philadelphia eagles nick sirianni
philadelphia eagles nick sirianni
The good news for the Philadelphia Eagles is that the last time they started a season 2-2, they won the Super Bowl. The bad news: the road toward contending for another looks very steep.
A battered Birds team battled hard with the Los Angeles Rams on an unpleasant Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia featuring near-constant rainfall. Despite holding a 10-point lead in the final five minutes, the Rams scored two late touchdowns as the Eagles’ offense malfunctioned again in the second half to fall 24-20. However, more so than in their first three games, when the Eagles notched two shaky wins and one unfathomable blowout loss, they had some legitimate excuses.
Philadelphia Eagles Run Out of Gas in Week 4 Loss to Los Angeles Rams
Oct 4, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) snaps the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Injuries, Injuries, and More Injuries
The Eagles knew they faced an uphill battle heading into this game. DeVonta Smith, Zack Baun, and Marcus Epps were all ruled out during the week with various ailments. That’s three starters, including two star players in Smith and Baun.
Another couldn’t play on Sunday, with Lane Johnson ruled out in the morning for personal reasons. Then, Saquon Barkley’s day ended after just three carries with a hamstring injury. The Eagles effectively haven’t had Barkley for two games this season, as he was injured on the first play of Week 2. He returned for just three carries in the second half and still had the cowboy collar he wore after suffering that stinger during his brief workload this Sunday.
Things kept going from bad to worse. Quinyon Mitchell and Jonathan Greenard both exited the game with injuries and didn’t return. This was supposed to be Greenard’s first full game as an Eagle after missing the first two weeks with an offseason injury and playing a limited role on Monday. Mitchell’s replacement, Jonathan Jones, dropped a potential game-winning interception late in the fourth quarter, a few plays before Kyren Williams’ game-winning touchdown.
Six of Philadelphia’s nine highest-paid players, according to Spotrac, weren’t available for all or most of the game. That doesn’t even count Mitchell, who is among the team’s most important players. The Rams have their fair share of issues, especially at defensive line without Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald. But winning any game with such a depleted roster, especially a Super Bowl contender playing with desperation to avoid a 1-3 start, is tough.
Second Half Struggles
Many NFL games are a tale of two halves, but rarely to the extremes that the Eagles reached on Sunday. Their 20 points in the first 30 minutes were a season-high for a half. Of course, their zero points the rest of the way were naturally a season-low.
However, the early underlying signs weren’t as promising. You could argue the offense had less to do with three of Philadelphia’s four scoring drives than the defense or special teams. The Eagles began the game with two field goals, the first coming off an Andrew Mukuba interception that he returned to the Rams’ 28-yard line.
After going 39 yards to set up a 56-yard kick by Jake Elliott, the Eagles scored the game’s first touchdown thanks to a tremendous punt return by Britain Covey. He weaved down the sideline for 41 yards to the Rams’ 17-yard line, which preceded a tremendous contested catch by Darius Cooper on a ball that easily could’ve been intercepted.
Then, with the Rams looking to get aggressive before halftime, Stafford took a deep shot that Cooper DeJean picked off. DeJean, who also briefly left the game with an injury, navigated a 25-yard return to the Rams’ 35. A costly pass interference penalty on Los Angeles’ Trent McDuffie brought the ball to the 10-yard line with nine seconds left in the first half, enough time for Hurts to find Cooper alone in the back of the end zone for his second score of the game.
But when the Rams stopped beating themselves in the second half, the Eagles couldn’t find any answers. They went three-and-out to start the second half, again. They failed to convert a single third down all game after struggling in that department last week. That led to two failed fourth-down tries, the first unsuccessful tush push on a long fourth-and-one that the defense bailed out with a fourth-down stop of its own.
Facing fourth-and-goal at the two, the Eagles ran a play that Nick Sirianni tried to check out of with a timeout call that went unseen. Instead, Hurts’ pass fell incomplete for Cooper (who likely would’ve been short of the goal line even if he made the difficult catch). Maybe things would’ve been different if the Eagles kicked a field goal. Adding three points to Philadelphia wouldn’t change the outcome, although it would’ve meant the Eagles needed a field goal on their last drive with one minute left and no timeouts instead of a touchdown.
The defense finally ran out of gas, allowing an 85-yard touchdown drive to bring the Rams within three. When the Eagles held the ball for just 1:04 in their following possession, the inevitable breakdown finally came to pass.
The Last Word
The New York Giants lead the NFC East through four weeks, as everyone expected, especially after losing Jaxson Dart for the season in the first quarter of Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams (who handed the Giants their only loss).
A similar second-half comeback to the Rams’ has the Dallas Cowboys even in the standings with the Eagles at 2-2. The Washington Commanders were held to 13 points by the Indianapolis Colts after hanging 33 on the Seattle Seahawks the week prior, falling to 1-3.
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