The Philadelphia Eagles' 24-20 collapse at home against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4 on Sunday is a five-alarm fire for the back-to-back NFC East division champions. Philadelphia had Los Angeles on the proverbial ropes. The Eagles led 20-10, and they had the ball on the two, just a couple of yards from scoring a touchdown that would land the knockout punch and put the game entirely out of reach with under eight minutes to play.
At that moment, the NFL's Next Gen Stats assessed the Rams had a win probability as minuscule as 3.2%. But Los Angeles stuffed quarterback Jalen Hurts on Philadelphia's famed "Tush Push" play before he threw incomplete on fourth-and-goal to force a turnover on downs. From that moment on, on their final two drives, the Eagles' offense lost a combined 14 yards.
The Rams mounted consecutive, 10-play touchdown drives capped by rushing touchdowns from running back Kyren Williams. The Eagles lost for the first time with Hurts when up double-digit points in a game's final five minutes, per CBS Sports Research. They were previously a perfect 41-0 in such situations (including the playoffs).
The last time the Eagles lost in regulation when leading by at least 10 in the final five minutes was all the way back in a 2018 game against the Carolina Panthers, with Carson Wentz starting at quarterback. What killed the Eagles was a couple of things, starting with injuries and head coach Nick Sirianni's inability to assemble an offense that provides easy answers for Hurts. Running back Saquon Barkley, the player Philadelphia built its offense around, exited the game with a hamstring injury.
Even before kickoff, the Eagles knew they would be without top wide receiver DeVonta Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, offensive guard Landon Dickerson and right tackle Lane Johnson. With all those players sidelined, Sirianni and offensive coordinator Sean Mannion couldn't build a game plan that provided Hurts and Co. with easy answers in high-leverage situations, particularly third down. The Eagles didn't convert on any of their 12 third downs, which is Philadelphia's most third-down attempts in a game without a conversion in the past 35 seasons, per CBS Sports Research.
It's also the most third-down attempts without a conversion by any team in a game this decade, per NFL Media Research. "Oh-for on third down, it hurts your drives. It hurts your being able to do the things you want to do on offense," head coach Nick Sirianni said postgame.
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