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Eagles

Eagles Lose a Heartbreaker by Being the Dumber Team

Matt Schultz

By Matt Schultz

Published:

American Football - NFL - Philadelphia Eagles v Jacksonville Jaguars - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - October 11, 2026 Jacksonville Jaguars' Cam Little celebrates with teammates after kicking a field goal to with the game Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

The Eagles had this one. Jake Elliot hit a 48-yard field goal to give the Birds a 17-16 lead with :08 remaining in the fourth quarter. That should’ve been ballgame. Then this happened:

Which led to this:

Eagles lose to the Jaguars in London, 19-17.

The Birds lost this game for a bunch of reasons, but they all pretty much boil down to the fact that they were the dumber team. Let’s take a look at all the mental mistakes they made in the final minute of the game alone:

  • Down 16-14 and already well into field goal territory with 0:21 left in the game, Jalen Hurts throws a 7-yard completion to Makai Lemon, who goes out of bounds at the Jacksonville 27-yard line. This stopped the clock. Turned out to be a massive mistake.
  • On the next play, a 3rd and 3, Dameon Pierce rushes up the middle for a loss of 3 yards. Jacksonville uses their last timeout here to stop the clock at 0:12.
  • Jake Elliot drills a 48-yard field goal to give the Eagles the 17-16 lead, but because of the time management mistakes the Birds had just made (Lemon going out of bounds), they couldn’t milk the clock down to zero for this kick. After the made field goal, there was still :08 left on the clock.
  • On the ensuing kickoff, Jake Elliot boots a clean, short kick to Ameer Abdullah instead of kicking out of the end zone for a touchback or going with a squib.
  • Because of absolute dogshit kickoff coverage, Ameer Abdullah returns the ball 53 yards.
  • If the Eagles make the tackle earlier, Jacksonville wouldn’t have been in field goal range.
  • If the Eagles make the tackle two seconds later, the game clock would’ve run out.
  • They did neither. The Eagles brought Abdullah at the exact wrong time — with 0:01 left — at the Eagles 39-yard line, which makes for a 57-yard field goal attempt.
  • Cam Little hits the field goal and the Jags walk it off.

This is just dumb football. I don’t understand why the Eagles were still throwing the ball with 0:21 left in the game when they were already in field goal range and a run would keep the clock running. I don’t understand how Lemon doesn’t know to stay inbounds so as not to stop the clock. I don’t understand Nick Sirianni choosing to kick the ball to Ameer Abdullah with 0:08 remaining instead of going with a touchback or squib — especially after Jacksonville showed you how dangerous their return game can be on the opening kickoff, when Josh Cameron took it 90 yards to the house for a TD that was ultimately called back.

I don’t understand any of it, but I am beginning to wrap my head around this: the Eagles are simply not a smart football team.

Matt Schultz
Matt Schultz

Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com