Neither Matt Patricia running the defense nor Jalen Hurts flying separately could save Eagles from sinking to 3rd consecutive loss

SEATTLE — The Eagles needed Matt Patricia’s defense to make one last stop to escape against the Seahawks and overcome another uninspiring offensive performance on a night when Jalen Hurts played with an illness significant enough to force him to fly to Seattle on a private charter separate from his team. 

That should begin to convey just how unusual of a weekend this was for the Eagles — and it ended too similarly to the previous two weeks after a 20-17 loss.

Patricia’s defense — it still seems odd to call it such — could not deliver that one last stop against the Seahawks. Drew Lock led Seattle to take the lead with 28 seconds remaining, and Hurts threw his second interception when the Eagles only needed a field goal to send the game to overtime. It was the third consecutive loss for the Eagles, which is the first time they’ve had such a losing streak since Nick Sirianni’s first month of games as the head coach. The Eagles already clinched the playoffs and still have a favorable path to the NFC East crown, although it’s hard to have much confidence in the team’s current state. 

So where to begin? How about the new defensive coordinator — if not in title, then undoubtedly in duties? Sirianni clumsily made the switch last week despite public announcements that the staff would go unchanged, and Monday’s postgame press conference after a demoralizing defeat offered his first chance to explain why he called pencil up on Sean Desai after 13 games. 

“I made the decision,” said Sirianni, countering a perception that it was forced upon him. “Didn’t feel like we were playing and coaching well enough on defense, so I made an adjustment.”

The decision was made when game-planning began last week. One player said he learned of the change last Tuesday. And though Desai still has the title of defensive coordinator, Sirianni made clear that Patricia is the decision-maker on defense and Desai’s role is to support Patricia. This was a demotion without a dismissal. 

But this column could have been about how Patricia’s unit saved the Eagles in his first time on the sideline calling plays for them. He made changes in personnel groupings and how certain players were deployed, but his unit could not get the Seahawks off the field late in the game. Any Eagles fan would have signed up for stopping Lock with 1:52 remaining on the Seahawks’ 8-yard line down four points and with only one timeout — especially because the Eagles had limited Seattle to one touchdown all evening at that point. Except D.K. Metcalf continued to haunt the Eagles with highlight-reel catches that left the Delaware Valley cursing J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and the third-down woes that led to Desai’s demotion did not dissipate with Patricia holding the playsheet. The Seahawks converted two third-and-10s on the final drive, including Lock’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 28 seconds remaining. James Bradberry was in coverage, but he played at the sticks in a man-to-man call trying to prevent the first down. Smith-Njigba ran past him, and there was no help in the end zone to keep the Seahawks from taking the lead. 

Sirianni rearranged the chairs, but did not prevent the sinking. 

“We just couldn’t make the one final play to get us off the field, again,” veteran defensive end Brandon Graham said. “It’s a lot to learn from, but I’m not worried about this team at all. I know that we’re going to be self-critical of ourselves. And we’re going to get it right because we got to. We got three weeks until the postseason.”

The Eagles still had 28 seconds and all three timeouts to try to bring the ball into field goal range. Hurts threw his second interception of the game, both of which occurred in a similar fashion: the franchise quarterback throwing deep and trying to pick up yards in chunks when a big play wasn’t necessary. Hurts deemed it trying to be aggressive. 

It was, in a certain way, reckless — not necessarily adhering to the game situation. The first interception came while the Eagles nursed a lead. The second interception came when the Eagles needed about another 20 yards to get into field goal, and they still had two timeouts and 13 seconds on the clock. 

One could understand if Hurts was not his best self. He missed practice on Saturday because of an illness and there was enough concern about his status for the team to downgrade him to questionable on Sunday. The fact that he flew to Seattle separate from teammates spoke volumes about his condition. Hurts declined to discuss how he felt after the game, suggesting it was irrelevant because he did not play well enough.

The accountability is admirable, although the assessment is accurate. While the spotlight was on the defense because of the coaching change, the offense failed to reach 20 points for the third consecutive week. This did seem like the type of game the Eagles would win 17-13. And a big part of the woes was Hurts, who threw for a season-low 143 passing yards and has not reached 200 passing yards in back-to-back weeks. His two interceptions brought him to 17 turnovers this season, which is tied for most in the NFL.

Hurts continued to use the term “execution,” a popular postgame phrase from him. He added a new description to his repertoire on Monday.

“I don’t think we were committed enough,” he said.

Asked what he meant by that, he answered he did not have a dictionary and did not know what more to say. Asked how it presents itself, he identified clear issues with the offense.

“It’s a matter of being on the same page,” Hurts said. “It takes everyone being all-in in all aspects. It starts with me. We had multiple opportunities out there in the end. There was just not another way you would rather have it. The trust that we have in one another, how much we communicate as players, you know, taking advantage of those moments when you have them to open the game, whether it’s in the final minutes or, you know, early on, whatever. With the false start in the short-yardage situation. Just have to be better. I have to be better at minimizing the mistakes, penalties, mental errors. Just playing team football and it starts with me leading it.

We’ve lost games because I could be better. That will change everything. I accept that.”

Sirianni said there will not be further coaching adjustments, although one has the right to be skeptical after he said as much last week. The coach explained the public disconnect with his actions as wanting to notify his players first and then preserve competitive advantage throughout the week. 

You saw how competitive they were.

The perplexing part of this is the Eagles did not play San Francisco or Dallas. Sure, Seattle is a tough venue to visit. But the Seahawks entered the game having lost four consecutive games and they were playing with their backup quarterback. The Eagles were road favorites. They needed to play better — and especially in critical moments. The offense went 0 for 3 in two-minute drives. The Seahawks scored 10 points between the final two minutes of the first half and the final two minutes of the second half. 

This seemed to be a chance for the Eagles to get right, and they instead dug the hole deeper. The Giants visit on Christmas and the Eagles are already double-digit favorites. Win the final three games against opponents with losing records, and the Eagles will win the division and host a postseason game. If they land the No. 2 seed, they could have two postseason games (and maybe even three if San Francisco was upset). 

Three weeks ago, the Eagles seemed like a reasonable Super Bowl pick. Three weeks from now, they could be near that perch again. Three weeks is a long time in the NFL. 

Until then, they’re losing the benefit of the doubt. They might have lost it already.

“I think we’re running out of chances right now,” Fletcher Cox said. “We’ve got a couple of games left. Obviously we’re already in the playoffs, but we’re looking at the bigger picture.”

What does that picture look like? It has Patricia running the defense. It has a franchise quarterback who must reverse apparent regression. And it has a coach still searching for answers. They weren’t found last week, as hectic as that was. A new week starts when the team lands in Philadelphia, where more than the quarterback is sick. Sirianni must find a new remedy, because last week’s fix didn’t work.