a big issue in the team’s approach on offense.
To illustrate his point, Warner spent 15 minutes on his QB Confidential YouTube channel examining a single offensive play from the second quarter, a failed third down pass to what appeared to be a wide open DeVonta Smith.
From Warner’s perspective, what at first appeared to be a misfire by Jalen Hurts looks more like a failure to plan for defensive pressure. Specifically, the decision for Smith to run a “choice route” that led to a bad throw because he didn’t appear to be on the same page as Hurts facing a Bears’ blitz.
“To me, this is a losing play scheme-wise because you didn’t define what you wanted to do,” Warner said. “You left too much indecision and too much guessing in a critical situation, and it’s something that cost you.”
So why did Warner do a deep dive of the play? It appears to be in reaction to several pundits, including Brian Baldinger, blaming Hurts for making an errant throw on the play.
“Jalen went to exactly the right place and really the only place he can go” in their offense, Warner wrote on social media.
Please don’t… Jalen went to exactly the right place and really the only place he can go in their O vs B0… they just miscommunicated on the route, but JH did everything else right! https://t.co/Mjv0eLs5o9
This is obviously just one play, but speaks to a larger issue my colleague Jeff McLane has written about — a failure along multiple fronts that has led to the Eagles offense dropping from an elite squad to the league’s ninth-worst, averaging just a few more yards per game more than New Orleans Saints.
“If you want to know why the passing route design sometimes looks rudimentary, look at Sirianni, Patullo and their nondescript scheme,” McLane wrote following Friday’s loss. “But don’t forget the quarterback. There are swaths of the playbook that aren’t touched because Hurts isn’t comfortable with certain concepts.”
Running back Saquon Barkley was nursing an injured groin he suffered back in Week 8 against the New York Giants. The injury didn’t prevent him from starting against the Bears and isn’t expected to sideline him against the Chargers.
Defensive end Brandon Graham was also dealing with a groin injury. He played last week, but was only on the field for six plays.
Safety Andrew Mukuba was placed on injured reserve last week after breaking his leg during the loss against the Dallas Cowboys. His season could be over.
An Eagles fan yawns during Friday’s loss to the Bears.
The Chicago Bears?
Thanks to the Carolina Panthers’ upset win over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, the Bears suddenly hold the NFC’s top playoff spot with five games remaining in the season.
The Eagles remain in the No. 3 spot, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still hold the No. 4 spot and first place in the NFC South thanks to their win against the Arizona Cardinals, which officially eliminated Jonathan Gannon’s squad from the playoffs.
The New Orleans Saints were also eliminated from playoff contention Sunday. Despite their loss to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, the Washington Commanders remain mathematically alive, at least for another week. Though their only path is sweeping the Eagles and winning the NFC East with an 8-9 record.
NFC playoff standings
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As for the NFC East, the situation is a lot tighter for the Eagles than it was just two weeks ago.
The Birds will enter Week 14 just one game up on the Dallas Cowboys in the loss column facing a feisty Los Angeles Chargers team that has won four of their last five games.
That being said, the Eagles still remain in control of the division. Their magic number — a combination of Birds wins and Cowboys losses — is four, and the overall record of their opponents down the stretch is 24-34, including two games against the 3-8 Commanders.
NFC East standings
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Dave Caldwell worked for the Eagles for parts of five seasons after being fired by the Jaguars in November 2020.
A member of the Eagles’ front office staff will be joining a college football program.
Eagles senior personnel director/advisor to the general manager Dave Caldwell will become the University of Florida’s college football general manager, per multiple reports. On3.com first reported the news.
Caldwell will join the staff of Jon Sumrall, the Tulane coach that multiple outlets reported is finalizing a deal to take over the Gators program.
Caldwell joined the Eagles in 2021 after an eight-year stint as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent time with the Atlanta Falcons (2008-12), Indianapolis Colts (1998-07) and the Carolina Panthers (1996-97) prior to to his Jaguars tenure.
With name, image and likeness realities and the transfer portal taking over college athletics, Power Four programs have increasingly sought dedicated general managers with the experience to handle the acquisition and compensation details of players.
Justin Herbert may be forced to miss Eagles-Chargers
Justin Herbert broke his non-throwing hand Sunday and will undergo surgery.
The Eagles will face the Chargers in a pivotal Week 14 matchup Monday, but Los Angeles may be without their star quarterback.
Justin Herbert suffered a broken left hand during Sunday’s win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Herbert is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday and might night be able to play the Birds on Monday Night Football.
Herbert was a bit more optimistic about his chances of being on the field.
“I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,” Herbert told reporters.
Herbert suffered the broken left hand in the first quarter, but missed just a handful of plays before returning to the field. He got a lot of support from running backs Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson, who combined for 180 yards rushing Sunday.
That’s not promising for the Eagles, who just gave up 281 yards rushing to the Chicago Bears.
If Herbert isn’t able to play, Trey Lance would get the start for the Chargers.
The Washington Post’s opinion section enlisted nine writers to share which American city they think deserves the title of the nation’s best sports city.
Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Boston — even the likes of Kansas City and Cleveland got a mention. Which city was snubbed? Philadelphia.
Taking a look through the comments of their recent Instagram post promoting the list, not to mention the nearly 800 comments on the column itself, we’re not the only ones who raised an eyebrow at the exclusion of Philly from the list.
So we got nine of our own writers to argue why Philadelphia is the nation’s best sports city. Enjoy.
It means more to us
Mike Sielski, sports columnist
Philadelphia is America’s best sports city because sports — not national sports, not the Olympics, but the teams and athletes here — is the lingua franca of the town and the great connector of the city and its surrounding suburbs and communities. Do you flinch when someone says the name Chico Ruiz or Joe Carter? Do you smile at a random mention of Matt Stairs or Corey Clement? Then you know and love Philadelphia sports.
It’s America’s best sports city because Philadelphia is a provincial, parochial region where the love of and devotion to the teams’ histories and traditions are passed down from one generation to the next — a succession of unbroken bonds over a century or more. Did you sit out on your front stoop on a summer night and listen to Harry and Whitey call a Phillies game over the radio? Do you still sync Merrill and Mike’s broadcast to the TV telecast? Do you know who J.J. Daigneault is? Then you know and love Philadelphia sports.
It is America’s best sports city because you can walk down the street here after an Eagles loss or a Phillies loss or a Sixers loss and know that those teams lost just from the vacant looks on the faces of the passersby. Do you turn up the talk-radio station on those terrible Monday mornings? Do you remember where you were when Kawhi’s fourth bounce fell through the net? Then you know and you live and you die with Philadelphia sports.
Most of all, Philadelphia is America’s best sports city because people here care more and sports here matters more than it does anywhere else. If you don’t believe me, go ahead. Tell a Philadelphia sports fan that your city, your teams, your traditions are better. Go ahead. Dare ya.
Philly fans celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win in near City Hall.
Nobody parties like us
Stephanie Farr, features columnist
Philadelphia is undoubtedly the best sports city in the United States and it has everything to do with our fans, who are as passionate and dedicated as they come. Here “Go Birds” is a greeting, talking trash is an art form, and being a part of it all is totally intoxicating, even if you’re completely sober (which, to be fair, most of us aren’t).
Nobody celebrates a major win like Philly — by partying in the street with Gritty and Ben Franklin impersonators, dancing with Philly Elmo and his drum line, and climbing greased poles. When the Phillies won the NLCS in 2022, I watched Sean “Shrimp” Hagan climb a pole and shotgun seven cans of Twisted Tea thrown to him by the crowd. To his credit, at some point Hagan realized he was too drunk to get down safely and waited for firefighters to bring a ladder.
“It couldn’t have happened without the crowd being so [expletive] Philly,” he told me. “What other city’s first thought when they see a guy on a pole would be to throw him a beer?”
Do our Bacchanalian celebrations border on absolute lawless anarchy? Yes, but if you want to live safe and know how something will end, go watch a Hallmark movie. This is Philly, where we are fueled by the raging fire of a thousand losses — even when we win — and we thrive off the unpredictability of life.
In my early 20s, I lived in Tampa for a brief stint. The downtown area is small enough that all of its neighborhoods are in proximity to each other. My apartment was in a section popular among locals for its dining and nightlife scene. But it was close enough to the hotel district to be in the eye of the storm when the Eagles came to town.
One Saturday evening in late October, we were sitting at a popular outside bar when the place was suddenly overcome by a wave of midnight green. Everywhere you looked, there were packs of Eagles fans who looked like they hadn’t seen the sun in two months. They swaggered through the place in their Brian Dawkins jerseys with zero regard for humanity. They ordered their Bud Lights in multiples of two and yelled Eagles chants at each other as horrified young women clung desperately to each other and wiped errant sloshes of domestic Pilsner off each other’s going-out clothes. A friend of mine stepped off the patio to have a cigarette. He returned with a stunned expression on his face. “An Eagles fan just peed on my foot,” he said with a mixture of anger and respect.
Tampa got the last laugh the next day when Matt Bryant kicked a walk-off field goal from 62 yards out. But I always think of that weekend when people ask me if Philly sports fans are as crazy as their reputation.
An Eagles fan sits on top of the traffic light post at the intersection of Broad and Pine Streets after the team won Super Bowl LIX in February.
There are a lot of different prerequisites that a city needs in order to consider itself a great sports town. For instance, it must be an actual city, one with history and character that stands on its own even without sports. Furthermore, a great sports town requires a certain level of market penetration. Sports must sit atop the pedestal in a way that it doesn’t in places like New York and L.A. There must be a critical mass of folks who are born and raised, which eliminates pretty much any city south of the Mason-Dixon and west of the Mississippi. The list is a short one. Boston, Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detroit, maybe Milwaukee.
From there, the thing that sets Philly apart is the people. They are a strange lot, prone to overexcitement and, every now and then, over-indulgence. But, man, do they care. You see it any time one of their teams hits the road. You hear it, too. There is an energy that is difficult to define but impossible not to feel. It’s the secret sauce of this place. And, yeah, it’s the best.
A veteran Eagles reporter wrote recently that last Sunday’s Eagles-Cowboys game was the Birds’ worst ever loss to their rival. They blew a 21-point lead, exposed some glaring flaws, and lost on a walk-off field goal. Fair point. But it was pushed back immediately on social media. You think this loss was bad? That’s what makes Philadelphia a great — maybe the greatest — sports city. We celebrate our wins like no other but we also wear our losses forever. This was a brutal loss but we still remember that botched chip shot on Monday Night Football in 1997. And that blowout loss in the playoffs while we were stuck inside during the Blizzard of ‘96. Oh yeah, remember what happened in 2010?
I don’t know if any city in the U.S. holds onto losses more than Philly. We do that because we care. We lose sleep when the Phillies blow a save, have a bad week if the Eagles lose, still can’t believe they didn’t call the Islanders offside, and are still waiting for Ben Simmons to dunk it. So yeah, that’s why it means more here when the teams do win. Because we care so much when they lose. You can have L.A., Seattle, and Kansas City. I’ll stay in Philly.
A Phillies fan holds up a sign paying tribute to another viral Phillies fan before the team’s 2025 home opener.
We feed off being underdogs
Julia Terruso, politics reporter
Look, I’m not pretending to be neutral here. I went to spring training in Clearwater in pigtails as a child. I fell in love at an Eagles tailgate and flew to London to watch the Phillies play the Mets on my honeymoon. But even non-Philadelphians would be out of their minds not to put us in the top three — let alone the top nine.
Rooting for the Phillies, Sixers, Eagles, and Flyers is a cross-class, cross-generation rite. We’re one of only eight U.S. cities with all four major teams, and our stadiums are actually accessible — yes, Los Angeles, I’m looking at you. Tickets are (mostly) affordable, the crowds are electric, and the fervor is real. We boo because we care. And unlike other cities, we don’t sneer at bandwagoners. The citywide greeting is “Go Birds,” and the uniform is fair game for the lifer who knows about pickle juice and The Process, along with the new Fishtown transplant who couldn’t diagram a wheel play but looks fantastic in kelly green — because everyone looks fantastic in Kelly green.
But the thing that really makes Philly a great sports town is our shared history of heartbreak and near-misses that drives us forward. We’re used to being underestimated. So go ahead, leave us off your list, WaPo. Underdogs run on disrespect, and we’ve got miles to go.
Stand on the South Street bridge at 7 a.m. and you’ll know the time of year, and that says it all. The rivers of medical professionals walking and biking back from their night shifts, and those heading to their morning duties, give it away in unison. Red caps? It must be October. Kelly and midnight green beanies? The NFL playoffs are coming. Blue or black starred jackets? The NBA playoffs are underway and our hearts will soon be broken, again.
I am a Philly transplant who comes from the tradition of European soccer, where rivalry between teams from the same city is the driver of passion. I always thought that there is nothing more electric than winning a derby game, and having your team crowned as the city’s best. But Philadelphia taught me that I was wrong. There is something more electric: a city united, together, declaring love to its teams in every nook and corner.
Jubilant Eagles fans dance around a fire on Broad Street after the Birds beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Philadelphia isn’t just the best sports city in America (“next year on Broad?”), it’s an organism that breathes sports fandom unlike any other place.
The days of throwing snowballs at Santa or batteries on a hated player are far gone. This is the city that gave a struggling shortstop who just arrived in town a standing ovation, that travels in droves so E-A-G-L-E-S chants come through the broadcast of every away game, and has a community of sickos who rode with its Sixers through one of the weirdest experiments in NBA history.
The electric energy isn’t confined to the city lines. It’s a moment that every Philadelphian cherishes. Don an Eagles hat in any other city in America, or even abroad, and you are more likely than not to lock eyes with a stranger passing by.
“Go Birds,” they inevitably say.
“Go Birds!” you respond.
Nothing beats that. And if you don’t like it. All good. We don’t care.
The Washington Post’s opinion section has been having a rough go of it. Which makes me wonder if this list, too, had to be cleared by the Amazon overlord, and maybe Jeff Bezos just hates Philadelphia?
I mean … Cleveland?
The size and scale of the two recent Eagles parades speak for themselves. The fact that there used to be a jail in the bowels of Veterans Stadium speaks for itself. Attending one Phillies playoff game at Citizens Bank Park would speak for itself. “Go Birds,” is a passing “hello” to a fellow Philadelphian in another town, a phrase of familial camaraderie. Due respect to Los Angeles, a city I love to be and eat in. But the sheer number of sports that happen in a place doesn’t make it a good sports city. That’s not human. People and passion make a place.
The Penn Relays at Franklin Field are one of just a few annual sports traditions in Philadelphia.
We have much more than pro sports
Tommy Rowan, cheesesteak/Philly history expert
A criteria would have helped, but really, any discernible or coherent formula would have really pulled that Washington Post list together. Here, instead, are three reasons why Philadelphia is one of the cornerstone cities in American sports …
History: The fabric of American sport was woven here. The Heisman Trophy is named after John Heisman, who played at Penn. The Phillies are one of the key reasons fans are allowed to keep foul balls that land in the stands. All because an 11-year-old Phillies fan didn’t blink when the team had him thrown in jail for larceny.
Tradition: We’re more than pro sports. We’ve hosted the annual Army-Navy game, and the Dad Vail Regatta, and the Penn Relays. Tennis found an American foothold at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Passion: Support is an undergarment. This city has passion. Fandom here is passed down from generation to generation, just like their houses. And sure they’re loud, and they generally take it the worst of any fanbafan base. But they’re vocal, they’re informed, and they care. These teams mean something to these people.
Sports fans start young in Philly, as fandom gets passed down from generation to generation.
We know our stuff
Ariel Simpson, sports trending writer
Oct. 9 was a tragic day for Philly sports fans. The Phillies season ended with a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Eagles suffered a devastating 34-17 loss to the New York Giants, and the Flyers dropped their season opener to the Florida Panthers.
That very next day, I wandered the streets of Philadelphia in what felt like a walk of shame. The heartbreak could be seen on each fan’s face as they still sported their favorite team’s colors. And when asked about the losses, each fan gave me a full breakdown of what needs to be done in order for the teams to be more successful.
That’s what makes Philly such a great sports city. Not only are the fans passionate, but they are knowledgeable when it comes to their sports teams. Sure, sometimes they may rush to call for a head coach to be fired or boo their own teams, but that’s only because they care so much.
They wear their heart on their sleeves and they expect more from each team. And when they do succeed, they show up and celebrate like no other. If you need an example, look no further than the city greasing its light poles in an attempt to stop fans from climbing them in celebration.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert broke a bone in his left, non-throwing hand and will undergo a procedure on Monday, coach Jim Harbaugh said after Sunday’s 31-14 home win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Herbert was injured in the first quarter on a 1-yard scramble, then threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston on the next play for a 7-0 lead after the Chargers’ first possession.
Trey Lance replaced Herbert for eight plays before the starter returned to finish the game. Herbert was 15 of 20 for 151 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Lance completed his lone pass for 9 yards. Herbert, 27, also rushed three times for 8 yards.
Harbaugh was uncertain if Herbert will miss any games. Herbert wore a glove on his left hand and what appeared to be a splint on his middle fingers after re- entering the game.
“I know that he’s as tough as they come,” Harbaugh said. “You know, taped it up, (wore a) glove and played a great game.”
The Chargers (8-4) host the Eagles (8-4) in Week 14 with Herbert having an extra day to recover as the game is next Monday night.
“I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,” Herbert said. “I think they’re very hopeful for that. So, I think that’s just something that we’ll see tomorrow and get a feel for.”
A member of the Eagles’ front office staff will be joining a college football program.
Eagles senior personnel director/advisor to the general manager Dave Caldwell will become the University of Florida’s college football general manager, per multiple reports. On3.com first reported the news.
Caldwell will join the staff of Jon Sumrall, the Tulane coach that multiple outlets reported is finalizing a deal to take over the Gators program.
Caldwell joined the Eagles in 2021 after an eight-year stint as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent time with the Atlanta Falcons (2008-12), Indianapolis Colts (1998-07) and the Carolina Panthers (1996-97) prior to to his Jaguars tenure.
With name, image and likeness realities and the transfer portal taking over college athletics, Power Four programs have increasingly sought dedicated general managers with the experience to handle the acquisition and compensation details of players.
Over in the visitors’ locker room, the head coach had his shirt off. He was flexing and jumping and shouting and looking like a man who might soon be taken away by some folks in white gowns. Ben Johnson had every right to act a fool. He earned it. His team earned it. All anybody else could do was shrug.
“We’ve got great people in this team that I have a lot of faith and belief in,” Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert said after a disconcertingly definitive 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears. “I think we still have everything we want ahead of us.”
It is getting harder for those of us outside the locker room to share in that belief. The Bears didn’t just beat the Eagles on Friday evening. They shook them to their core. They walked into Lincoln Financial Field on the day after Thanksgiving as a seven-point underdog with a rookie head coach and a second-year quarterback who might not be good and they walked out with a win that lifted them to the second-best record in the NFC and dealt a serious blow to the Eagles’ hopes of landing the conference’s top playoff seed.
The Bears will frame it as a statement victory. It felt more like a statement loss by the Eagles. They lost an important game in tough conditions against an opponent that entered the day having earned none of the benefit of the doubt. In short, the Eagles did exactly the opposite of what they had done, almost without exception, over their previous 32 games. They made it very clear that they were not the better team.
That’s a remarkable thing to write, considering the circumstances. The Bears entered the day with an 8-3 record that couldn’t be taken seriously. They’d played the second-easiest schedule in the NFL, the easiest in the NFC by far, with six of their eight wins coming against teams that ranked among the 12 worst in point differential. The other two victories came against winning teams who barely qualified as such: the 6-5-1 Dallas Cowboys and the 6-5 Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, until Friday, the Bears had been outscored on the season.
“The sky is falling outside the locker room, we understand that, but I have nothing but confidence in the men in this locker room, players and coaches included,” said running back Saquon Barkley, who finished with 56 yards on 13 carries and has now gained 60 or fewer yards in nine of 12 games on the season. “It’s going to take all of us to come together, block out the noise.”
Until Friday, we could err on the side of nodding along to such sentiments. All season, as the Eagles have struggled to replicate last year’s dominance, they’ve insisted that their Super Bowl blowout of the Kansas City Chiefs was an exorcism of the demons of 2023. They swore they were a different team. They’d learned their lessons. Plus, they had an actual defense.
Neither of those things was evident against the Bears.
They allowed 281 rushing yards, their most since 2015 and the third-most in the last 50 years. They lost the turnover battle, in a fashion meek and mild, a fumble on a Tush Push and an ugly interception, both at the hands of the quarterback. Neither could be written off as the unfortunate byproducts of a warrior mindset.
Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and quarterback Jalen Hurts have failed to inspire confidence for much of the season.
Every quarterback has bad days. Where they differ is in their energy. Some quarterbacks are maddening, some erratic, some just plain dumb. Hurts at his worst looks listless. A nonfactor. Completely uncompetitive.
His coaches look that way, too. For most of the last month, Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo have looked like video game players who suddenly move the difficulty slider from All-Pro to All-Madden. Again, the computer won handily. The issue isn’t a lack of improvement. It’s that things are getting worse.
“It was both units, offense, defense, hats off to them,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “They played a good game; they coached a good game. They outcoached us; they outplayed us. That’s obviously something that I need to go through and watch, look through it, but to say I don’t want to — again, they ran for however many yards. We didn’t run for many yards. We lost the turnover battle. We lost the explosive play battle. All those things are going to dictate the win and loss.”
They didn’t just lose. They are at a loss. No answers. No ideas, even. This was the most concerning game of the Sirianni era, and it isn’t particularly close. Sure, 2023 was ugly. But at least it hadn’t happened before. The three scariest words in the world are “here we go again.”
If this Eagles season ends up where it is currently heading, the faces of the Bears will be the last thing they see on their final swirl around the toilet bowl. This was the kind of loss that can break a team through what it reveals. Until now, they’ve maintained an air of invincibility, a belief in the virtue of winning ugly. While the latter may be true, the Eagles looked entirely vincible on Black Friday.
They could write off their loss to the Denver Broncos as a game they should have won. Their loss to the New York Giants was a Thursday night fluke. After their loss to the Cowboys last week, they could cling to their one great quarter.
Their loss to the Bears? It felt like a culmination to all of that. The end of their suspension of disbelief. They are back in the same place they were when it all went up in flames. Talk has sufficed until now. Adversity is easy in its hypothetical form. Now, the Eagles must actually show us what they are made of.
It would be unfair to pin the Eagles’ 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears on Jalen Hurts, even if his two turnovers and ineffectiveness as a passer were contributing factors.
Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo’s inability to scheme to the quarterback’s strengths, while also covering for his weaknesses, again was the primary reason for another inept showing from the offense. The same could be said for their game plan in the run game.
The rest of the offense, meanwhile, underperformed — from the offensive line to skill position players. And, for the first time in some time, the defense can’t be absolved. Vic Fangio’s group couldn’t stop a pig in an alley. The Bears’ 281 rushing yards were the most the Eagles have allowed in 10 years.
The Eagles were collectively bad on Black Friday. “They had that thousand-yard stare in their eyes,” said one team source about players and coaches on the sidelines at Lincoln Financial Field.
Sirianni has a mini-bye to turn another two-game losing streak around. He’s done it before. He’s earned the benefit of doubt. But he may have to cut his offensive coordinator loose, alter the play-calling command, or bring in a consultant to save a unit that currently has no chance in the playoffs …
Assuming the 8-4 Eagles don’t collapse and fail to reach the postseason.
“We’re not changing the play caller,” Sirianni said.
Sirianni probably can’t change the quarterback, nor should he. The Eagles have won a lot of games with Hurts, including the Super Bowl just 9½ months ago. But his limitations as a dropback passer have been a season-long problem and are central to what’s plaguing the offense.
If you want to know why the Eagles can’t run the ball, look at the play-calling, the O-line, and running back Saquon Barkley. But don’t forget the quarterback. Defenses have concentrated their efforts on stopping Barkley, and Hurts has failed to consistently make them pay through the air despite lighter secondaries.
If you want to know why the passing route design sometimes looks rudimentary, look at Sirianni, Patullo and their nondescript scheme. But don’t forget the quarterback. There are swaths of the playbook that aren’t touched because Hurts isn’t comfortable with certain concepts.
And if you want to know why a group that returned 10 of 11 starters and costs more than any other offense in the NFL is among the worst in the league, look at the men in charge. But if Sirianni and Patullo are to be called out for failing to coach to their talent, Hurts has to face that same scrutiny.
On Friday, there was plenty beyond the big-picture problems to be critical of.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts jogs off the field after the loss to the Bears.
“A combination of a lot of things,” Hurts said when asked about the offensive struggles. “Ultimately, you look inward first, and I see it as how the flow of things has gone for us this year and being practical about that. I can’t turn the ball over, so the ultimate goal is to go out there and find a way to win.
“That’s been a direct correlation with success for us being able to protect the ball and so that really, really killed us.”
No quarterback had been as efficient in protecting the ball this season. Hurts had just one interception and two lost fumbles in the first 11 games. But the Bears force turnovers at a higher rate than any defense.
And Hurts was careless when he was flushed from the pocket early in the third quarter and was picked off by former Eagle Kevin Byard for the safety’s NFL-leading sixth interception.
“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. [Brown] could try and make a play on it, and I wasn’t able to connect with him.”
The defense held and Hurts bounced back on the ensuing drive. He drove the offense 92 yards and hooked up with Brown for a 33-yard touchdown. Jake Elliott missed the extra point, but the Eagles only trailed, 10-9, despite having just four first downs on their first seven possessions.
Saquon Barkley found some running lanes on Friday, but it wasn’t enough.
Then Eagles outside linebacker Jalyx Hunt intercepted Caleb Williams. Off the turnover, Barkley ran three times for 24 yards down to the Chicago 12 and the Eagles appeared primed to take an inconceivable lead. But Hurts was stripped by cornerback Nahshon Wright when he was stood up on a Tush Push.
“I have to hold onto the ball,” Hurts said when asked if he felt there should have been an earlier whistle to blow the play dead. “It definitely presents itself as an issue and it always has. It’s just never gotten us and so today it got us, and it’s something that we and I need to tighten up.”
As for the Eagles’ patented quarterback sneak, Hurts admitted that “it’s becoming tougher and tougher” to execute.
It was a tough day to execute the passing game with winds blowing at 18 miles per hour at kickoff. Hurts’ passing inefficiency should be viewed through that lens. Williams completed just 47.2% of his throws. Hurts finished 19 of 34 (55.9%) and threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns.
But he was 9 of 18 through 3½ quarters. Hurts converted just one of seven third downs as a passer over that span. He threw behind receiver DeVonta Smith on an early third down and the Eagles settled for a field goal.
“It was two guys on two different pages,” Hurts said, “and that’s a bit of the issues that we’ve kind of been having.”
Smith, who caught five of eight targets for 48 yards, declined an interview request after the game because he said he had to see the team doctor. He’s been dealing with various injuries. Brown had more success, pulling in 10 of 12 attempts for 132 yards and two scores.
But the outspoken receiver didn’t seem any more pleased even though he’s been more involved in the last three games. Brown understands the run game is paramount to the Eagles offense functioning at a high level.
“They’re making it extremely tough to run the ball,” Brown said of opposing defenses. “And we have to run the ball. We have to. That’s how you get the game going, you know?”
Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown have seemed more on the same page in recent weeks, a good sign for a team that needs one.
It’s a shame because the Eagles got some push and there were some lanes for Barkley to run through against one of the league’s worst run defenses. But the offense was hardly on the field in the first half partly because the defense couldn’t contain Bears running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
Hurts also had some moments on the ground. He picked up 23 yards off a draw that set up the first touchdown. It’s long been one of the Eagles’ more effective plays, but only recently has it been featured.
There were more run-pass option plays this week, and Hurts kept once as a runner. But including him more in the run game might be like trying to stuff toothpaste back into a tube. There are so many issues with the offense, and yet, it wasn’t just Sirianni who defended Patullo.
“That’s a crazy question,” Brown said when asked about making coaching changes.
He said receivers were getting schemed open. So why has the passing game been listless?
Hurts supported Patullo — seemingly with a caveat.
“I have confidence in him,” he said. “I have confidence in this team. I have confidence in us when we’re collaborative. I have a lot of confidence when we have an identity.”
The offense had an identity built around Hurts, which was to establish the run — with his involvement — and open the downfield passing game. And when the Eagles secured a lead in the fourth quarter, they could salt the game away behind their four-minute offense.
But they haven’t been able to run at will anymore and Hurts hasn’t been able to shoulder the offense as a dropback passer — at least on a game-to-game basis.
“I thought he made some good plays, had some good scrambles, had some good things that he did,” Sirianni said of his quarterback. “Just like all of us, he had some plays that he’ll want back, and he had some really good plays, but, again, we just weren’t consistent enough as a whole.”
Hurts can win, obviously. Some inside the NovaCare Complex seem to have forgotten that, based on frustrations with how he’s performing seeping into the public. He isn’t perfect. Far from it.
But he’s been good enough. And he’ll have to be — for now. It’s on Sirianni to figure it out.
The interior linemen of the Chicago Bears were quick on their feet, Jordan Davis said. They are “savvy players” who attacked the Eagles, who are supposed to have a bruising defensive front, early and often Friday afternoon.
The Bears brought one of the better rushing attacks in the NFL to Lincoln Financial Field. One cut after another, D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai used the space created by Chicago’s front and made the Eagles pay. Swift, a Philly native and former Eagle, had nearly seven yards per carry on his way to 125 yards. Monangai, a rookie seventh-round pick, carried 22 times for 130 yards in the 24-15 win.
The Bears controlled the game and the clock with their two backs. As a team, they racked up 281 yards on 47 rushes, good for 6.1 yards per carry. It was the most rushing yards the Eagles have given up since 2015, and it was the first time since 1960 that two opposing rushers topped 100 yards during an Eagles home game.
“We knew we had to stop the run and then have fun and we just weren’t able to stop the run today,” linebacker Nakobe Dean said.
There was little fun for the Eagles’ defense, which was forced to defend 85 plays partially because of its inability to stop the run and because the Eagles’ offense struggled once again to sustain drives. The margin for error that offense has provided the defense in recent weeks is slim. And when it cracks the way it did Friday, the Eagles never really had a chance.
Jalen Carter likened the Bears’ rushing plan to what the Eagles faced in Week 2 last season vs. Atlanta, when they allowed 152 yards on 28 carries. Bears center Drew Dalman was on the Falcons last season. The Bears showed a lot of “sideways action,” Davis said.
The Eagles took too long to adjust, if they ever did at all. To Dean, they didn’t do a good enough job striking blocks, making reads, or playing off each other. Not being able to stop the run took some of the Eagles’ energy away, Dean said.
“By the time you know it, end of the first quarter, they already had damn near 100 yards rushing,” Davis said.
“We can’t take that long to figure out a remedy for that.”
Philly native and former Eagle D’Andre Swift had 125 rushing yards in his return to Philly.
It mostly was an uncharacteristic performance from the Eagles’ defense. Sure, Dallas roared back in its win Sunday, but that mostly was the Cowboys attacking a banged-up secondary. The Eagles have had occasional problems against the run this season, but not particularly lately. The Bears, however, rarely needed to throw. They won the battle at every level almost every time. They drove the Eagles off the line of scrimmage, got to the second level, and made the Eagles pay for taking poor angles.
Carter took ownership for some of the struggles.
“I blame myself on that,” he said. “There was some runs out there I got drove back or I wasn’t making an effect on the play. We kind of made an adjustment if you started seeing who was playing the first and second downs and then third down.”
What he meant by that was he found himself on the sidelines. The Eagles’ top interior lineman had to come off the field at times on obvious running downs.
“It’s my problems to deal with,” he said. “I ain’t fitting to tell y’all what I’m going through.”
What the defense is going through as a whole is a look-in-the-mirror moment.
Against Dallas, the Eagles allowed 473 total yards, the most in the Fangio era. On Friday, they surrendered 425 total yards and got destroyed trying to stop the run. They had just two tackles for loss.
“Things are going to happen,” cornerback Adoree’ Jackson said. “I always say the sky is not falling. Obviously you want to go out there and be perfect, make every tackle, shed every block, make every PBU, get the picks. Sometimes the game goes this way.”
Davis said he knows the negativity is going to come “from all angles at this point.”
“The reason why this s— stings, it hurts so much for us, is because we know that’s not our standard,” Davis said. “We have to be better. I was saying on the field that comes from all 11 of us. We have to do something different. If you want different results, you have to do something different. Whether that’s a little extra time in the meeting room, extra time in practice, playing blocks better, seeing blocks, we have to do better as individuals to become a better collective.
“We can’t do s— about what we put on the field now. We have to get back in the lab. We have a little bit longer week going into the Chargers game, and we just have to make sure that we get those problems fixed because it’s a copycat league. Everybody sees it; everybody knows that this could be a potential way to attack it. We just can’t let that happen.”
“This game is just going to be a launch pad for us to either get better or we can just stay the same and nothing changes,” Davis said. “I expect the guys on the defense to understand and answer that call.”
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.”
