Once again, the Eagles left the key under the mat. This time, they couldn’t change the locks in time.
Up by 14 points in the second half and moving the ball efficiently Sunday against the Broncos, the Eagles suddenly imploded both offensively and defensively over the final 28 minutes of the game. Denver rallied for a 21-17 win, handing the Birds (4-1) their first loss of the season.
This came just one week after the Eagles nearly blew an 18-point lead to the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay before holding on for a 31-25 win, as their season-long inconsistency continues to be a storyline.
The Eagles looked in control as they went up 17-3 in the third quarter on a Saquon Barkley 47-yard TD catch. But the Broncos’ dormant offense suddenly awoke as Bo Nix led Denver to consecutive long touchdown drives — a 64-yard and 72-yard march — the second capped by a two-point conversion that put the Broncos ahead for the first time with seven minutes, 36 seconds left to play.
That’s plenty of time, but the Eagles’ offense was without answers. They went three-and-out, while a big fourth-down catch by DeVonta Smith was negated by an illegal shift from Barkley. The Broncos again drove down the field.
A questionable unnecessary roughness penalty on Zack Baun — of all people — on a third-down stop gave the Broncos a fresh set of downs deep in Eagles territory, leading to a field goal for the four-point lead.
With 71 seconds remaining, the Eagles still had a chance and drove into Denver territory. However, the refs didn’t call what appeared to be a pass interference on Dallas Goedert inside the Denver 3-yard line, forcing a Hail Mary attempt on the final play that didn’t connect.
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### Observations
**Why can’t the Eagles play a full game?**
Sure, a lot of NFL games are decided by one score — most of them actually are. But of the 20 quarters the Eagles have played this year, they’ve looked like a Super Bowl team in what? Six or seven of them? This Jekyll-and-Hyde act needs to be figured out eventually, or it’ll catch up with them again like it did against the Broncos.
To have just 128 total yards in the second half with all the talent they have on offense, at home, against a Broncos team that looked dead on arrival, can’t be dismissed.
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**Bo Nix suddenly woke up**
The second-year Broncos quarterback was terrible for the first half, completing less than 50% of his passes. In the second half, Nix looked like Patrick Mahomes. He completed 14 of 18 passes for 163 yards and tossed both of his TD passes after the break.
The Eagles struggled to keep him contained in the pocket and disrupt the timing between Nix and Courtland Sutton. Sutton had just two receptions for 11 yards before the break and finished with eight receptions for 99 yards.
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**Saquon still looking to break one**
It almost appeared Barkley would have one of his signature breakaway runs when he jetted through the left on the Eagles’ second possession, picking up 17 yards with much green ahead before Broncos EDGE Jonathon Cooper chased him down and dragged him down from behind.
Still, Barkley showed he can shift into high gear if given enough space. However, he was definitely second fiddle against Denver with just five carries through the first three quarters.
One could argue he should’ve seen a few more carries late in the third quarter, as the Eagles were wearing down the Broncos’ defense and suddenly struggling to move the ball through the air.
His 47-yard touchdown catch on a wheel route early in the third was the perfect storm: an excellent play call against the coverage, a nifty double move by Barkley against Alex Singleton, and a perfectly placed ball by Jalen Hurts that allowed Barkley to make an over-the-shoulder catch for the TD and a 14-3 lead.
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**Welcome back, pop passes and quick game**
Hurts’ yards-per-attempt average was skewed by a bomb to DeVonta Smith and the perfectly thrown wheel route touchdown to Saquon Barkley, which accounted for about 43% of his passing yards.
Yet, he carved up Denver’s defense with a steady diet of RPO quick hits and pop passes reminiscent of an Eagles offense from years ago.
The game plan made a ton of sense, given the Broncos’ ability to rush the passer and disrupt passing games. Credit Hurts for his accuracy and timing against a Denver secondary featuring last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain and opposing corner Riley Moss.
Hurts wasn’t afraid to throw at Surtain, as Brown had the most targets.
What happened in the second half will be discussed in the coming days, but Hurts took six sacks, many of which stalled drives after the break.
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**Vic Fangio tosses a change-up**
We all know how much defensive coordinator Vic Fangio loves the Phillies. Fittingly, Fangio threw a changeup at the Broncos by reducing his extra-man pressures, going mostly with a four-man rush and some potent SIM pressures.
This was more like the Fangio we saw last year. His decision to dial up fewer pressures against a good Denver offensive line showed his faith in the scheme.
That approach was rewarded in the first half as the Eagles persistently pressured Nix. However, the Broncos converted 4 of 8 third downs after the break compared to 1 of 8 before halftime.
Fangio will have to take a long look at the breakdowns, especially against the run, as Denver moved the ball on the ground at critical moments. He’ll also review contain issues as Nix escaped the pocket multiple times to keep plays alive.
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**Landon Dickerson banged up, yet again**
It’s been a rough post-Super Bowl stretch for the three-time Pro Bowl left guard, who limped into the locker room late in the first quarter with what the team termed an ankle injury.
Dickerson has had two knee surgeries since the end of the Super Bowl, dealt with a back injury earlier this season, and now an ankle issue is added to the list.
Brett Toth again filled Dickerson’s void and allowed an early pressure. It’s hard to tell if Toth was a major factor in the offense’s struggles in the second half, but long term, if Dickerson doesn’t get healthy, the offense will surely be worse for it.
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**Squeaky wheels got greased, but not enough**
After a week of semi-controversy fueled by an A.J. Brown postgame tweet last Sunday and various reports of Eagles pass catchers being unhappy — along with the typical weekly criticism of play calling — both Brown and DeVonta Smith saw a healthy diet of targets.
Smith was targeted 10 times and cracked the 100-yard receiving barrier, and Brown was targeted eight times.
Despite some nice deep balls to Smith, including one called back by a questionable review, Hurts still wasn’t able to drive the ball to Brown, who managed just 43 yards on five receptions.
It should be an interesting few days ahead at Novacare.
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**Sometimes, it’s good to be conservative**
In a Week 3 home game against the Rams, the Eagles handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley on 3rd-and-16 and 3rd-and-18 when backed up close to their own end zone.
So you can understand why the Broncos might expect the Eagles to do it again on 3rd-and-16 from their own 22-yard line in the second quarter, and why the Eagles might have expected the Broncos were anticipating that.
The Broncos played a basic zone with a four-man rush, and a well-protected Hurts rifled a picturesque spiral deep down the right seam to DeVonta Smith, who caught the ball in stride for a 52-yard pass — the longest of the season for the Eagles.
It was nearly a mirror image of the 51-yarder Jahan Dotson caught from Hurts in the season opener.
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**Where is Xavier Gipson?**
Jahan Dotson could have really hurt the Eagles when he fair caught two punts in the first half deep inside Philadelphia territory, when it appeared both punts likely would have gone out of bounds for a touchback.
The first, he caught at the 10-yard line. The second, right before halftime, was a line drive that he fair caught at the 5-yard line — a ball that almost certainly would have gone into the end zone.
The trajectory of the punt alone made it nearly impossible for that ball to stay in the field of play.
The Eagles claimed receiver/return specialist Xavier Gipson off waivers on September 22. He averages 8.9 yards per return for his career — more than Dotson’s 8.5.
Dotson’s longest return this year is 14 yards. Gipson had a 19-yard return earlier this year with the Jets.
He’s been on the 53-man roster long enough to at least make a difference in punt return, hasn’t he?
Dotson fair caught another punt at the 5-yard line in the third quarter.
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