EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- An Eagles fan clad in a kelly green No. 26 jersey was escorted in handcuffs by police through the field-level corridor of MetLife Stadium while the Eagles filed off the field under their own form of humiliation. The shame for the fan was that the three hours he had just witnessed were not punishment enough.
The Eagles' startling 34-17 loss to the New York Giants marked their second defeat in five days. They have gone from undefeated to their first two-game losing streak since the ill-fated 2023 campaign. And it's worth bringing up that year because Thursday's loss was the worst for the Eagles since an inexplicable upset by the Arizona Cardinals on New Year's Eve in 2023.
"We're just not very good right now," Lane Johnson said.
Johnson seemed to be discussing the running game in particular, although it could be said about the entire team. They're a legitimate Super Bowl contender brimming with unrealized potential, yet there's nothing they're especially good at after six weeks. Their offense is inconsistent. Their defense displayed vulnerabilities. And even those intangible areas that Nick Sirianni emphasizes -- his motto is "tough, detailed, together" -- are falling short of the standard.
They were not the tougher team. They were not the more detailed team.
Time will tell whether they're together.
"I don't think we played our brand of football or coached our brand of football today," Sirianni said.
All losses count the same, although some are easier to rationalize or justify. Not Thursday's. The Eagles were unsound and undisciplined. Yes, they missed Jalen Carter and Landon Dickerson, but it's not as if they can point to injuries or an undermanned roster as the reason for defeat. It's not as if they can tip their cap to another Super Bowl contender; the Giants entered the game 1-4 and tied for the worst postseason odds in the NFL. And it's not as if they can chalk it up to two teams playing at a high level in a well-played game.
If you didn't know their histories or their rosters, you would have thought the Eagles were the team at the bottom of the standings. And if you think it was just a bad day for a bad day, you weren't paying attention to the first month of the season. There have been problems festering -- especially with a lackluster, inefficient offense. The Eagles' position was that they were close to putting it all together. They've been just as close to falling apart.
"We were winning, but we weren't dominating," Johnson said. "It's frustrating. You see the guys that we have -- on the offensive side of the ball, we should be doing a lot more to help our defense out. It's frustrating, but nothing we can't turn around."
The offense's struggles are the most confounding. They have spurts of success, but as Johnson was quick to counter, spurts don't score points. If it seems they're judged harshly, such is the burden of high-level talent and demonstrated success. They have nine Pro Bowl-caliber starters. They've reached two of the last three Super Bowls. Hurts suggested after the Eagles' fourth win that those critical of the team were "hounds for negativity," but Hurts surely knows why there were concerns even without a loss.
The trend of a dormant half of football continued. The Eagles had two three-and-outs, one four-and-out, and two turnovers in a scoreless second half. In their past three second halves, the Eagles have scored 14 points and have 242 net yards. They exceeded both those totals in the second half in a Week 3 win against the Rams alone.
"You can game plan all you want. But when you get in the game, a lot of it is making adjustments," Johnson said. "We're not efficient in anything."
Sirianni points to three-and-outs as an issue. The Eagles led the NFL in three-and-out rate -- they were committing three-and-outs at the highest rate in 20 years entering the game -- and they had three more drives without a first down on Thursday.
Johnson thought predictability was a problem.
"Last two weeks, you kind of know what it is: You know when the pass is coming, you know when the run is coming," said Johnson, who still pledged confidence in offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. "Moving forward, we've got to do a better job of that."
A.J. Brown acknowledged "it's safe to say" the Eagles are still searching for an offensive identity. When Hurts was asked this week why a group with continuity is still trying to find cohesion, he made the reference to a different chef using the same ingredients. The meal might not taste the way you remember. Hurts did not mention Patullo by name in the analogy, but he's the new chef.
At this time last year, Johnson was part of a player-led movement to become a run-first team. This year, the run game has been less effective. Saquon Barkley finished with 58 yards on 12 carries -- and he only had two yards on four carries in the second half.
"Last year, do you think we were predictable? Everybody knew we were going to run the ball," Barkley said."We still got it off.I also think we got to get back to the attitude,the mindset of,not really giving a f -- what people are trying to do."
Entering the game, it seemed the Giants defense could be an inviting matchup against both the run and the pass. It appeared that way in the first half. Not after halftime. Hurts finished 24 of 33 for 283 yards, one touchdown, and the first interception of his season. He overthrew DeVonta Smith on a potential 89-yard pass in the third quarter when Smith was wide open downfield.
"I've got to be better," Hurts said."I take ownership for it.A lot of autonomy and a lot of opportunity there with the ball in my hands,and given those situations,I have to be wiser and more detailed with it."
(He called the interception a "bad ball." On the overthrow to Smith, he said he "didn't give him a ball.")
On defense, the Eagles had the worst game of the Vic Fangio era. Playing without Carter and without Quinyon Mitchell for a good portion of the game, they weren't putting pressure on the quarterback and they weren't holding their coverage. The Giants scored on five of 10 drives before ending the game with the ball. And Cam Skattebo bulldozed through the Eagles defense. The Eagles weren't the aggressor against the Giants.
"They out-physicaled us," Cooper DeJean said.
To make it worse, the Eagles did not adhere to Sirianni's emphasis on excelling in areas that require no talent. Hurts bungled an end-of-half sequence when he ran the ball on third down while the Eagles had no timeouts. He didn't pick up the first down, and the Eagles didn't run a fourth-down play before time expired. Penalties that alter drives (and the game) remained an issue. They turned the ball over twice in Giants territory. If you watch the sideline, they appear closer to a team that's on edge than a team playing free of expectations.
"You never want to come out of the game with anything that (doesn't) require talent beating ya," Sirianni said."And that's always going to be on me.Always.Always,always.There were some things we had today that were probably uncharacteristic."
Here's the problem, and it's one the Eagles learned in 2023: If you keep playing a certain way, it's no longer uncharacteristic. Those are your characteristics. It's why Brown was vocal about rectifying issues during the Eagles' four-game win streak to open the season. If you don't fix problems, you become the problem. And the Eagles' inconsistencies that they survived in September are costing them in October.
"You just got to fix the things that you're struggling with.Learn from winning,"Brown said."Right now,we're still on the other side of losing,so we have to learn from losing.It’s very uncomfortable.It’s easier to learn from winning,because you feel OK about it.This stings."
Brown said the Eagles are "willing to have the uncomfortable conversations and be accountable," although he indicated he did not know about the meeting with Hurts and Barkley earlier this week. Jordan Mailata called this a "gut check" time for the Eagles to see how they react.
Sirianni reminded the public that the Eagles were 4-2 at this time last year, too. That's true; although it seems convenient times choose convenient times bring up last season storyline wanted avoid summer fan base fascinated chance Super Bowl repeat.It’s now worth mentioning there’s fury way playing (and perhaps new offensive coordinator too)).
If Eagles want draw anything 2024 ,they can look happened early October .Week 5 bye week used evaluate reassess .They returned bye became best team football .
The Eagles have a long weekend to take a breath. Sirianni said the coaches will treat it as a mini-bye week. After the Phillies' heartbreaking loss on Thursday -- Thursday clearly wasn't Philadelphia's night -- all attention will be on the Eagles.
This was their worst loss in nearly two years. The excitement about the team might have been arrested. They'll have a chance for exoneration when they return.