Eagles
Well it’s finally settled in. I woke up early to watch our Philadelphia Eagles play football in London against the Jaguars. After almost four hours of football the Eagles took the lead with eight seconds left. Things looked great and ready to get the season back on track. All they had to do was not allow a kick return for a touchdown or put them in field goal range with time remaining. As we know, the Eagles allowed the latter. One of the most gut-punching losses since all the way back to the one last week. Here we’re going to break down the game. While it’s mostly negative, we will look for a couple positives.
Let’s start with the worst part about the game, the ending. If that end of game kickoff goes into the end zone for a touchback, the Eagles most likely win that game. The Eagles also could’ve not called a pass play while in field goal range which would’ve allowed them to take the kick as time expired. This would’ve definitely given the Eagles the win. Sirianni even came out and admitted it was his terrible idea.
Nick Sirianni on the final kickoff: “I didn’t make the right decision. I lost us that game. And that’s what I said to our guys. What hurts there is that the guys fought so hard, and then I don’t make the decision I should make and costs us the game. I put that fully on me.” pic.twitter.com/paKUEQLbQM
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) October 11, 2026
What’s even worse is that it was easily foreshadowed at the start of the game. If you were late to turn it on because of sleep or being a regular person on a Sunday morning, you missed quite the start. The Jaguars returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown before it was called out for a penalty. To then trust your kicking unit in a late game scenario just seems like an obviously bad choice.
Jaguars used the same blocking on their first return of the game and their return to set up the game winner: double the 4 to the short side + second returner has the edge (left 2 clips)
Eagles did use a holder on other kickoffs and had a better time on those (right 2 clips) pic.twitter.com/H5veD6k9Am
— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) October 12, 2026
We’ll move onto the second worst part of the game, which honestly includes the worst part but it’s the entirety of the second half. It’s a problem. I’m not sure what adjustments, if any, are being made at half time. The Eagles are easily argued as one of the worst teams in the NFL during the second half. Over their three game losing streak they have 10 3-and-outs compared to just 3 total points. They also have as many turnovers as scoring plays. It’s a bad offense and truly makes you wonder what they go over at halftime.
Eagles second-half possessions during their three-game losing streak:
Punt (3-and-out)
Punt (3-and-out)
Punt (3-and-out)
Interception
Turnover on downs
–
Punt (3-and-out)
Punt (3-and-out)
Turnover on downs
Turnover on downs
Punt (3-and-out)
Turnover on downs
–
Punt (3-and-out)…
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) October 12, 2026
And before we get to the moral victories, let’s go with a moral defeat. That game instantly became an example of, “anything can happen late in the game.” Now every time there’s a kickoff with around 8 seconds in a one score game, the announcer will most likely reference this Eagles loss. I don’t like my team having a moment synonymous with losing. It’s the kind of stink that can linger. It’s the same one I grew up with before the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win. If you’re a younger fan, just look what the Kawhi Leonard shot did to the Sixers. But I’ll save you from a basketball rambling.
Here’s where we get to the spin zone. There were genuine positives to take out of the game. Now I get it, there were far more negatives (as you saw above) and you only prop up moral victories in a loss. It’s not exactly a popular opinion to still have hope in this team. That said, I’m not going to ignore whatever positive aspect I can latch onto to save my mentals a little. In the end, I am a total homer for the team and I’m not going to try and hide it. So let’s take a look at some of those positives to help take the sting away from the loss.
First up, Jake Elliott’s performance. Now going 2/2 on extra points and 1/1 on a 48-yard field goal isn’t very impressive on paper. But if we’re going to look at trends for the offense, it’s going to cut both ways. Jake Elliott hasn’t miss a field goal nor extra point all season. Considering he was struggling the last few years, this is a welcomed surprise. Of course you hate to see it coming in what may be a lost season, at least it gives one less position the Eagles need to replace next season.
Second accreditation goes to the offense at the end of the game. Yes, it’s hypocritical to say they’re a massive concern but also give them credit. They still lead a should-be game-winning drive at the end. This is something great teams do. Even after another second half from hell, the Eagles still could and should have won that game. As long as you can say your team is never truly out of it, you can do something never seen, like take the lead with only eight seconds left out of a kick return.
The last goes to the defense and specifically Jalen Carter. They’re back to form. While the numbers don’t specifically back this up, you can’t ignore the elephant in the room that makes other elephants look like mice. That would be that the offense can’t hold the ball. If your offense can’t hold the ball, the defense is going to be out on the field and let stats accumulate.
Jalen Carter made his presence felt all game against Jacksonville.
5 TKL, 3 TFL, 2 SACK, 2 FF, 1 PD vs Jaguars
Even in the loss, Carter was one of Philly’s biggest difference makers on defense. pic.twitter.com/NkV1yK8k0C
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) October 11, 2026
Next week the Eagles try (again) to right the ship against the Carolina Panthers. Luckily it’s not like the Eagles have to adjust to a time change again while the Panthers are coming off a bye week. Actually they do and the Eagles will try and avoid the butcher’s masquerade that will follow a 2-4 start. Still they’re not out of the division yet. The NFC East managed to go winless in a week where two teams played each other. Impressive work and luckily keeping the Eagles in contention. Still 3-3 will look a lot better than 2-4.
Sources: NFL on X, Dave Zangaro on X, NFL Performances on X, Pro Football Reference, Shawn Seyd on X, Eagles Nation on X, AP Photo/Ian Walton
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Hello, I’m a greater Philadelphia native writing mostly about the Eagles and the rest of the NFL. Articles aren’t … More about Kyle Lavin
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