The defending champion Philadelphia Eagles were criticized to hell and back for the way they went 4-0 to start the season. The bottom finally fell out in Week 5, as they suffered their first loss since last December when the Denver Broncos pulled off a 21-17 comeback win in Philly.
Advertisement
The Eagles allowed the Broncos to score 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to steal the game. Saquon Barkley had just one carry in the second half, and the team ran the ball only 11 times all game. That is their fewest single-game rushing attempts as a team since January 3, 2010.
As ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said, the Eagles do not look like the dominant team they were in 2024, despite the fact that they lost only a handful of starters from that championship squad. A worrying second-half trend continued as well.
“They don’t resemble the team that won the Super Bowl. We’ve got to look at them and see that for what it is and say, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ You’ve got a new offensive coordinator, does he know what he’s doing?” Stephen A. asked via First Take.
“Their final five drives yesterday, four punts, three three-and-outs. I mean, come on now, you’ve got to do better than that,” added the analyst.
The Eagles did lose their offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore, which meant that new OC Kevin Patullo was QB Jalen Hurts‘ fifth play-caller in six seasons. That type of turnover is not exactly conducive to success, though Patullo has been with the team for several seasons, having joined up in 2021 as the passing game coordinator.
The bigger issue, however, seemed to be that the Eagles let the outside noise get in. They were winning games with their formula of pass-only-when-you-need-to. But here in Week 5, they decided to completely switch up their identity. As Stephen A. said, no wonder it resulted in their first loss of the season.
“You got a guy in Saquon Barkley, you give him one carry the entire second half. You’ve got a 14-point lead. You’re trying to preserve the lead. The guy ran for over 2,000 yards last season, was an MVP candidate. You don’t think it’s imperative to get him the ball? You threw the football 38 times, you rushed the ball 11 times. That tells me Nick Sirianni got caught up in the noise emanating from the fan base.”
"[The Eagles] don't represent the team that won the Super Bowl."@stephenasmith on the Eagles after their loss to the Broncos. pic.twitter.com/tmQ0ZUdlGq
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 6, 2025
Hurts was 23-for-38 for 280 yards, by far his largest total of the season. DeVonta Smith caught eight receptions for 100+ yards, while A.J. Brown had five receptions. But at what cost? Barkley had just six carries, and the running game was basically shunned, which allowed Denver’s NFL-best pass rush to tee off for six sacks, including 2.5 for underrated sack artist Nik Bonitto.
The Eagles defense has not been nearly as dominant as last year either. They are 16th in scoring defense (21.8), 21st in total defense (338.2), and tied for the fifth-lowest sack total (7). Last year, they were second, first, and tied for 15th in those metrics.
But it’s really the second-half disappearance of the offense that has become the most worrying trend. Apart from their big comeback against the Rams, the Eagles have managed just 27 second-half points in the other four games. They were shut out in the fourth quarter in three of those as well.
Philly needs to clean up the defense, stop listening to outside noise, and embrace their identity as a running offense, and maintain their intensity for a full 60 minutes.
