It doesn’t get much worse than a prime-time loss headlined by a five-turnover performance from your starting quarterback. Especially when Hard Knocks is there to film it.
The HBO documentary series released its second episode on the NFC East on Tuesday, bringing a behind-the-scenes look at each team’s preparation for Week 14 of the NFL season.
The latest episode looked into the Eagles’ wide receiver room, Zach Ertz’s unfortunate injury, and what players were saying on the sideline during Monday night’s deflating loss.
Here’s what you may have missed from Episode 2 of Hard Knocks …
Brown feels the love
If you have listened to sports radio throughout the season, you have likely heard about A.J. Brown.
Described by some as a diva receiver, the seventh year All-Pro wideout received a large amount of screen time from Hard Knocks this week, starting with some of his charity work at a local Acme.
“Shopping’s on you today?” one Philadelphia resident asked.
“It’s on me,” Brown responded. “Go get you another steak.”
“Just spreading holiday cheer and just paying for customers’ groceries,” Brown said in a later interview. “Trying to make someone’s day.”
Brown appeared to make one shopper’s day in more ways than one.
After he met a pair of customers and told them their groceries were on his foundation, one of the women thanked the Eagles wide receiver and finished by telling Brown, “You’re fine.”
In case Brown didn’t hear her, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, “I said, ‘You’re fine.’” Brown thanked her before the two shared a laugh.
“She kind of surprised me,” Brown said during an interview. “I read her lips perfectly fine the first time, but it just didn’t register in my brain. And then she leaned in and whispered it again, and I was just in shock. But that was a cool moment.”
A.J. Brown paid for fans' groceries to spread some holiday cheer ❤️ @Eagles
After checking in on DeVonta Smith’s Pilates workout, and reliving some of Nick Sirianni’s college highlights (more on that in a bit), the episode moved to the wide receiver room for a conversation between Smith and Brown about a fear you wouldn’t expect to hear out of an Eagle.
“If you get on a plane,” Smith said, “you [are] not afraid of heights.”
“It ain’t like we got a choice,” Brown responded. “What are you going to do, drive?”
Smith shared an interesting strategy for surviving a plane crash, which we wouldn’t recommend trying.
.@devontasmith has a plan if he ever needs to get off a plane 😂
The Washington Commanders’ portion of the show focused on Zach Ertz, the former Eagles tight end and Super Bowl LII champion.
Former Eagles tight end Zach Ertz scoring a touchdown against Washington in 2017.
The 35-year-old is second all-time in receptions for the Birds, and was candid with the documentary crew about not knowing how long he has left in the game.
“I try and exhaust myself in this career as much as I can,” Ertz said. “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play in my whole career, it’s just been focused on the task at hand and how I can be better as a player.”
In meetings, coaches even poked fun at Ertz’s increasing age — comparing the tight end, who recently rose to top five all-time in career receptions for his position, to a clip of then 89-year-old Bryan Sperry scoring a touchdown in a 2015 Kansas football alumni scrimmage.
It was a hard watch, especially for those who knew what was coming next.
During the team’s 31-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Ertz suffered a season-ending ACL injury — with Hard Knocks providing an up-close view of the ordeal, letting fans witness Ertz’s raw emotions leaving the field.
“I think it like hyperextended in the back,” Ertz said. “I don’t think I can get up by myself.”
The former Eagles star may have played his last down of football after leaving the field in tears.
A game to forget
The second episode ends with the Eagles’ overtime loss to the Chargers, the team’s third straight defeat in what some worry will be another end-of-season collapse.
In the week leading up to the game, Sirianni focused on motivation as the team looks to get back on track. But his own college highlights brought excitement to the team, especially Brown.
“You want to know his personality? Just watch these highlights,” Brown said as the episode showed Sirianni catching touchdown passes — and celebrating — at Mount Union College. “And that’s how he coaches and how he wants to be on the sideline, but he may have to calm down — like he is the coach.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw four interceptions against the Chargers on Monday night.
As for the actual game, one many Birds fans likely don’t wish to relive, Hard Knocks makes sure to cover every excruciating detail — starting with Hurts’ two turnovers on one play in the second quarter.
“Damn, man,” Smith said. “We can’t get all the way down there and do that.”
Later, in the fourth, following Saquon Barkley’s 52-yard touchdown on a fake Tush Push, the show shifts focus to a potential go-ahead touchdown Brown dropped in the back of the end zone, leading to overtime.
“I’m more than capable of making those plays,” Brown said after the game. “Jalen trusts me in any situation. I made some plays, but I wasn’t great when it mattered.”
Before the Eagles took the field on offense in OT — trailing by three and needing a field goal to tie it or a touchdown to end the game — Barkley had this to say to Brown and Smith.
“One of us three, all right?” Barkley said. “It’s that simple.”
After Smith’s huge third-and-16 conversion to get the Eagles across midfield, the hype built even further.
“We are about to score,” Brandon Graham said from the sidelines. “You hear me?”
Of course, the game ended on Hurts’ fourth interception of the night on a pass to Jahan Dotson, and the Eagles fell to 8-5.
The Eagles lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, 22-19, in overtime on “Monday Night Football.” The loss, their third straight, drops them to 8-5 on the season.
The Birds remain in first place in the NFC East, but the path to a potential first-round bye just became a lot more difficult.
The Eagles next game is Sunday against the Raiders (1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field).
// Timestamp 12/09/25 5:17pm
Eagles waive long snapper Cal Adomitis
The Eagles waived long snapper Cal Adomitis on Tuesday, opening the door for the return of Charley Hughlett.
Hughlett, the free agent the Eagles signed in the offseason to replace longtime snapper Rick Lovato, has been on injured reserve since late September after suffering a core muscle injury that required surgery.
Hughlett, 35, also had a neck injury in camp.
But his potential return has the Eagles in line to have their initial specialists back together for the first time since Week 4.
Jake Elliott is going through a little bit of a rough patch. The kicker missed from 48 yards before halftime Monday night. He missed an extra point and an attempt from 52 yards during a windy Black Friday loss to Chicago, and also missed from 56 yards indoors the previous week vs. Dallas.
“They need to stop,” Elliott said of the misses. “I feel like I’m striking the ball well. Last week, obviously, windy conditions. But no excuses here indoors. It’s frustrating.”
Despite the offense’s struggles, the Eagles defense put up a bounce-back performance against the Chargers. Vic Fangio’s unit allowed just one total touchdown the entire game, and turned over Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert twice while sacking him seven times. Other than running back Kimani Vidal, who recorded a 60-yard reception on the Chargers’ third offensive snap, no L.A. pass catcher finished with over 25 yards.
The Eagles open as double-digit favorites on Sunday despite their current three-game losing streak. That likely has to do with their opponent, the Raiders. It has not been a good season for Las Vegas, which is riding a seven-game skid, including a 31-0 loss to the 6-7 Chiefs and a 24-10 loss to the 3-8 Browns. The Raiders have only scored 20 points once in their last seven games. Quarterback Geno Smith is also tied for the league lead in interceptions with 14. The Eagles enter the matchup as 11.5-point favorites.
According to multiple reports, grandfather — yes, you read that correctly — Philip Rivers, who last played in 2020, is coming out of retirement to sign with the Colts practice squad, presumably with the plan of starting for the team if backup Riley Leonard (knee) is unable to suit up.
The Colts (8-5) lost starter Daniel Jones (Achilles) in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars, and Leonard, who came in to replace him, suffered a PCL sprain and is questionable for this weekend’s game against the Seahawks. Meanwhile, last year’s starter, Anthony Richardson, remains on injured reserve with an orbital injury.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw twice as many interceptions Monday night (4) as he had the entire rest of the season (2).
The reigning Super Bowl MVP is not a top 10 quarterback in the NFL, according to ESPN analyst and Birds fan Ben Solak.
“He’s an incomplete quarterback. To me, he’s not a top 10 guy,” Solak said on the Up and Adams Show, when asked about what is fair to say about Hurt’s game the day after the Eagles extended their losing streak.
While offering Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, and Caleb Williams as examples of NFC quarterbacks that are playing better than Hurts, Solak also cautioned against overreacting to his poor showing on Monday Night Football.
“We can’t take a guy who is on a historic pace to avoid interceptions this year, by the way, and immediately just rip him down the rankings off of one four-interception game, two of which were batted balls,” he said.
"[Hurts is] not a top 10 guy… [Caleb Williams has] all the clubs in his golf bag in a way that Jalen Hurts doesn't"
But Solak said that recent games have shown Hurts’ limitations.
“Jalen has done such a wonderful job in the NFL working around his deficiencies, getting so much better in areas like situational management, he’s usually really good at avoiding turnovers, he is a great scrambler … But if you wanted to start a team right now and build a complete passing game, you have to do it with a guy like Caleb Williams’ arm and all the throws at his disposal,” he said.
A.J. Brown owns his drops: ‘I wasn’t great when it mattered’
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown attempts to catch the football during the first quarter against Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Tarheeb Still on Monday, December 8, 2025 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
A.J. Brown believes he has the “best hands in the world.”
The Eagles’ star receiver, who has been open about the need for the passing game and the offense as a whole to meet its potential, and for the team to take advantage of his abilities, reached 100 yards for the third consecutive game.
He had six catches for 100 yards and made a few key plays. But inside the visitor’s locker room at SoFi Stadium late Monday night, it was the balls that hit his hands and landed elsewhere that stood out the most and had Brown looking inward.
The Eagles lost for a variety of reasons to extend their slump to three games. Jalen Hurts was nowhere near good enough. They had untimely penalties. Jake Elliott missed a field goal that proved pivotal. But Brown knows that his three drops changed the game.
Each one of them in isolation could have produced a different result Monday night. He wanted all of them back, he said, and was probably going to spend the long cross-country flight home thinking about them before he planned to “flush” the game when the plane touched down in Philadelphia.
Brown touched on all three drops.
“I’m more than capable of making those plays,” Brown said after the loss. “Jalen trusts me in any situation. I made some plays, but I wasn’t great when it mattered.”
Some are ‘very concerned’ about the Eagles; others think they’ll ‘cruise’ to the playoffs
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts turned the ball over five times, including twice on the same play, against the Chargers.
Ultimately, Stephen A. Smith said on First Take Tuesday, the Eagles lost to the Chargers because Jalen Hurts and the offense once again failed to step up and deliver in a big moment. While not all of Hurts’ five turnovers were his fault — one of his four interceptions slipped right through Brown’s hands — his game-sealing pick was a bad mistake.
“You can’t make that throw,” Smith said. “You’re in field-goal range, in a position to tie, you know how much is on the line. Dallas has a tie on its record in your division and they’re tugging at your heels. … If you’re playing this game like Jalen Hurts has shown he’s capable of playing this game, that is a mistake at that particular moment in time that you simply cannot make. He made it, and once again we find ourselves sitting here talking about the Eagles offense, because the Eagles’ defense, outside of the 80-yard drive to open the game put the Chargers pretty much on lock and key.”
Longtime former Colts center Jeff Saturday said he thinks the Eagles listened too much to outside noise about the offense, and moved away from the more conservative style that won them games last year.
“I’m very concerned, because I don’t think they know who they are,” Jeff Saturday said. “It was such a boring offense to watch, but they won that way. It was a very low-risk, high-reward profile that they were playing under. I understand their run game was struggling, their offensive line wasn’t the same, they’re not as dominant, I get all of that, but there is a style of play that translates to wins for the Philadelphia Eagles.”
Despite the concerns, Smith and the First Take panel still believe the Eagles will ultimately win the NFC East and make the playoffs.
“The Philadelphia Eagles are going to win the NFC East, they are,” Chris Canty said. “When you look at the remaining schedule, they’re going to cruise to 11 wins.
“That’s not the conversation we should be having about the Philadelphia Eagles. The conversation we should be having about the Philadelphia Eagles is how can they position themselves to go back to back, because that’s all anybody was talking about after Super Bowl LIX. … We were ready to compare the Eagles to those modern day dynasties. They are a far cry from that.”
Former Eagles debate Hurts’ performance: ‘He was the reason they lost today’
No one has defended Jalen Hurts more than former Eagle LeSean McCoy over the course of the season, but even he didn’t have much to say in Hurts’ defense after his performance on Monday.
“Did he play bad?” McCoy said. “Yes. Did he play horrible? Hell yeah, but he ain’t no four-pick-type quarterback. He had a bad game. A lot of quarterbacks have that.”
“You guys have been waiting for a moment like this,” McCoy said later in the show. “You talk about Jalen Hurts all the time and you try to bash him. The truth is, all he does is win. You can’t really bash him.”
His podcast co-host Emmanuel Acho wasn’t buying his defense.
“Do your job,” Acho said. “… He’s been average all season, and he was atrocious today. He was the reason they lost today.”
LeGarrette Blount thinks more Saquon Barkley is the answer for Eagles
Running back Saquon Barkley scored the Eagles’ only touchdown in their loss to the Chargers.
Eagles Super Bowl champion LeGarrette Blount believes that getting more touches for Saquon Barkley is the key to unlocking Philly’s stagnant offense. While Barkley finished the game with 122 rushing yards and a touchdown, Blount said the Eagles star needs the ball even more.
“You got to get him more and more touches,” he said on Good Morning Football, pointing out that while Barkley carried the ball 13 times in the first half against the Chargers, he only carried it 7 more times in the second half and in overtime. Barkley finished the game without a reception.
Blount advocated for the bell-cow approach, despite the Eagles’ struggle to get the running game going during points of the game. Removing his 52-yard breakaway rush in the fourth quarter, which broadcasters said could have been called back for a Jordan Mailata hold, Barkley averaged 3.7 yards per carry.
It appears the team is still desperately missing perhaps its most important player. Since Lane Johnson was drafted in 2013, the Eagles are 15-27 in games played without him.
Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis and linebacker Zack Baun sack Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in the third quarter.
Lost in the offensive calamity Monday night was another outstanding performance from Vic Fangio’s defense, which came after its worst effort of the season last week.
Here are some highlights from the defense …
Justin Herbert was pressured on 68.3% of his drop backs, according to Next Gen Stats, the highest pressure rate of any defense this season and the sixth-highest since 2018. Eight Eagles tallied at least three pressures against a banged-up Chargers offensive line. Jaelan Phillips and Nolan Smith each had seven pressures apiece.
How did the Eagles replace Jalen Carter? By committee. Jordan Davis had an outstanding game, but he didn’t see a major uptick in snaps. Neither did Moro Ojomo. Instead, Byron Young saw increased work, Brandon Graham was used on the inside, and Ty Robinson was in for seven snaps. The defensive line dominated, too. Young was credited with 1½ sacks, the firsts of his career. The Eagles sacked Herbert seven times, with Jalyx Hunt’s 2½ sacks leading the way.
Cooper DeJean was excellent in pass coverage, especially in his ability to keep Ladd McConkey in check. DeJean had a few lockdown coverage reps against the talented inside-outside pass catcher. McConkey was targeted five times and caught one pass for 12 yards.
Nakobe Dean continues to excel as a blitzer. He rushed Herbert five times Monday and tallied four pressures and two quarterback hits, including one sack. Dean is up to 11 pressures on 26 pass rushes through seven games since returning from injury.
Marcus Epps started at safety after coming off injured reserve with a shoulder injury. It will be his job to lose for as long as Drew Mukuba is out — which will be a while. Fangio doesn’t seem to prefer Sydney Brown being on the field in most situations. Epps has a chance to stabilize the back end down the stretch.
The Eagles haven’t allowed more than 24 points in seven consecutive games and are allowing 18.3 points per game during that stretch.
One area where the defense struggled Monday was containing Herbert when the quarterback decided to run. Herbert ran 10 times for 66 yards, his most rushing yards in a game since Nov. 19, 2023.
“If you were going to tell me going into last night that somebody was going to throw four interceptions, I would have thought it’d probably be the guy with only one hand,” Dan Graziano said on ESPN’s Get Up, referencing Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert’s broken non-throwing hand.
So, is there hope that the Eagles can turn it around in time for the playoffs? Or is the offense doomed to repeat the collapse of 2023?
“I thought they would until last night,” Jeff Saturday said. “When you look at the way that they’re moving, the only thing that feels different about this than a couple years ago, their defense can win games, and they’ve already beat the best teams.”
Last time the Eagles offense was this bad, Terrell Owens was involved
Terrell Owens did sit-ups at his home in Moorestown, N.J., for the assembled media after he was banished from training camp for insubordination in 2005.
Seven months after he nearly played hero in the Super Bowl, Terrell Owens started the 2005 season by doing sit-ups in his driveway after being sent home from training camp in Lehigh University during a contract dispute with the team.
Every “next question” from Drew Rosenhaus should have foretold what was to come: a Super Bowl hangover, an offensive meltdown, and an eventual split between Owens and the Eagles.
Parallels to today? There are a few. The Eagles did something Monday for the first time since 2005: Had a fifth consecutive game come and go without scoring more than 21 points.
The streak in 2005 was eight games, from Week 5 to Week 13. The Eagles started 3-1 before losing six of their next eight.
Things aren’t quite that bad right now for the Eagles, but it’s not a season with which you want to have many touchpoints.
“Everything is still right in front of us,” A.J. Brown, the closest comparison there is to Owens, said Monday night after a game in which he had three crucial drops. “There’s still so much to be optimistic about. These tough losses, tough little stretch, I’m not going to say it’s humbling us but we are doing what we need to do, going back to work and taking pride into that and get this thing turned around at the right time.”
Despite the turnovers, missed throws, and maybe the worst four quarters of his NFL career, the quarterback had an opportunity to drive the Eagles to victory in overtime.
He did not.
Instead, Hurts tossed an interception — his career-high fourth of the game — that was deflected and caught at the 1-yard line and gave the Los Angeles Chargers a wild 22-19 win over the Eagles at SoFi Stadium on Monday night.
“As frustrating as the night was, we had an opportunity to win the game,” Hurts said. “In the end, I had the ball in my hands driving down the field, having everything on our terms to a sense, and I didn’t bring it home.”
The loss, by no means, was all on the sixth-year quarterback. … But Hurts’ imperfections as a dropback passer were again glaring. He threw over and behind his intended targets. He made the wrong reads and missed receivers either schemed open downfield or on check downs. He was in a fog and couldn’t see the field, especially over the middle.
There were some good moments, no doubt. But not close to enough. It seems unimaginable that Eagles coach Nick Sirianni would consider benching Hurts for backup Tanner McKee. Opening that can of worms may cause more harm than good — especially in the long-term — but the idea has some merit.
Eagles guard Landon Dickerson walks off the field in the second quarter after injuring his calf. He returned in the second half.
While the Eagles suffered a stinging defeat Monday night in California, they did escape relatively healthy, with the only in-game injury being sustained by guard Landon Dickerson (calf). The injury occurred in the first half, but Dickerson, who along with a few fellow offensive linemen has battled injury all season, returned to the game after the halftime break. With Lane Johnson already out with a Lisfranc injury, Dickerson’s health will be worth monitoring.
Coming into Monday’s game, the only two starters carrying injury designations were Johnson and defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who underwent a procedure on his shoulders earlier in the week. Both were listed as questionable, but were inactive as expected.
We’ll keep you posted if any other injury news emerges out of Monday’s loss.
Yes, the vibes remain bad, but despite three straight losses, the Birds remain on track to become the first team in 21 seasons to win the NFC East in back-to-back years. That would mean hosting at least one playoff game at the Linc.
Even if the Cowboys win their four remaining games — at home against the Chargers and Minnesota Vikings (5-8), on the road against the Washington Commanders (3-10) and New York Giants (2-11) — Dallas would still need the Eagles to lose two of their final four games to take the division.
NFC East standings
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The race for the No. 1 playoff spot in the NFC is another story.
In order for the Eagles to earn the No. 1 seed with a 12-5 record, they’ll have to win out and root for a lot of losses from a lot of teams at the top of the NFC. Wharton professor and Eagles analytics nerd Deniz Selman has a full breakdown if you’re curious:
#Eagles playoff scenarios updated after Sunday's games.
NFC East magic number is 3 (any combo of 3 wins / DAL losses out of 9 combined games left).
For NFC # 1 and # 2 seed, here are all scenarios with Eagles finishing 13-4 or 12-5 (excluding any further tie games): pic.twitter.com/JuoOkxyRRd
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Jalen Hurts does something that hasn’t been done in nearly 50 years
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts fumbles, his second turnover on the same play after throwing an interception and then recovering a fumble on the return.
When Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts turned the ball over twice on the same play against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night, not even the fictional characters of Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. could keep up with one of the most bizarre sequences in recent NFL memory.
It also proved costly, giving away three valuable points in what would be a 22-19 overtime loss for the Eagles.
Hurts didn’t see defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand dropping back into coverage over the middle on third down midway through the second quarter and threw it right to the 300-pounder. Hand started running but was stripped from behind by Eagles running back Will Shipley, sending the ball bouncing into Hurts’ hands, only for Chargers defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell to force another fumble which was recovered by linebacker Troy Dye.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time one player committed two turnovers on one play since at least 1978, which is as far back as available play-by-play data goes.
Da'Shawn Hand picks off Jalen Hurts. Da'Shawn Hand fumbles. Jalen Hurts recovers. Jalen Hurts fumbles. Troy Dye recovers. @Chargers ball.
A.J. Brown on how the Eagles can turn their season around
// Timestamp 12/09/25 8:56am
Sielski: This could be worse than 2023
Nick Sirianni and the Eagles have gone 4-5 since starting the season 4-0.
So we know what kind of team the Eagles are now. It took 13 games, and to watch most of them was to experience the same amount of pleasure as when you slam your fingers in a door. But they have revealed themselves, and there’s no use disputing the diagnosis.
The Eagles are an excellent defensive team, and that is all, and that is not enough, not even close. Not with an offense like this. Not with this team’s tendency to commit untimely and inexcusable penalties. Not with so many questions that don’t get answered and so many problems that don’t get solved.
They lost Monday night to the Los Angeles Chargers, 22-19 in overtime, and we know now that the most basic assessment of their status is deceiving. They still are 8-5, still in first place in the NFC East, still on track to make the playoffs and, in theory, have a shot at winning another Super Bowl in a conference without a dominant team. But no one who has watched them can see through that spin, that false representation of who they are and how the rest of this season could play out.
They have lost three straight games, and they are poised for a breakdown as bad or worse than their collapse in 2023. That was six losses in seven games and a franchise that faced an inflection point with its head coach. This is different. This disintegration, if it continues, will be harder and graver, because it will mean their season is transforming from an attempt to defend a championship into a referendum on the coach, the quarterback, and any number of players who were presumed to be part of a talented and tested team’s core.
“Who said it was going to be easy?” Brandon Graham said. “This year, coming off a Super Bowl, man, all we got to do is make sure we stay together.”
Eagles fall to Chargers in OT behind Hurts’ four interceptions
Jalen Hurts threw four interceptions — and lost a fumble — in the Eagles’ loss to the Chargers.
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.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — A.J. Brown believes he has the “best hands in the world.”
The Eagles’ star receiver, who has been open about the need for the passing game and the offense as a whole to meet its potential, and for the team to take advantage of his abilities, reached 100 yards for the third consecutive game.
He had six catches for 100 yards and made a few key plays. But late Monday night inside the visitors’ locker room at SoFi Stadium, it was the passes that hit his hands and landed elsewhere that stood out the most and had Brown looking inward.
The Eagles lost for a variety of reasons to extend their slump to three games. Jalen Hurts was nowhere near good enough. They had untimely penalties. Jake Elliott missed a field goal that proved pivotal. But Brown knows his three drops changed the game.
Each one in isolation could have produced a different result Monday night. He wanted all of them back, he said, and probably was going to spend the cross-country flight home thinking about them before he planned to “flush” the game when the plane touched down in Philadelphia.
Brown touched on all three drops.
There was the first play from scrimmage of the game, a broken play that resulted in Hurts launching a deep ball up the left sideline. “I wish I could have somehow found a way to make that one,” Brown said.
The second came four minutes into the fourth quarter with the Eagles leading, 16-13. One play earlier, Hurts scrambled to his right and connected with Darius Cooper for a 19-yard gain that moved the Eagles to near midfield. The Eagles were on the move and looking to add to their lead and put what had earlier looked like a sure loss to bed. Hurts took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff to Saquon Barkley, and fired a pass over the middle to a crossing Brown near the Chargers’ 40-yard line. The throw was high, and Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman was closing in, but Brown couldn’t haul in the pass as it tipped off his fingertips and into the hands of cornerback Cam Hart.
Los Angeles drove down the field and tied the score with a field goal.
“The ball over the middle, I know it wasn’t perfect, but I’m more than capable of making that catch,” Brown said.
“That was just going to be another tough one. I’m more than capable of making that grab for [Hurts]. He stepped up in the pocket, he’s under pressure.”
The third one hurt the most, though.
On a second-and-11 from the Chargers’ 26-yard line with less than three minutes to play and the score tied at 16, the Eagles got Brown in one-on-one coverage with Hart. Hurts struggled for most of the night, but this throw was one of his best. He dropped a deep pass into a perfect spot for Brown to catch it. Hart made a decent play at the point of attack, but the 28-year-old receiver has made many similar and more difficult plays, and this one probably would have given the Eagles a needed victory.
“He just made a play,” Brown said. “That one hurt the most because we’ve been setting things up all game, and he made a play. That one hurt me. I’m more than capable of making those plays. Jalen trusts me in any situation. I made some plays, but I wasn’t great when it mattered.”
And so the Eagles, and Brown, are going “back to the drawing board,” Brown said.
They have now gone five consecutive games without topping 21 points. It is the first time in the Nick Sirianni era that has happened and a first for any Eagles team since 2005. An impotent offense has been the story of the season, and while there were small flashes Monday, it was more of the same.
“It’s the same thing every week,” DeVonta Smith said. “Do something good, shoot ourselves in the foot. Nobody is doing nothing to stop us. We’re stopping ourselves every time, putting ourselves back behind the sticks. We get something going, and we just do some dumb s—.”
Like turn the ball over. Hurts threw a career-high four interceptions, but Smith said the receivers were responsible for two of them. Smith blamed himself for the second interception, saying he fell. The other, Smith said, was on Brown.
“I made some plays but I wasn’t great when it mattered.”
— Quay L.Jones🦅 #FlyEaglesFly SBLIX CHAMPIONS!! (@QuayLJones3) December 9, 2025
“S— happens,” he said.
Said Brown: “You always have to look inward and be honest with yourself first and foremost. Take accountability and find a way to fix it as quickly as possible.
“As soon as I get off the plane, it’s going to be flushed because you have to. It’s a part of the game, it’s a part of playing at a high level. I’m catching like 500 balls a day. I pride myself on making those catches.
“I could go out there and drop 100 balls, but I’m still going to believe in me, believe in my hands. I believe that I got the best hands in the world. But sometimes it don’t go your way, and that’s a part of it. You got to have thick skin and go back to work.”
That work begins right away. The Eagles were due to land Tuesday morning and will be back on the practice field Wednesday in a short week with the Las Vegas Raiders coming to town Sunday.
The Eagles still have a 1½-game lead in the NFC East, and they finish the season with a game against the two-win Raiders before playing two of their final three against the three-win Washington Commanders.
“Everything is still right in front of us,” Brown said. “There’s still so much to be optimistic about. These tough losses, tough little stretch, I’m not going to say it’s humbling us, but we are doing what we need to do, going back to work and taking pride into that and [getting] this thing turned around at the right time. It’s one week at a time.”
It gets late early, though, and the Eagles are running out of weeks to make their necessary fixes.
It has been a few weeks since A.J. Brown has been a major topic of consternation and conversation around the Eagles. The easy explanation for the relative quiet is that Brown hasn’t posted anything on social media lately that would get people to raise their eyebrows. The even easier explanation — and maybe so easy that it’s a cheap shot against Brown — is that he caught 18 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears and the Cowboys, and even though the Eagles lost both of those games, Brown must be content that he’s finally getting his numbers again.
That narrative — that Brown is only about Brown, and his selfishness damages the Eagles — has never held up under much scrutiny. Should he stay off social media more? Of course he should. But they have a 53-18 record (in regular-season and postseason games), have won a Super Bowl, and reached another since acquiring him. At least 29 other teams in the NFL would sign up for that level of damage.
What’s more, there’s nothing inherently wrong with Brown wanting the ball more in the name of benefiting himself and benefiting the Eagles. The two goals aren’t mutually exclusive, and it’s understandable that Brown would raise a stink with Jalen Hurts, Kevin Patullo, or both if he didn’t believe he was being used properly or frequently enough.
Think of it like this: Brown is to the Eagles’ offense as an outstanding reporter or writer is to a news organization, and Patullo and Hurts are his editors. If the editors relegated that reporter to the least important and relevant assignments — when he has produced and is capable of producing well-read, Pulitzer-caliber journalism — he would be within his rights to tell them, Hey, you aren’t maximizing my skills, and it’s hurting the whole news operation, too.
Would that make him selfish? Maybe. Would it make him self-interested? Yeah. Would it make him right? Absolutely.
Maybe tap the brakes on the Trevor Zegras anointment?
Have you forgotten Andrew MacDonald?
Trevor Zegras has been terrific so far, but before anyone starts thinking about making him a Flyer for life, can he get through half a season here first?
Kyle and the cash register
The very simple reason to be optimistic that the Phillies will re-sign Kyle Schwarber comes down to three words.
Butts in seats.
Yes, Schwarber has improved as a hitter over the last two years, putting the ball in play more often and raising his batting average without sacrificing any of his power. Yes, he’s an outstanding clubhouse leader. And yes, his presence is necessary if the Phillies are to get over their October bugaboos, get back to the World Series, and win it. Those factors make him vital to the franchise.
But a baseball season, despite the attention and excitement that the playoffs generate, is not the playoffs alone. The 162-game march to the postseason matters too. It matters a lot. And Schwarber has overtaken Bryce Harper as the player on the Phillies roster whose at-bats are true can’t-miss theater. If you’re at Citizens Bank Park on a chilly night in early May, waiting to get your hot dog and beer, the chance to see Schwarber blast one 450 feet is probably one of the reasons you’re at the ballpark in the first place. And if he comes up and you’re still waiting, you might just hop out of that long line to make sure you don’t miss one of his lighting bolts. He’s the guy who makes you stop and watch.
Sports is still first and foremost an entertainment product, and Schwarber provides more entertainment night to night than any other Phillies player. John Middleton isn’t likely to let someone steal such an asset away, for any price. He’d be a fool if he did.
Allen Iverson was a 40-plus-minute man before the term “load management” entered the NBA vernacular.
Maxey and A.I. as iron men
Ahead of the 76ers’ matchup in Milwaukee against the Bucks on Friday night, Tyrese Maxey was leading the NBA in minutes played per game. His average: 40.0.
All kudos to Maxey for bringing it every night for as long as he does. But just for some perspective, it’s worth noting that for a 10-year period, from the 1998-99 season through the 2007-08 season, Allen Iverson never averaged fewer than 40.8 minutes. And over his six seasons from 2001 through 2007, he averaged 42.5 minutes and led the league in minutes five times. When the man said he played every game like it was his last, he meant it.
Hard Knocks has come to Philadelphia … in more ways than one.
The famed HBO documentary series premiered the first episode of its in-season special Tuesday, bringing NFL fans a behind-the-scenes look at each team in the NFC East.
The episode is the first of eight, with subsequent releases planned each Tuesday night until Jan. 20.
The premiere gave viewers a look into Nick Sirianni’s leadership, the Eagles’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and explanations for crucial missed plays against the Chicago Bears.
Here’s what you may have missed from the first episode of Hard Knocks: In Season With the NFC East …
The Eagles have lost two in a row — and four of their last eight games — as Nick Sirianni continues to look for answers.
‘Thankful for adversities’
Before any flashy credits or highlights came across the screen, Hard Knocks provided coverage on the reigning champion Eagles, just not in the way Philly fans like.
The show opens with a conversation between Sirianni and Brandon Graham inside the Eagles’ practice facility. Discussing the Eagles’ upset loss to the Cowboys, Sirianni celebrates having to overcome adversity while commenting that players need to focus more on improving instead of complaining.
“Little setback,” Sirianni said. “No one wants to go through adversity until they go through it and be like, ‘Man, I needed that [expletive].’ Like last year, we had to go through that. Unfortunately, we had to go through ’23 to get to where we got last year.
“Same [expletive] here. Sometimes we get like, ‘Man, I don’t like what I am going through right now.’ Then fix it.”
Replied Graham: “It’s good, because it’s shaping up to see who you are, too.”
Following a quick introduction to the docuseries by narrator Liev Schreiber, which included tongue-in-cheek remarks about the Tush Push while the Impressions’ “Keep on Pushing” played in the background, the episode’s focus transitioned back to the Birds’ 21-point blown lead at AT&T Stadium.
Listening to the Cowboys’ sideline, lowlight after lowlight is shown of the Eagles’ poor second-half performance — rubbing salt in a still-fresh wound for Philly fans.
The show checked in with the Cowboys, Giants, and Commanders — who all seemed to show more positivity than the Eagles throughout the episode, despite having a worse record, a head coach fired, and an injured starting quarterback, respectively — before cycling back to left tackle Jordan Mailata addressing media criticism on 94 WIP.
The former seventh-round pick claimed that criticism toward Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, the offensive line, and Saquon Barkley has brought the team closer together — echoing Sirianni’s previous comments regarding adversity.
“It’s bringing us closer,” Mailata said. “It’s bringing us closer, man. We know what we have, and we’ve just got to keep going to work. When crap hits the fan, what I know how to do best is just go back to work and put your head down, and you go out there, and you have another chance on Friday — just play your heart out.”
Sirianni brought the point home in a continuation of his talk with Graham when he doubled down on his positive outlook on the Eagles’ struggles.
“I’m always thankful for adversities because I see every adversity as a way to come together as a football team,” Sirianni told Graham. “It’s not that you’re enjoying it or it’s pleasant going through it, but I am sure thankful for the adversities I went through to be where I am today.”
Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has received much of the blame from fans, but quarterback Jalen Hurts took responsibility for the team’s loss to the Bears.
Hurts takes the blame
Hard Knocks also brought fans directly into the Birds’ preparation leading up to the team’s 24-15 loss to Chicago on Black Friday. The episode showed a focused Sirianni projecting the Bears logo on the screen at a team meeting, and Hurts delivering his signature “keep the main thing the main thing” line.
There were also small glimpses into Jeff Stoutland’s offensive line meetings, Scot Loeffler’s quarterback room, and Kevin Patullo’s presentation to the offense — providing insight into the team’s sense of urgency in fixing that side of the ball.
“When we look back, we don’t want to say, ‘Oh woulda, coulda, shoulda,’” Patullo said. “[Expletive] that. We’ve got to fix it now.”
When the show reaches the moment when the Eagles have their chance to fix it — last week’s matchup with the Bears — viewers get a glimpse into what actually went wrong for the Birds against Chicago.
First on the docket was Hurts’ uncharacteristically errant pass to DeVonta Smith in the second quarter — one that turned a would-be touchdown into a field-goal attempt — which we now know was caused by a missed hand signal Hurts sent Smith before the snap.
“When I pointed like this — that’s my fault, I thought you was going to settle down,” Hurts said to Smith after the play. “… [Expletive], that’s a play I’ve got to make.”
Hard Knocks showed the conversation between Jalen Hurts and Devonta Smith after Hurts missed a critical throw vs the Bears. pic.twitter.com/jdqYj33aGg
“Y’all keep doing what y’all doing,” Hurts said while addressing his wide receiver group and offensive line. “Here we go, we’re going to finish the next one, that’s a play I make.”
On the verge of scoring once again, another mistake prevented a score — a fumble during a Tush Push play in the third quarter, for which Hurts once again took the blame.
“That’s me,” Hurts said after the play. “[Expletive] I did. Trying to secure the ball and he came straight in there and gutted it out. That’s on me, I’ve got to protect the [expletive] ball.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown had his best game of the season against the Bears, but the Eagles still lost.
Keep an eye on these two
Hard Knocks, known for its drama and fireworks, surprisingly did not feature anything from A.J. Brown after his recent comments regarding the Eagles’ struggle on offense.
But after Brown scored coming out of halftime against the Bears, the star wide receiver did share a brief interaction with Patullo — an interaction that may interest those who want to learn more about the pair’s relationship.
“I told you,” Patullo said after Brown’s touchdown. “You told me, I told you.”
As the series and the Eagles’ offensive woes continue, interactions between Brown and Patullo will continue to be scrutinized. And all Eagles fans can do is hope that Patullo and Brown keep telling each other whatever it takes to put more points on the board.
The Eagles gave up 281 rushing yards to the Bears on Friday, the ninth-highest total they’ve allowed in team history. The defense also allowed Chicago to make history of its own: DeAndre Swift and Kyle Monangai became the first pair of Bears running backs to each rush for 100 yards in a game since 1985.
The Eagles’ ground offense didn’t enjoy nearly as much success. Saquon Barkley gained a modest 56 yards on 13 carries and extended his touchdown drought to four games. No other Eagles running back received carries.
The Birds (8-4) have a chance to rebound on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, although their consecutive losses have resulted in a significant drop across power rankings. Here’s where the Eagles stand heading into Week 14 …
The Ringer: Fifth
Despite giving the Eagles the highest ranking of any list, Diante Lee, who dropped Philly one spot, believes that the team’s conservative philosophy has hindered its ability to win games and develop young players.
“Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni seems to have convinced himself that he’s solved the game of football. He’s got a formula for his team: Avoid turnovers, keep the game simple on offense, and let the defense carry the team home in the second half,” Lee wrote.
“But that formula has caused the entire franchise to stagnate. Outside of young star cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, is there a single player who looks better now than he did a year ago? Outside of a drive or two per game, have we seen anything that looks cohesive from this offense? And most concerning, is there any reason to trust that this team will even have an extra gear come playoff time?”
The loss to the Bears dropped the Eagles four spots in ESPN’s rankings. Tim McManus’ primary concern was the effectiveness of their rushing attack.
“The reigning Offensive Player of the Year has had a difficult time getting going in 2025. He is on pace for 1,048 rushing yards, just about half of his production from his record-breaking 2024 season (2,005),” McManus wrote. “He has faced more stacked boxes and is running behind an offensive line that hasn’t been as buttoned up as last season’s group. The ground game is vital to Philadelphia’s operation. The Eagles need to figure out how to unlock Barkley if they have designs on making another run.”
Barkley is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry this season, a dramatic decline from the 5.8 yards the Penn State alum averaged last season.
Jeff Stoutland’s offensive line has been hit with several injuries this season.
CBS Sports: Seventh
CBS Sports dropped the Eagles just two spots, but pointed out the decline of the team’s offensive and defensive lines.
“They won a Super Bowl being dominant on both lines. This year, it isn’t close to being that good,” Pete Prisco wrote. “What happened to the defense against the Bears?”
The Eagles finished behind the No. 4 Seattle Seahawks, No. 5 Green Bay Packers, and No. 6 Bears, who all won their Week 13 matchups.
The outlet criticized Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s utilization of their offensive skill position players and expressed doubt that the situation could improve.
“It’s hard to remember a team getting less out of its offensive talent than the 2025 Eagles. They returned four Pro Bowlers, the Super Bowl MVP, and one of the NFL’s best receiver duos in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith from last year’s offense,” Frank Schwab wrote. “That group is 19th in points scored, 24th in yards gained and 22nd in success rate. Just about every player is performing well below their career standards. And three months into the season, it’s unlikely to fix itself and it’s getting harder to trust the Eagles going deep in the playoffs.”
In Thanksgiving fashion, Chad Graff and Josh Kendall shared the most positive takeaway from every team’s game this past week. But they struggled to find one for the Eagles, and the Birds tumbled six spots from No. 3.
“The Bears defense is just OK, yet the Eagles managed only 317 yards of offense and 15 points at home on Black Friday,” Graff and Kendall wrote. “But we’re looking for positives today, and if this offense can get sorted out — which admittedly feels like a big ask 13 weeks into the season — Philadelphia should be fine.”
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles have already lost four games this season, more than they lost all of last year.
Sports Illustrated: 10th
The biggest drop of the week took place at Sports Illustrated, where Conor Orr moved the Eagles from third to 10th, although it seems like at least some of the blame lies with Birds fans. There wasn’t any analysis about the team, just a mention of the “uniquely pathetic” vandals who egged Patullo’s house.
Eric Edholm mentioned a litany of issues concerning the Eagles’ play and suggested that the NFC East title was back in play.
“Even the tush push doesn’t feel like a team strength now. There are multiple issues with this offense, but the bottom line is that Jalen Hurts must play better. The presumption is that the Eagles have the defense to make a deep playoff run, but the way they defended the run vs. Chicago suggested this unit isn’t nearly as impregnable as its reputation suggests,” Edholm wrote.
“We haven’t seen a repeat divisional champ in the NFC East since the Eagles won their fourth straight crown in 2004, and this year’s Philly team is doing everything it can to extend the drama as long as possible.”
As a result, the Eagles dropped four spots in NFL.com’s rankings and were leapfrogged by the Packers, Bears, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Buffalo Bills.
USA Today’s ranking represented the Eagles’ lowest placement across the board. The outlet dropped the Birds five spots and pointed out the negative correlation between A.J. Brown’s success and the team’s success.
“WR A.J. Brown is averaging 7.3 catches and 91.3 receiving yards (with three TDs) in Philly’s four losses,” Nate Davis wrote. “In his seven other games, all wins, he’s averaging 47.7 yards and 3.9 receptions (with three TDs). So, tell us again how important it is that you get the ball, A.J.?”
On Friday, the Mississippi native had his best game of the season, achieving season highs in receptions (10) and yards (132). Brown also caught both Eagles touchdowns in the loss.
The Eagles face the Chicago Bears on Black Friday still in the driver’s seat in the NFC East, but their magic number to clinch the division remains four games following the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving win against the Chiefs.
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Of course, the Eagles are playing for higher stakes than simply winning the division. Entering Friday’s game, the Birds hold the No. 2 spot in the NFC, with head-to-head wins against most of the conference’s top teams, including the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions.
The Birds can add the surprising Bears to that list today with a win, while a loss would knock the Eagles down to third place in the NFC with just five more games to go before the playoffs.
The Lions put themselves in a bad position with their loss against the Packers on Thanksgiving. At 7-5, Detroit is suddenly on the outside of the playoffs looking in with a tough schedule that includes games against the Cowboys, Rams, and Bears.
NFC playoff picture
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Week 13: Bears (8-3) at Eagles (8-3)
Where: Lincoln Financial Field
When: 3 p.m., Friday
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video (Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung)
TV: Fox29
Radio: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Devan Kaney)
It shouldn’t be hard to watch or stream Friday’s game. In addition to simulcasting on Fox 29 in and around Philadelphia, Amazon is streaming the game for free globally on its Prime Video platform.
Amazon’s Richard Sherman says Eagles play designs are ‘pretty pedestrian’
Richard Sherman called the Eagles’ offense predictable and “pedestrian.”
“[Eagles offensive coordinator] 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.
Richard Sherman agrees.
The five-time Pro Bowl defender turned Thursday Night Football analyst said during a conference call earlier this week the design of many Eagles plays are “pretty pedestrian,” allowing defensive backs to “determine route combinations and route concepts” based on how the Birds line up.
The Eagles have the 24th ranked offense in the NFL entering Friday’s game, among a handful of teams averaging less than 200 passing yards per game. Plus, Saquon Barkley isn’t coming close to repeating last year’s dominant 2,000-yard performance.
“Do I think they can repair their offense? No, I don’t,” Sherman said. “I think Kevin Patullo’s the issue, and unless they replace him, nothing’s going to change. They’re going to go home” early in the playoffs.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Sherman’s colleague at Amazon who spent 17 seasons as an NFL quarterback, played with Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo during his time in Buffalo. Fitzpatrick said it’s up to Patullo and head coach Nick Sirianni to fix “some missteps,” with their receivers, including getting A.J. Brown ”on a few more out cuts” and “in the slot a little bit more.”
“They’ve got to start in the second half of the season here, breaking some of those bad tendencies,” Fitzpatrick said. “Because you do fall in love with certain routes, with certain guys, because they’re such good players.”
The Eagles are headed down to Dallas for their first matchup against the Cowboys since the season opener.
The Birds are in control of the NFC East, but their road loss against the Giants stung, and they certainly don’t want a repeat against another division rival at JerryWorld.
Here’s everything you need to know about this Sunday’s game …
How to watch
Eagles vs. Cowboys will air live on FOX at 4:25 p.m., and will bee “America’s Game of the Week,” the network’s national broadcast. That means Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady will call the game from the booth, and Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will report from the two sidelines.
If you’d rather listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick call the game, the radio broadcast can be found on 94.1 WIP, and if you want to watch the game with your fellow Birds fans, here are a few spots to check out.
Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson walks onto the field before playing the Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025.
Injury report
Right tackle Lane Johnson will miss Sunday’s game — and a few more — after suffering a Lisfranc injury in his foot (What is that? Glad you asked) in the team’s win over Detroit. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.
However, center Cam Jurgens could return after leaving the Lions game with a concussion. Jurgens, who is listed as questionable, missed the prior two games with a knee injury. The only other Eagles players with injury designations for Sunday are backup offensive lineman Myles Hinton (back) and Willie Lampkin (knee/ankle). Jaelan Phillips was a full participant on Friday and is good to go.
The Eagles are three-point favorites against the Cowboys at most major sportsbooks as of Friday afternoon, down from 4.5 to open the week. The projected point total at DraftKings is 47.5.
Check out prop bets for Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, and more here.
Eagles to wear kelly green
For the second time this season — and the first time ever on the road — the Eagles will wear their kelly green uniforms on Sunday. The Birds previously wore their fan-favorite throwbacks in Week 8 against the New York Giants, a 38-20 win that was arguably the team’s best of the season. They’ll wear them again, for the final time this season, in Week 17 against the Washington Commanders.
The Eagles are 5-0 in their lighter shade of green since bringing the jerseys back in 2023.
NFL officials stand between Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (left) and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (right) after a spitting incident as the Eagles play the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.
Story lines to watch
The Birds haven’t seen the Cowboys since Week 1, when Jalen Carter was ejected just seconds into the game due to Spit-Gate (speaking of which, did anyone see Ja’Marr Chase get suspended for doing the same thing just a few weeks ago?). The spit became a national talking point, with even Gov. Josh Shapiro weighing in, and Carter, who was fined and effectively suspended for a game, promised that “it won’t happen again.”
Prior to a rain delay in the third quarter of the opener, the Cowboys offense was easily able to sustain drives, scoring 20 first-half points, as the Birds struggled to get pressure. With Carter (presumably) back in the game and the addition of Jaelan Phillips, Dak Prescott will be looking at a whole new Eagles defensive line, one that just forced Jared Goff to play the worst game of his career.
From the latest on A.J. Brown to the recent drama surrounding Jalen Hurts, here are some other story lines to watch this weekend …
Following a report of internal frustrations with Hurts, the Eagles quarterback said he holds himself accountable. Others in the media had a lot more to say (more on that in a bit).
Meanwhile, Brown, the subject of his own recent controversy after voicing his own frustrations with the offense, said he believes the Eagles are “close“ to where they need to be on offense — and he laughed off talk about his declining skills
Eagles tackle Fred Johnson says it’s “time to show what I can do” as he again fills in for Lane Johnson.
15-24: The Eagles’ record all-time without Lane Johnson. For comparison, the Birds are 120-62-1 in games Johnson has played in since he was drafted in 2013.
The Eagles offensive line and the Cowboys defensive line battle in the fourth quarter. Eagles win 24-20 over the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.
Our Eagles-Cowboys predictions
Here are our writers’ predictions for Sunday …
Jeff McLane: I see a potential trap in Dallas, but I think the Eagles’ defense will be able to keep Prescott from going off. Eagles 24, Cowboys 20.
Jeff Neiburg: “It’s a great offense and a bad defense (Dallas) against a great defense and a bad offense (Eagles). The game will probably be decided by who wins the matchup between Dallas’ offense and the Eagles’ defense. Who has the upper hand? It’s hard to pick against the Eagles right now.” | Eagles 27, Cowboys 16
Olivia Reiner: “While I’m not so sure this will be the get-well game on the ground the Eagles are looking for, they could have a chance to get going in the passing game, given the Cowboys are conceding 6.9 net yards per passing attempt (No. 29 in the league).” | Eagles 21, Cowboys 17
Matt Breen: “Teams have picked apart the Dallas defense through the air this season but I’ll wait and see if the Eagles can do the same. It’s hard to see the Eagles, especially with a banged up offensive line, suddenly flipping a switch on offense. By now, it’s fair to have a read on who a team is. But the defense is elite and they’ll carry them again on Sunday. We’ll find out how far that unit can carry them the rest of the way.” | Eagles 24, Cowboys 10
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni talks to quarterback Jalen Hurts against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, September 4, 2025 in Philadelphia.
What we’re saying about the Eagles
Here’s a look at what our columnists are saying about the Eagles, starting with David Murphy, who wonders what exactly people are even arguing about anymore with regard to Hurts.
David Murphy: “The only thing that matters is that Hurts has been good enough that the Eagles no longer need to acquire one of those other guys. Coaches and players are more than justified if they are frustrated with some aspects of Hurts’ approach and performance. But they also surely know that they are more fortunate than most.” Read more.
Mike Sielski: “This sliver of doubt when it comes to the Tush Push might seem a small matter. It isn’t. The play’s reliability was a tangible symbol of the strength of the Eagles offense: the manner with which they controlled the line of scrimmage.” Read more.
Marcus Hayes: Don’t expect A.J. Brown to be happy any time soon. Brown called the Eagles’ offense a “bleep show” on a livestream last week … The offense isn’t likely to get any better with the news that right tackle Lane Johnson will miss several weeks with a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot.” Read more.
What the Cowboys are saying about the Eagles
Despite what social media may believe, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is not approaching the Eagles’ offense like it’s a weak one. They have too many elite players for that, Schottenheimer said.
“At the end of the day, I’m not looking at the film and saying, ‘These guys are struggling.’ I’m looking at this film and saying, ‘Man, these guys are dangerous.’”
New addition Quinnen Williams on the Tush Push: “It’s a cool play that they do on second-and-short, on third-and-short, and fourth-and-short. I’ve never been against it. … I’m excited to see the game plan. Excited to go against it. Excited to be able to try and stop it.”
Schottenheimer on Jalen Carter coming back to the defensive line: “It’s a big difference. He’s a really good player. He’s packaged in there with some really good players. Jordan Davis is obviously a really good player as well. There’s Jaelan Phillips, it’s a hell of a defense. They’re the best in the league, I think. Again, it’s going to be really, really tough. But, we love that challenge and we think we’re pretty good too.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts during the National Anthem before the Eagles played the Detroit Lions on Sunday, November 16, 2025 in Philadelphia.
What the national media is saying
The discourse about the Eagles’ offense, and whether Hurts is part of the problem, is wearing on ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, a former Hurts critic who gave an impassioned defense of the quarterback on Get Up.
“What’s going on with Hurts is so disingenuous and disrespectful to Jalen Hurts,” Orlovsky said. “And I’m not the biggest Jalen Hurts fan. All this dude does is literally everything that everybody begged every other quarterback to do — or knocks them for not doing. All he does is win. All he does is be obsessed with football and winning and doing what’s best for the team.”
Jason Kelce on locker room discord: “I think that there are frustrations within a team that build up, continually, and I think Jalen gets a lot of the highlighting of that, again, because he’s the quarterback. … Lane [Johnson] and I didn’t talk for an entire offseason. Lane is like one of my best friends. Like, I love that guy. And this is part of being on a team. There are so many ups and downs. I’ve gotten into yelling matches with Jeff Stoutland, a guy that I consider like a second, almost like a father.
DeSean Jackson on A.J. Brown: “You can tell when the interest ain’t there, it ain’t there. It’s something else going on. And I got a great relationship with [Brown]. I respect him. I can’t say it. But I know it’s something else going on. It’s not all about football, it’s not all about X’s and O’s. I’ve been there. I’ve had situationships with QBs that I didn’t necessarily like. I’m just going to be honest. And when it ain’t there, it sticks out like a sore thumb. That’s all I’m going to say.”
👟 This weekend starts the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative. Here’s a look at some of the colorful kicks the players will be wearing, and the causes they’re supporting.
Coming off two straight prime-time wins over NFC North teams, the 8-2 Eagles travel to Arlington, Texas, for Sunday’s rematch with the Dallas Cowboys (4:25 p.m., Fox29). A lot has changed for both teams since their Week 1 matchup kicked off the NFL season. While it has been a relatively smooth season for Philadelphia — at least in terms of wins and losses — Dallas (4-5-1) has been hindered by its defense, allowing the second most points per game (29.3).
But recent head-to-head history favors the Cowboys, as they have won five of their last six home matchups against the Birds. Dallas will look for that trend to continue in order to shrink the Eagles’ 3½-game lead in the NFC East, the largest of any division leader in the NFL.
Here is a look at the updated odds and some player prop bets for Fox’s game of the week …
Updated Eagles vs. Cowboys game odds
The Eagles opened the week as 4.5-point road favorites over Dallas. Following the Cowboys’ dominant win Monday night over the Las Vegas Raiders, the line shifted in their favor.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, left, and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts talk after the Birds’ Week 1 win at the Linc. The rematch is set for Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
Passing yards props
Jalen Hurts has thrown for under 200 yards in three consecutive weeks. While the Eagles’ offense has struggled the past two weeks, they have also generally not been a pass-heavy team. Hurts ranks 23rd among all quarterbacks in passing attempts.
Dak Prescott, on the other hand, is coming off a strong 268-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Raiders, although his two previous outings were much less impressive. The 10th-year signal caller ranks fifth leaguewide in passing yards (258.7 per game).
Hurts has thrown for just one touchdown in the Eagles’ last two games, although he threw for seven combined touchdowns in the two games prior. Prescott has thrown five touchdowns in his last two games, four of the scores occurring last week. Both sportsbooks have the quarterbacks’ over/under set at 1.5 passing touchdowns for Sunday.
Running back Saquon Barkley carried the ball 18 times for 60 yards and a touchdown in the Eagles’ Week 1 win over Dallas.
Rushing yards
Saquon Barkley has rushed for under 70 yards in three of his last four games, although he recorded 150 rushing yards in the one outlier. This season, Barkley is rushing for two fewer yards per carry compared to last year, when the Penn State graduate was named offensive player of the year, and is on pace for 1,125 yards, down from 2,005.
On the other hand, Cowboys running back Javonte Williams has rushed for over 70 yards in three of his last four games, including a 116-yard performance against Washington.
Both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith have put up quiet performances over the last two weeks. Against Detroit on Sunday, Smith only caught one pass for eight yards, and against Green Bay, Brown caught two passes for 13 yards. During each of the Eagles primary receivers’ better week, they notched 69 and 49 yards, respectively.
For the Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb has posted over 65 yards in each of his last four games, and ranks sixth in yards per game across the NFL. His teammate, George Pickens, ranks third, and is coming off a 144-yard performance.
Hurts scored the Eagles’ lone touchdown Sunday night against Detroit.
Touchdown scorers
Against Detroit, Hurts was the lone touchdown scorer for the Eagles. For Dallas, Lamb, Pickens, and Jake Ferguson all caught touchdowns, along with receiver Ryan Flournoy.
It’s Dallas Week — and there’s plenty of drama. But it all seems to be focused on the 8-2 Eagles, not their sub-.500 opponents on Sunday, the Cowboys.
Despite a four-game winning streak and a 3.5-game lead over the Cowboys for first place in the NFC East, most of the discourse surrounding the defending Super Bowl champions has come off the field.
From the fallout following a report that there have been internal frustrations with Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown’s continued disappointment with his contributions on offense, here’s what they’re saying about the Birds ahead of their upcoming game against the Cowboys …
‘So disrespectful to Jalen Hurts’
During Sunday’s postgame show with former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner, longtime Eagles reporter Derrick Gunn said “there’s a lot of people in that organization that are frustrated with the quarterback situation right now.”
When Hurts was asked to respond to the comments, he held himself accountable and said the frustrations haven’t been brought to him directly. Although Hurts didn’t voice his own frustrations with the report, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky called it “disrespectful” toward the QB.
“What’s going on with Hurts is so disingenuous and disrespectful to Jalen Hurts,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up. “And I’m not the biggest Jalen Hurts fan. All this dude does is literally, everything that everybody begged every other quarterback to do — or knocks them for not doing.
“All he does is win. All he does is be obsessed with football and winning and doing what’s best for the team. And we’re just finding ways to knock him and take shots at him or report this about him or that about him. We heard this stuff last year about him being disliked in the locker room and he never wavered. He never flinches. And it’s this constant attack.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown late in Sunday night’s win over the Detroit Lions.
Since the 2022 season, Hurts has recorded a 51-15 record, made two Super Bowl appearances, winning one and earning a Super Bowl MVP. Despite his success, the quarterback still seems to face plenty of scrutiny.
“We kill guys — Joe Burrow doesn’t win enough, Dak Prescott doesn’t win enough, Mathew Stafford didn’t win enough in Detroit, Josh Allen doesn’t win enough, he can’t win the big game — and all Hurts does is everything we beg those quarterbacks to do,” Orlovsky said. “And all we want to do is kill him because it doesn’t look the same way, or the way that we want it. And I’ve done it [criticized him] before in the past as well.
“I don’t understand why we are obsessed with trying to knock Jalen Hurts right now when he does the only thing that people actually care about.”
"What's going on with Hurts is so disingenuous and disrespectful to Jalen Hurts. … All he does is win. All he does is be obsessed with football."@danorlovsky7 shares his thoughts on Jalen Hurts following his comments over the locker room frustrations 👀 pic.twitter.com/mP8v6Gfc9Y
Orlovsky isn’t the only one upset hearing about the drama that’s reportedly taking place within the Eagles. Former center Jason Kelce responded to the Gunn report on 94 WIP and shared some insight about what it’s like inside an NFL locker room and the emotions at play.
“I think that there are frustrations within a team that build up, continually,” Kelce said. “And I think Jalen gets a lot of the highlighting of that, again, because he’s the quarterback. … Lane [Johnson] and I didn’t talk for an entire offseason. Lane is like one of my best friends. Like, I love that guy. And this is part of being on a team. There are so many ups and downs. I’ve gotten into yelling matches with Jeff Stoutland, a guy that I consider like a second, almost like a father.
“This thing brings out emotions and sides of people because you all want to win so badly. I hate seeing this, and the only way out of this, and I mean this fully, you talk to people. You be accountable, you try and work this out. I mean, it’s not that much different than what you do in your marriage, right? You try to be accountable to what you’re doing wrong, what you’re failing in. You try to take accountability to alleviate the burden off of other people. These are the ways you maintain relationships and maintain a team functionality.”
Jason Kelce gets emotional when reacting to the report about internal frustration with Jalen Hurts, as Kelce reveals a story about how he did not speak to one of his best friends in Lane Johnson for a full offseason.
“You can tell when the interest ain’t there, it ain’t there,” said Jackson on the House of Action podcast with Clinton Portis. “It’s something else going on. And I got a great relationship with [Brown]. I respect him. I can’t say it. But I know it’s something else going on. It’s not all about football, it’s not all about X’s and O’s. I’ve been there. I’ve had situationships with QBs that I didn’t necessarily like. I’m just going to be honest. And when it ain’t there, it sticks out like a sore thumb. That’s all I’m going to say.”
DeSean Jackson on AJ Brown: “As you can tell, it’s something else going on. And I got a great relationship with him. I respect him. I can’t say it. But I know it’s something else going on. It’s not all about football, it’s not all about X’s and O’s. I’ve had situationships with… pic.twitter.com/fFmraGcApk
On ESPN’s First Take, former quarterback Cam Newton discussed what he perceives to be massive problems hidden behind the team’s winning record.
“You don’t get reports like this from thin air, they’re coming from somewhere,” Newton said. “When you’re not getting opportunities to make plays, the frustration then comes to say like ‘Yo, we’re an offense that is well capable of producing way more. Are we winning the football games? Yes. Is it becoming a distraction that I’m voicing my opinion because I want to hold my team accountable and there’s an expectation here to dominate? Yes.’
“The Philadelphia Eagles have been able to mask a lot of their deficiencies because they have been winning. Take away winning and it’s a muck down there.”
"You don't get reports like this from thin air. They're coming from somewhere."@CameronNewton says despite winning, there are higher expectations for the Eagles' offense 📈 pic.twitter.com/Slgck8h1Bg
