Oct 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) meet after the game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
The Philadelphia Eagles narrowly avoided a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3. They narrowly avoided a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.
In Week 5, that trend finally caught up to them. The Denver Broncos scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Eagles had no answer for them.
By way of a 21-17 final score, the Birds' undefeated record is no more.
Here are a few takeaways from Sunday's loss:
Through four games, one of the main critiques of the Eagles offense had been that offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo wasn't scheming his wide receivers open.
In the first half, Patullo seemed to take that personally. After a game-opening 3-and-out, the offense picked up. A.J. Brown got the targets he had been looking for, and he eventually finished the game with five catches for 43 yards on eight targets.
The Eagles rattled off two beautiful scoring drives. The first, a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ate up six and a half minutes, resulted in a field goal. The second, which covered 90 yards in seven plays, featured this beauty from Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith:
Jalen Hurts + DeVonta Smith = 57 yard gain😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/5el4nG1OJL
And that drive ended with the Eagles taking their first lead of the day, courtesy of Dallas Goedert:
A Dallas Goedert touchdown completes the Eagles’ 90-yard drive! pic.twitter.com/S61aVacHZq
The Broncos and Eagles then traded five punts to end the first half. Not exactly riveting stuff. But since the Eagles got the ball first to start the second half, they had a chance to capitalize, and they did:
Now THAT'S how the Eagles start a half! pic.twitter.com/buUZYMXEIA
There it was! The Eagles had built a 17-3 lead over the Broncos. Although the offense was still inconsistent, they had now put together three drives of 70 yards or more. Maybe this was the turnaround game!
It was not, in fact, the turnaround game.
After that touchdown, the Eagles had five more second-half drives.
Five plays, 23 yards, punt. Three plays, -16 yards (!), punt. Three plays, -6 yards, punt. Three plays, two yards, punt. Six plays, 45 yards, end of game.
For those of you keeping track, that's 20 plays for 48 yards across five drives. Additionally, those five drives only took 8:56 off the game clock.
They simply fell apart. In the fourth quarter, Hurts was sacked twice on 3rd and long. On the last drive of the game, when the Eagles had no timeouts and 1:06 left on the game clock, Hurts did the worst thing a quarterback could do: he took a sack on the first play. The clock ticked down to 0:47 left before the Eagles ran their next play.
Meanwhile, the Broncos offense roared to life in the fourth quarter, rattling off 18 unanswered points in 12 minutes. After the Eagles' second half-opening touchdown drive, the Broncos manhandled time of possession, taking 19:27 off the clock. They also out-gained the Eagles to the tune of 234 yards to 48. Although a good amount of that is on the defense, the Eagles offense – full of All-Pros and Super Bowl MVPs – had no answer for any of it.
It's almost inexplicable at this point. How do you analyze an offense that runs smoothly for half of the game, completely collapses in the second half, and then comes back the next week and does it again?
Were there some questionable calls? Yes. Take a look at this play that got Zack Baun penalized for unnecessary roughness:
The Eagles got a HUGE third down stop...
...and then an unnecessary roughness penalty on Zack Baun continued the Broncos' drive
(via @JoshReynolds24)pic.twitter.com/x9Op6KK40c
The referees were certainly having a day out there. Denver was actually flagged more often, racking up 12 penalties for 121 yards. The Eagles' nine penalties for 55 yards may not seem as bad, but situational awareness is key. Multiple times, Eagles committed penalties in situations where committing a penalty was the absolute worst thing they could do.
In the second quarter, Jordan Mailata was flagged for a false start on 3rd & 12. The next play, which was the 57-yard bomb to Smith, bailed him out.
Later in that quarter, Smith himself was also flagged for a false start on a third down, which moved 3rd & 8 back to 3rd & 13. Hurts was sacked on that third down, and the Eagles punted.
Two costly penalties killed a key fourth-quarter drive directly after the Broncos took an 18-17 lead. Tyler Steen was penalized for being an ineligible man downfield, which negated a first-down catch by Smith. Later, Hurts converted a huge 4th & 4 by passing to Smith again for a 21-yard gain. Saquon Barkley was flagged for an illegal shift, and the Eagles had to punt. On their following drive, the Broncos extended their lead to 21-17 with a field goal.
That's not winning football. Maybe the referees were questionable, but you can't blame them for everything. The discipline has to improve. Hopefully this game will be a wake-up call for everyone involved.
On a short week, the Eagles will travel up I-95 to face the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night Football. The Giants are 1-4. Maybe that will be the statement game the Eagles offense so desperately needs.
