Eagles

The Eagles Would’ve Won if They Didn’t Botch These Two Plays in a Row

By Matt Schultz

Published: Oct 5th, 2026 · 4:42 PM EDT

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I’m not here to make excuses. There are no excuses to be made. The Eagles lost on Sunday, plain and simple. They had plenty of chances to put the game away and they failed to do it. A bunch of people deserve blame. Nick Sirianni. Sean Mannion. Jalen Hurts. The whole offensive line. Those guys are the culprits. They blew it.

Now, with that out of the way, I do think it’s worthwhile to point out: if one of two plays in the fourth quarter went normal, the Eagles would have won.

The First Play

8:17 left in the fourth quarter, Eagles were up 20-10, third and goal, two yards to the end zone. If the Eagles had just punched this ball in, we’d all be feeling a lot different today. But they didn’t. Here’s what happened instead:

In a huge 3rd and 2 moment with a chance to clinch the game, Eagles go 14 personnel with two extra offensive linemen and are totally out of sync.

I am all for being creative, but sometimes these one off plays from specialty personnel groups barely get any practice reps and… pic.twitter.com/ovUEO6QPJt

— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) October 5, 2026

Cam Jurgens started pulling way too early and knocked the ball loose in Jalen Hurts’ hands. It was all out of rhythm. Trying to make something out of nothing, Jalen rolled to his right and made a sprint for the end zone. He didn’t get there. This thing was dead on arrival. A botched play from the jump. But they still had one more shot…

The Second Play

Fourth and goal, still two yards to go, and Nick Siranni opts to go for six instead of settling for a field goal. I didn’t hate the move. I still don’t. If the Birds score here, that’s the game. But they didn’t. Here’s what happened instead:

Jalen lines up in the shotgun. Ball is snapped, and Jalen looks right for Dontayvion Wicks, who can’t get open. Then Jalen looks left as LA’s rush closes in. He’s about to be flushed from the pocket, then decides to stay put at the last moment and, off-balance, throws a shitty ball toward toward Darius Cooper. The throw never had a real chance. It falls incomplete, and the Eagles turn the ball over on downs. This sucked. It looked even worse than my description.

We all know what happened next. The Rams got the ball back with 7:26 left and marched 98 yards downfield for a touchdown. Then the Eagles got the ball back and very quickly stalled out after Zach Ertz dropped a 3rd and 4 with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter. Philly punted, Matt Stafford orchestrated a 79-yard drive for a touchdown, and that was the ballgame.

So what does all this mean? Why’s it even worth bringing up? I guess all this is to say, despite the Eagles’ litany of injuries and baffling coaching decisions and missed throws by Jalen, they were right there on Sunday. If Cam Jurgens didn’t bump into the ball on 3rd and goal, the Eagles could be 3-1 right now. If that 4th and goal was a better play call, the Eagles would be 3-1 right now. And 3-1 is pretty good. 3-1 with a win over the Rams is even better. That’d be nice, and it almost happened.

I’m not saying this means the Eagles are actually good. I’m not really concluding anything here. I’m just pointing it out. I’m just making an observation. I’m being observant. I’m allowed to do that. Not every blog has to have some big conclusion. I’m allowed to experiment with form. I’m allowed to push blogging to new and interesting places. All I’m saying is the Birds are almost 3-1. That’s a fact. Something to think about.