The Philadelphia Eagles suffered their third straight loss on Monday night, falling to the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 20-17 to fall to 10-4 on the season.
I mean, 10-4 is still a great record, right? It’s actually tied for the second-best record in football. The Eagles are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot.
However, they were 10-1 a few weeks ago, so when you take that into consideration, their current record doesn’t seem as impressive.
So, what exactly is going on with the defending NFC champions?
Philadelphia was demolished by the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13. It was routed by the Dallas Cowboys the next game. Then, on Monday evening, Philly fell to a Seahawks team that was missing its starting quarterback in Geno Smith. Not to mention the fact that the Eagles actually had a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, only to allow 10 unanswered points to a Drew Lock-led offense It was the first time Lock had won a game as a starter since 2020.
Going into Week 15, Philadelphia canned defensive coordinator Sean Desai after the club allowed a combined 75 points against the 49ers and Cowboys. While Philly’s defense looked better for most of the night against Seattle, it choked when it mattered most, allowing a 10-play, 92-yard drive capped by a Lock touchdown pass with 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles’ defense looked like Swiss cheese on the drive, and afterward, questions were once again prompted about the state of Philadelphia’s personnel on the defensive side of the ball, which ranks just 22nd in the NFL.
But it’s not just the defense.
The Eagles have failed to crack 20 points in any of their last three losses, as Jalen Hurts has labored the last couple of weeks. He went 17-for-31 with 143 yards and a couple of interceptions against the Seahawks, and versus Dallas, Hurts was 18-of-27 with 197 yards. He hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since Week 13, and he has amassed four touchdown tosses in total over his last five games. Three of those scores came in a Week 12 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Yes, Hurts was battling flu-like symptoms against Seattle, but he hasn’t been dealing with the flu all season long…and he has struggled. At least in comparison to his MVP-caliber campaign last year.
The Eagles aren’t scoring points. They aren’t stopping opposing offenses. They play in a conference that includes squads like the 49ers, Cowboys and even the Detroit Lions, all of whom could certainly beat Philadelphia in the playoffs.
Philly thought it could solve its issues by firing Desai, but obviously, the Eagles have an issue with roster construction that is rearing its ugly head at the worst possible time. Desai wasn’t the only reason why Philadelphia is allowing 24.4 points per game. He wasn’t the only reason the team ranks 28th in pass defense. He certainly wasn’t the culprit for the Birds’ recent offensive issues.
Several weeks ago, the Eagles appeared to be the odds-on favorites to not only win the NFC, but to win the Super Bowl. Now, they are fading with the postseason right around the corner.
Don’t get me wrong: this definitely isn’t Philadelphia’s obituary. The Eagles could absolutely turn things around over these next few weeks, especially given the quality of their upcoming opponents (they will face the New York Giants twice and the Arizona Cardinals). But there is still no doubt that Philly doesn’t look quite right, and with January just on the horizon, the Eagles need to remedy these problems now.
That is, of course, assuming Philadelphia’s issues are fixable.
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