The Eagles had this one in hand, then watched it slip away in the final seconds.
Jake Elliott drilled a 48-yard field goal with eight seconds left to put Philadelphia ahead, but the special teams unit unraveled on the ensuing kickoff. A 52-yard return by Ameer Abdullah flipped the field, and Cam Little ended it with a 57-yard kick as time expired, sending the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 19-17 win in Week 5 in London.
For all the injuries the Eagles have been fighting through, the bigger issue keeps showing up after halftime. Their offense has gone silent.
Philadelphia has scored just three second-half points over its last three games, and that drought has put too much pressure on everything else. The defense gets worn down, the possessions shrink, and the margin for error disappears.
That’s how a team that led 14-7 at halftime wound up 2-3, below .500 for the first time since 2021, Nick Sirianni’s first season as head coach.
The first half, at least, had real bite from the Eagles. They scored two touchdowns, the first two first-half touchdowns Jacksonville had allowed all season. But the second half turned into a slog, with the Eagles barely moving the chains and finishing with a run game that produced only 22 yards.
Some of the individual efforts still stood out.
Jalen Carter was everywhere early, turning in what looked like an NFC East Defensive Player of the Week performance. He sacked Trevor Lawrence twice in the first half and forced fumbles on both plays, though Jacksonville recovered each time. He finished with four tackles, including three for loss.
On offense, Darius Cooper kept making the kind of play that changes a game. The undrafted free agent from last year ran a clean route, got wide open, and Jalen Hurts hit him in stride for a 62-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 14-7 lead with 5:36 left in the second quarter. Cooper now has four touchdowns this season.
Willie Lampkin also did his part up front. The 5-foot-11 left guard, the shortest player to start on an NFL offensive line in a long, long time, helped clear the way on Will Shipley’s two-yard touchdown run that tied the game in the first quarter.
Quinyon Mitchell made his presence felt on both of the Eagles’ defensive stands. He broke up a third-down pass at the goal line late in the first half when Jacksonville had the ball at the 1-yard line, and later picked off his first career regular-season pass. But the Eagles’ offense gave the Jaguars short fields after a failed fourth-down try late in the third quarter.
The crowd in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looked and sounded plenty familiar, too. Eagles fans took over again, booing the Jaguars in what felt much more like a home game for Philadelphia than for the team that plays in London every year.
Still, the ending belonged to Jacksonville’s special teams, not Philadelphia’s. Giving up that long return with eight seconds left was the backbreaker.
There were other frustrations in the second half as well, and Sean Mannion’s offense was left to own them. With the line in disarray and young players starting, the Eagles could have leaned more on Carson Steele as a fullback to add protection in the run game. Instead, the ground attack stayed stuck.
Defensively, the Eagles also felt the absence of Jonathan Greenard. The outside linebacker was already dealing with a pec strain and now has an ankle injury, and after pregame discussion it was determined he couldn’t play. He has been limited to 37 snaps this season after signing a four-year extension worth nearly $100 million, and his absence was especially noticeable when Jalyx Hunt needed help getting off the field with an injury on the final play of the first half.
Andrew Mukuba had a rough moment that turned into a big Jacksonville gain. On a short throw to Parker Washington, Mukuba was beaten badly, and the play became a 51-yard touchdown for the Jaguars.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.’s ejection added another costly twist. On the opening kickoff, he appeared to be pancaking Bryan Thomas Jr. when Thomas used both legs to kick Trotter as he rolled to the ground. Either way, the Eagles lost a player they were planning to start ahead of Jihaad Campbell.
Next up, the Eagles host the Panthers next Sunday, then face the Cowboys on Monday Night Football in Week 7.
In Other News...
Nick Saban Sends Strong Message As Pressure Builds On Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts heads into a Week 5 road test in Jacksonville with the Eagles short on the kinds of help a quarterback usually leans on. DaVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley are out, and Hurts has also been navigating a battered offensive line, leaving Philadelphia to ask its quarterback to keep the offense moving through another stretch of uncertainty.
Amid the pressure, former coach Nick Saban offered a reminder of why Hurts has long drawn praise for more than just his play. Saban highlighted Hurts character and resilience, framing the quarterback as someone who has already lived through adversity and responded the right way, a message that lands differently with the Eagles facing another game where the margin for error feels thin. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Head Into London Severely Shorthanded Before Jaguars Kickoff
The Eagles are heading into their London matchup against the Jaguars with a much thinner margin for error than usual, and the Week 5 inactive list made that clear. Philadelphia has already had to shuffle around its offense because of injuries, and now the depth chart is going to be tested again with backups such as Will Shipley at running back and Jake Majors at center expected to shoulder larger roles.
Jonathan Greenard is among the players unavailable, leaving him out because of an ankle injury and sidelined for a third game this season. He is joined on the inactive list by Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith and Hollywood Brown, a collection of absences that leaves the Eagles piecing together a game plan with far less firepower than they would normally expect in a matchup that already comes with the added challenge of travel. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Head To London With A Problem They Can't Keep Hiding
The Eagles arrive in London with more than a cross-Atlantic trip on their hands. A matchup with the Jaguars now comes against a backdrop of roster strain, with Philadelphia trying to steady itself after a week that has thinned out key parts of the offense and put added pressure on a group that usually sets the tone for everything else.
Philadelphias line already had little margin for error, and the timing of the latest changes only makes the challenge sharper overseas. With Jacksonville carrying a 3-1 record and a strong statistical profile, the betting market is leaning toward the Jaguars, and the specific matchups up front could go a long way toward determining whether the Eagles can keep this from turning into a much bigger early-season problem. [Read more 🡒]