October 04, 2026
Eric Hartline/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles just don't play a pretty brand of football.
The Eagles should've been cooked from the word "go."
They were already down Dallas Goedert, Zack Baun, and DeVonta Smith well in advance of this Sunday's home game against the Rams, then lost Lane Johnson at the last second and Saquon Barkley just minutes in.
And for a while, they didn't look that far off from last Monday's disaster against the Bears, where the offense couldn't move and the defense got carved up by a third-string, 38-year-old Case Keenum.
Through most of the first half, Jalen Hurts had to be a regular escape artist out of a quickly collapsing pocket.
Through most of the first half, Tank Bigsby, in place of an injured Barkley, was left running into yellow and blue-colored walls from an already banged-up offensive line that's already struggled to adjust to a more lateral-moving offense.
And through most of the first half, it felt like everyone sitting through the cold rain at Lincoln Financial Field, or watching from their TVs at home, were just waiting for the shoe to drop against an L.A. team that's been well projected as an NFC favorite for weeks now.
And for a while, it ended up looking like it wasn't going to, until of course, it did.
The bottom fell out. The Eagles lost, 24-20, on a fourth-quarter L.A. rally.
They walked away with the opening lead, on a Matthew Stafford interception that floated straight into Andrew Mukuba's grasp, which flipped into a 29-yard Jake Elliott field goal.
For every give that Quinyon Mitchell let up to Davante Adams, as one of L.A.'s two top pass-catching threats, he had a take to make up for it immediately after, until he exited the game with injury, too.
And for as much as Hurts had to shift around in the backfield all day, again, eventually, he got back to working something out of nothing – again.
He tossed a highlight-reel throw off his back foot to Darius Cooper in the end zone. Then, after a fortunate tip from Michael Carter that redirected into a huge Cooper DeJean pick and a generous defensive pass interference penalty brought the Eagles down into the red zone, Hurts was finally able to sit in the pocket, wait, and spiral another score to Cooper for a 10-point lead just before the half came to an end.
And for a while, that held, because Matthew Stafford took forever to rebound on the Rams' end, Vic Fangio's defense actually started to look like a suffocating Vic Fangio defense again, and oh yeah, punter Braden Mann stepped back up as the unsung hero on special teams.
But then the offense seized up through the second half – again – leaving it as a requirement for the defense to make every last stop.
The Eagles went 0-for-12 on third downs and 1-for-4 on fourth downs for the entire game, and when they did finally have crucial points right there in front of them late into the fourth quarter, they passed on the field goal that would've made it a six-point game.
Instead, they went for it, tried, and failed on a Hurts incompletion that ricocheted off the fingers of Cooper at the goal line.
The Rams responded with a 10-play, 98-yard touchdown drive to make it a 20-17 game, and then another 10-play, 79-yard scoring drive that sent LA ahead 24-20 and whittled the time left for the Eagles to just a 1:10.
And there were no more miracles. Hurts got sacked twice, the offense didn't go anywhere, and the whole miserable day folded on a dead-on-arrival Hail Mary from 4th and 25.
MORE: Beat-up Birds let double-digit lead – and history – slip away
The numbers were ugly.
Actually watching the effort was even uglier, as the Eagles' defense devolved into a mess of killer penalties, open seams, and a pass rush that started to show signs of life, but then just ran out of gas, while the offense stopped resembling anything competent.
They can't start a game, and it's a dice roll now if they can even finish one – suppose it depends on how bad talent-wise the other team is compared to them.
But this is who the Eagles are. This is who they've been, and it might be at a point now where no forward-thinking offensive coordinator, or a stacked defense, or Jalen Hurts heroics can cover for it.
The Eagles kept tempting fate through all of the second half on Sunday.
They're an ugly, aggravating, miserably frustrating team to watch week in and week out.
And when they win, sure, they can brand it as tough, but you can see all the holes and shortcomings that really didn't need to be there.
When they lose, though, it's all the more infuriating, because they should be better than this.
They were like this in 2023, but talent pulled them through, at least as far as a Wild Card embarrassment in Tampa.
They were like this for much of 2024, too, until a generational season from Barkley and an all-time crushing defense all clicked at just the right time to pummel everyone on the way to the Super Bowl.
And it was more of the same last season, but the injuries, the age, and even the buy-in looked like it was catching up.
MORE: Despite showing flashes, injury-depleted Eagles roster blows it
Now the Eagles are here, still very much like that in 2026, but already banged up, easily not as talented, and with staff and scheme changes that, so far, only look like they've left them worse off.
They're an ugly team.
They can't help it. At this point, they can't fix it.
And man, can they not pride themselves on it anymore. Not after this week's meltdown.
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