Another week, another comeback effort to overturn a horrendous first-half effort fell short on Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles (1-4-1) fell 30-28 to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6 action.
Trailing by 16 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles reeled off two-straight touchdowns, but Carson Wentz’s rush on the game-tying two-point conversion attempt was stuffed, relegating Philadelphia to a second-straight loss.
Wentz did have a better passing day than his counterpart in reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, posting 213 yards and a pair of scores compared to Jackson’s 186 yards through the air. However, the Ravens’ quarterback added a talismanic 108 rushing yards and a touchdown to pace the visitors and ultimately ruin the days of the 7,500 fans in attendance at Lincoln Financial Field.
While most of the attention was put on the arrival of Jackson, who the Eagles were facing for the first time, Philadelphia’s offense had absolutely zero success against a high-flying Ravens defense that gave them next-to-nothing throughout the first half.
Their first six drives consisted of five three-and-outs and a fumble lost by Wentz. On top of yet another turnover, four minutes into the second quarter, the Eagles’ quarterback had just three passing yards while the team had a grand total of -7 total yards.
It had the Eagles staring into a 17-0 hole after the Ravens scored on their opening drive — a Jackson pass to Nick Boyle from seven yards out before Wentz’s fumble on the Eagles’ 28-yard-line set up Gus Edwards’ one-yard rush with 31 seconds left in the first.
In need of a spark, the Eagles turned to rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts for a pick-me-up, which he immediately provided with the opening play of their seventh drive of the day, reeling off a 20-yard run.
Sparking a 70-yard drive, the Eagles marched down into Ravens territory, but a decision to go for it on a 4th-&-1 from the Baltimore 20 backfired when Wentz’s keeper up the middle was stopped short.
After the Ravens punted, the Eagles had a chance to get some points on the board before the break when a roughing the passer penalty brought Philadelphia down to the Baltimore 34, but Jake Elliott’s 52-yard attempt sailed wide right as the half expired.
The Eagles finally got on the board, but even that didn’t come easily. With 7:17 left in the third when Miles Sanders broke loose for a 74-yard run to the seven-yard-line but was stripped of the football. Luckily for Philadelphia, JJ Arcega-Whiteside was downfield blocking and was able to pick up the loose ball in the end zone for the score. The ensuing two-point possession was no-good.
Jackson punched right back in highlight-reel fashion, bolting 37 yards up the middle for a score on the Ravens’ next possession to re-extend the Baltimore lead to 24-6.
With the score, the Ravens’ streak of consecutive games scoring at least 20 points extended to 29 games, tying the 1999-2000 Rams for the second-longest streak in NFL history.
A 50-yard connection from Wentz to John Hightower provided an Eagles answer, which came on a three-yard reception by Jason Croom with 13:32 left in the fourth quarter. A successful two-point conversion brought Philadelphia to within 10.
After a pair of Baltimore field goals extended the Eagles’ deficit to 16, Philadelphia got to within eight with 3:48 remaining when Wentz hit Travis Fulgham for an 18-yard score before connecting with Arcega-Whiteside for the two-point conversion.
Philadelphia’s defense came up big to force a Ravens three-and-out, getting Wentz the ball back quickly. Starting the drive on their own 29-yard-line, the Eagles picked up 49 free yards on a pass interference call, bringing them down to the Baltimore 22.
Four plays later, on the first play inside two minutes, they were in the end zone as Wentz kept it for a one-yard score, bringing the Eagles within two, but his rushing attempt at a two-point conversion was stopped short.
