Instant observations from Broncos 21, Eagles 17: Huge blown lead results in Eagles’ first loss of season

On an already tough weekend for Philadelphia sports, the Eagles looked to improve to 5-0 against the Denver Broncos.

The Eagles, unfortunately for the local diehards, continued Philadelphia’s losing ways on the weekend. On Denver’s final three possessions, Bo Nix led the Broncos to two touchdown drives and a time-draining field goal drive. Jalen Hurts’ final pass to the end zone went incomplete. And the Eagles, who had been playing with fire the entire first month of the season, blew a 17-3 lead to lose 21-17 to the Broncos. They are now 4-1.

In an early season already full of weird wins with up-and-down offensive performances, Kevin Patullo’s group looked more in sync in the first half. There was a notable uptick in RPOs (run-pass options), a recent staple of the Eagles offense that had gone missing in the early weeks of the season. Jalen Hurts had two long passes: A go ball to DeVonta Smith, a wheel route touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley. On the play, Barkley ran right by former Eagles linebacker Alex Singleton.

But the offense, yet again, fell asleep down the stretch and Vic Fangio’s defense was not there to pick them up. The Broncos had an equal amount of success on the ground and through the air to give the Eagles a loss. Here are the PHLY Eagles crew’s instant observations.

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EJ Smith

For as many tangible changes the Eagles offense showed in a 21-17 loss to the Broncos, the excruciating constants remained mostly the same. The Eagles are devoid of a running game and prone to prolonged stretches without production through the air as well. And unlike the first four weeks of the season, the defensive and special-teams units weren’t there to bail the offense out in the team’s first loss of the season. Poor officiating decisions and a litany of mental errors aside, the Eagles have yet to maximize the talent they have on offense even after a week spent discussing how to do exactly that

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Bo Wulf

That sequence on the Broncos’ final possession with the picked-up intentional grounding (insane) and the unnecessary roughness penalty on Zack Baun (tough, but fair) will put the refs in the spotlight. The offense went more pass-heavy than it has been since Saquon Barkley’s arrival, and some will point to the absence of a running game as the culprit for a down game, especially with some third-down sacks. To my eyes, Jalen Hurts played a very good game and was let down at least once on a throw downfield. Sometimes, your best players just don’t play up to their standard … in this case, the penalty on Baun and Quinyon Mitchell surrendering a few big completions to Courtland Sutton standing out, while Jalen Carter was nowhere to be seen.

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Jamie Lynch

Man, what a deflating loss. To have what felt like the game secured & for the defense to allow so many 4th quarter points was pretty deflating. Not one I’m particularly mad about overall, but certainly one that got away from them. The illegal motion penalty on Saquon when they picked up the 4th down call is the one I’ll probably be thinking about all week long. To call that there when it had absolutely nothing to do with the play is the highest level of nerdery, just loser refereeing. The unnecessary roughness call on Zack Baun? What are we doing here? Seems like every big play of this game was decided by the referees. Not a good taste in the mouth when that’s the case. Just an awful, awful way to end a football game where it felt like you were the better team.

This Eagles team just hasn’t shown an ability to put 4 quarters together. This one was the tale of 1 quarter failing them instead of a half. Just a brutal, brutal weekend for Philadelphia sports.

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Rich Hofmann

Much will be made of the Eagles offense, and its continued up-and-down nature, but the Eagles defense struggled as this game went on. The Broncos marched down the field for multiple touchdown drives and then drained most of the clock and kicked a field goal (unlike Bo, I thought the personal foul call on Zack Baun was incredible over-officiating). Not good enough from the defense as the game went on.

Give credit to Sean Payton and Bo Nix for some big plays, but earlier this week, A.J. Brown mentioned that the Eagles defense and special teams had been carrying the offense. Hard to make that case in this one.

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Fran Duffy

Well …. I was set to say that this was the most complete win of the Eagles season so far, but things crumbled for this team on both sides of the ball down the stretch. The defense could not stop the run, Courtland Sutton made a handful of plays in the low post over perfect coverage vs Quinyon Mitchell, and key penalties on both sides of the ball submarined this team.

Last week on the Post-Game Show I brought up the idea that the Eagles may have to re-think their approach on offense. A year ago at this time, they morphed from a pass-first team into the most run-heavy team in the NFL. I pondered if this team had to do the opposite, and that was certainly their strategy today. The run game was non-existent, but the passing game could not find a rhythm in the second half against one of the best defenses in the league. When you’re in a game like that, you can’t afford the self-inflicted wounds that the Eagles took in the form of penalties.

They don’t have long to recover after this. It’s a short week for an in-division game against the Giants. You can’t let Denver beat you twice … they have to turn around here and get ready for Thursday Night Football.