October 11, 2026
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
The Eagles' defense showed up in a big way against the Jaguars in London.
Another week, another late letdown on offense and defense for the Eagles as they continue to lose impact players to injuries, and continue to falter in second halves and especially fourth quarters – and now you can add special teams to that list.
After getting a go-ahead 48-yard field goal by Jake Elliott with just eight seconds to play, Ameer Abdullah brought the ensuing kickoff back 53 yards and into Philadelphia territory, getting tackled with one second to play – just enough time for Jags kicker Cam Little to nail a 57-yarder and deliver a 19-17 win to the Jags in London.
One week after blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead at home to the Rams, the Eagles got bit late again, as Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence hit Parker Washington for the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes, 20 seconds to play. It looked like nail in the Eagles' coffin, but Jalen Hurts marched a struggling offense to the go ahead field goal before the kickoff return implosion.
The Eagles were so depleted by injuries that they entered the game as heavy underdogs, so maybe even having the chance to win the game could appear to be a moral victory, but their losing streak climbed to three.
As we do each week, we hand out grades for the offense, defense, special teams and coaching.
Obviously, the Eagles were again majorly shorthanded without Saquon Barkley, Devonta Smith, two starting offensive linemen and Hollywood Brown, and then Will Shipley left in the first half and Tyler Steen got hurt in the second half, so we graded accordingly. There were positives, especially on third down, but also some repeated second-half issues.
Rush offense:
Without the best RB, the Eagles struggled to run against a great run defense, and losing Shipley only made matters worse. They didn't even attempt a Tush Push on 4th and 1 on their opening possession, going for an inside zone with Shipley, who got stuffed. After Steen exited (he later returned), the Eagles basically gave up running. On the good side, LG Willie Lampkin cleared the way for Shipley's 2-yard TD run with a nice drive block. Averaging 1.2 yards per carry isn't ideal.
Pass offense:
The streak of 17 straight failed third-down conversions ended early, but the Eagles didn't stop with just one. They converted four of their first six third downs, including the 62-yard TD connection between Jalen Hurts and Darius Cooper on 3rd-and-10. Having TE Dallas Goedert back gave Hurts a good option in the quick passing game, and Hurts and Tay Wicks foiled a Jags blitz for a first-down connection on 3rd-and-8 with good pre-snap communication.
Hurts could've put the game away in the third against all-out blitz but missed a wide open Wicks down the left side by just enough for it to be incomplete, a major missed opportunity. It's a ball Hurts rarely misses. The Eagles then went back into their three-and-out habits, doing it four times on four straight possessions spanning the third and fourth quarters, but give Hurts credit for marching the offense into Jags terrain for the go-ahead field goal. He was far more composed this week than the past two.
Being without EDGE Jonathan Greenard reduced the pass rush to Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith Jr., but Hunt's gruesome injury right before halftime made them even thinner there. They were also without Marcus Epps and then lost Michael Carter II, testing their safety depth, too.
The good news is that Jalen Carter, without the cast on his wrist anymore, was a one-man wrecking machine for much of the game. He had two sacks, three TFLs, and two forced fumbles just in the first half. After Hunt left, DC Vic Fangio dialed up more blitzes than usual, and many of them worked.
Rush defense:
The Eagles had a few issues wrapping up speedy, nifty Jags RB Bayshul Tuten, a South Jersey native, but overall held the Jags' run game in check. Carter blew up several runs, but the entire defensive front keyed in. Zack Baun looked shot from a rocket when he dropped Tuten for six yards on the final play of the first half, keeping the Jags out of the end zone. Tuten had some better runs in the second half but averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry.
Pass defense:
It looked shaky early, as Andrew Mukuba got caught peeking into the backfield and let Washington get behind him for a 51-yard touchdown, with Riq Woolen failing to get off Jakobi Meyers' downfield block. But the Eagles settled in. Quinyon Mitchell had a big breakup in the end zone with seconds to go before halftime on third down.
Nolan Smith hit Trevor Lawrence on the pass that led to Mitchell's third-quarter interception, a major swing of momentum for the Birds at the time. Fangio blitzed way more than he typically does to make up for an absent pass rush. Baun had some nice pressures from those blitzes. They were basically haunted by two Washington receptions.
They were headed for an A until the kick return implosion that literally lost them the game.
Once again, Britain Covey and Braden Mann were among the team's most important players. Covey had an 18-yard punt return and 42-yard kickoff return while Mann averaged 51 yards per punt, landing one inside the Jacksonville 10 and another inside the 15.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. hurt the team by getting tangled up in a fight on the opening kickoff that got him ejected.
For almost all game, Nick Sirianni out-coached Liam Coen, who made several awful decisions, but the decision to kick off to Abdullah backfired badly and cost them the game.
OC Sean Mannion finally avoided offensive predictability by passing from under center on first down several times, an encouraging sign that he's adjusting to the tells he was giving. But the offense still fell into its weekly second-half rut, which means more changes need to be made. Fangio's defense played very well for almost all of the game but once again got bit by a fourth-quarter big play touchdown.
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