PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles led for the majority of the game, but it was yet another chapter of inconsistent offensive play in a half that continues the story of this season in a 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. The loss snaps a franchise-tying best 10 straight wins and a 12-game win streak at home.
Leading 10-3 at halftime, the Eagles' offense struggled mightily after a 47-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to Saquon Barkley to open up the third quarter. After that strike, the offense mustered just one first down while a huge 30-yard, fourth-and-four connection to DeVonta Smith was negated by an illegal shift penalty. It was one of nine penalties on the day for Philadelphia.
It was a low-scoring first half between the two teams. Denver took an early 3-0 lead on a 55-yard field goal from Will Lutz before the Eagles tied it on a 31-yarder from Jake Elliott after the Eagles' drive stalled on Denver's 13-yard line. It was the first Red Zone trip of the season where Hurts and the offense did not find the end zone, snapping a perfect 11-for-11 streak when inside the 20 entering the game.
The Eagles' defense kept Bo Nix and the Broncos offense in check, holding them to 102 total yards of offense and just 36 on the ground in the first half.
Za'Darius Smith picked up the Eagles' first full sack of the season from an EDGE running a nice stunt to get to Nix for a 13-yard loss, pushing Denver out of field goal range. The momentum from that play seemingly was about to wane quickly after Will Shipley ran for no gain, Hurts was sacked for a two-yard loss and then a false start made it 3rd and 17.
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Throughout the season, when the Eagles have stared at 3rd and extremely long inside their own territory, it has seemed that Kevin Patullo and the offense were content waving the white flag with a conservative draw play. Instead, Hurts dropped back and connected downfield to Smith for a 52-yard pass to ignite the team and crowd inside the Linc.
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Hurts capped off the drive two plays later with a two-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert to make it a 10-3 Eagles' lead with 7:20 left in the first half.
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The Eagles wasted no time getting back in rhythm on offense to start the second half striking quickly on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to Barkley who had a mismatch on a linebacker that Hurts recognized and threw one of his best passes of the game to connect with the running back.
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The offense was unable to find that same success on from there on out, including a missed opportunity between Hurts and A.J Brown. The wideout had two steps on his defender, but it looked as if Brown stopped running full stride for a split second and Hurts overthrew the receiver.
The lackluster showing by the Eagles' offense allowed the Broncos to hang around. Denver formulated its best drive to close out the third and to open up the fourth quarter with J.K. Dobbins capping of a 10-play, 64-yard drive with a two-yard score to make it 17-10.
After another quick three-and-out, the Broncos kept their next drive alive on a 34-yard pass on 3rd and 15 to set up an 11-yard touchdown score from Evan Engram. Sean Payton opted for an aggressive decision to go for a two-point conversion and it paid off, giving Denver an 18-17 lead, their first lead since midway through the first quarter.
A late Denver field goal pushed that lead to 21-17, giving Philadelphia one last chance lunge with no timeouts remaining. Hurts orchestrated a beautiful drive down inside the opposing 30 with 8 seconds left, and the team debatably should've had a PI called in their favor down at the goal-line. But with 3 seconds to go and the game on the line amidst a chorus of disgruntled boos following the potential missed call, the Eagles had one final shot from the 28.
Jalen Hurts came just inches away from snatching the win out of Denver's grasp. A.J brown and DeVonta came down empty-handed, with Smith briefly having a fingertip on the ball. And with that, the Broncos were able to escape Philadelphia with their win, handing the Eagles their first loss in 287 days.
Smith finished with his first 100-yard receiving game of the season while Hurts went 23/38 for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
This is a game that many fans will feel has been on the horizon for a while. The team has struggled to sustain offensive consistency through the opening 5 weeks, and while one loss doesn't define a season, it's clear that the team absolutely has plenty of work to do if it is to retain the Lombardi Trophy.
The Eagles will now turn their attention to a clash with the Giants on a short week, with the NFC East rivals duelling under the Thursday Night lights.
