Eagles Collapse in Fourth Quarter as Broncos Rally for Comeback Win
The Eagles lost their first game in 2025. In this game, the Eagles were up big in the second half before allowing the Denver Broncos to score 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
You can not talk about this game without talking about the key penalties that went against the Eagles. The first one was when Bo Nix was getting spun around deep in the pocket and threw short of the line of scrimmage. The referees talk about the penalty and then throw the penalty, but then after a few seconds, they pick up the flag. The Broncos went on to convert the 3rd down. This made it 3rd and 6 when it would have been 3rd down and about 17 yards to gain the first down. The next call was an unnecessary roughness on Zack Baun. The runner was getting tackle,d but looked like he was trying to fight for the first down when he ducked down causing Zach Baun to dive in to make sure that he did not get it but the referees thought he dove too late and threw the flag on him allowing the Broncos to continue the drive and eat up more clock before kicking the field goal. The last call was the second-to-last call of the game. Hurts was looking for Goedert. Goedart had his shoulder pad grabbed by the defender; it was not called. IT would have put the Eagles around the 5-yard line with one play to win it.
These calls coming down the stretch of the game hurt the Eagles, but they were not why they lost. The Eagles lost because they could not score in the fourth quarter or because they could not run the clock out.
Jalen Hurts was good again, continuing to throw good deep balls. The Broncos were running a lot of man coverage in the first half, and the Eagles were able to take advantage of it. The Broncos adjusted more zone coverage, and the Eagles have had trouble beating zone coverage and two high safeties all season. Hurts had another deep shot on 4th down to Smith, but it was called back because of a penalty. He also had a great throw to Dotson, but it was ruled out of bounds. The Eagles got a look where A.J. Brown was one-on-one with the safety, and it was a double move, and he was open for a touchdown, but Brown slowed down, causing the ball to go over his head.
In the run game in this game, the Eagles did not run it much with Barkley, who had only six carries and only 11 carries as a team, and Hurts only had two carries. I understand that the running game has not been working, but you still need to be able to do it. I understand that you might be trying to protect Hurts by not running the ball with him, but I think it benefits Barkley and the passing game. Barkley had his longest run of the season, so for him only to have six carries was shocking.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for 18 targets. Smith had eight catches for 114 yards. Goedert has been amazing this season, especially in the red zone, with four touchdowns already. Goedert is only one touchdown away from his career high in touchdowns.
The defense was good again. They were unable to force a turnover, but the Broncos only scored 3 points through the first 3 quarters. They played well, but still could not get a four-man pass rush. The defense was on the field for 34 minutes and faced 70 plays.
Quinyon Mitchell did not have a good game. He was covering Courtland Sutton for most of the game. Mitchell had good coverage, but Sutton would come down with good catches, and the catches moved the sticks.
Overall, I think this is not the worst game the Eagles played, but it is their first loss. Saquon Barkley said, “Now we have adversity. Real adversity.” The Eagles have a short week this week, but they play on Thursday when they travel to New York to take on the Giants.
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