4th Quarter Collapse Causes Eagles To Blow Lead To Denver, 1st Loss Of Season
Drew Hallowell / Philadelphia Eagles
For the first time in the year 2025, the Philadelphia Eagles have lost a football game.
After leading at one point by 14 points in the fourth quarter, the Eagles took their foot off the gas, allowing Denver to mount an incredible comeback, scoring 18 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes of action. It’s the first loss of the 2025 regular season for the defending champions.
Once again, the Eagles failed to play a consistent four quarters of football in a game, as throughout the day, both the Eagles’ offense and defense struggled to maintain the lead that they built.
Coming into the game, reports of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith being unhappy with their role in the offense, and that narrative definitely changed in the loss. Jalen Hurts let it fly, throwing for 280 yards, hitting Smith for 114 of them and Brown for 43. Smith caught eight balls while Brown caught five.
While the passing game was working, the Eagles could not run the ball, totaling just 45 yards as a team. Because of that, the Eagles failed to run the clock and gave the Broncos ample opportunity to mount the comeback.
The defense looked good for the first three quarters of action. However, once they had a two-possession lead, the pressure softened, and Bo Nix and Sean Payton picked apart the Eagles’ secondary, leading to two late touchdowns.
Things started on the slow side as both teams went three-and-out on their first offensive drives of the game, and on each team’s second drive, both responded with 12-play drives that ended in field goals. For the Broncos, Will Lutz capped things off with a 55-yard bomb, while the Eagles made it into the red zone, but stalled out, resulting in a 31-yarder off the foot of Jake Elliott.
Back came out Bo Nix and the rest of Denver’s offense, and they started clicking down the field thanks to a few big runs from running back J.K. Dobbins and a 20-yard catch from rookie wide receiver Troy Franklin. After settling in field goal range, the Eagles’ defense pushed them out of range thanks to Za’Darius Smith‘s first sack in an Eagles uniform.
After the Broncos’ punt placed the Eagles on the 10-yard line, Jalen Hurts went to work. Small rushes from Saquon Barkley and an 11-yard catch from Brown set up one first down, but a sack and a false start pushed the Eagles back to 3rd and 17. Instead of running and settling for a punt, Hurts took a shot deep downfield and hit DeVonta Smith for a 52-yard catch, setting them up nearly inside the red zone.
On the first play after the Smith catch, Hurts looked down towards the endzone for Brown while being covered by Patrick Surtain II, but a penalty on Surtain set the Eagles up at the two-yard line. On 1st and Goal, Hurts rolled out right and found Dallas Goedert open for a touchdown.
It’s the third game in a row that Goedert has caught a touchdown pass, making it the longest streak for an Eagles tight end since Zach Ertz caught one in four straight games in 2017.
Now with a seven-point lead, the Eagles’ defense continued its attack on Nix, sending the Broncos offense off the field after just four plays, but Denver responded with a quick stop of their own. As the final minutes of the second quarter ticked down, both teams failed to get any momentum going and ended the half with the Eagles leading 10-3.
While the final couple of drives didn’t look good for Philadelphia, they received the second-half kick and instantly changed that narrative. Hurts found Smith open for a 21-yard catch and run, putting them near midfield, and a six-yard catch by Goedert put them across it.
At Denver’s 47-yard line, Hurts stepped back in the pocket and fired downfield and found Barkley open on a wheel route, and he took it all the way to the endzone for a touchdown. The 47-yard catch was the longest receiving touchdown by an Eagles running back since Darren Sproles in 2016.
Down 14, the Broncos needed points and fast. Nix got them going with a first-down rush, and Dobbins extended the drive with a 17-yard rush of his own. Nearing field goal range again, the drive stalled out after Nix avoided a sack by throwing the ball away, but was called for intentional grounding, placing them at midfield, forcing a punt.
Pinned inside their own 10, the Eagles failed to get any movement of their own. Both teams traded three-and-outs, but as the third quarter wound down, the Broncos’ offense finally had a successful offensive drive.
Nix found Courtland Sutton open on back-to-back passes, and Dobbins and RJ Harvey each added multiple 10-plus yard runs to put Denver inside the red zone for the first time all day. After a 10-yard pickup from Harvey and a holding call in the end zone, Dobbins eventually barreled his way in for a rushing touchdown, cutting the Eagles’ lead to seven points.
The ensuing Eagles drive didn’t go the way they wanted, as a sack from Hurts on third down ended it quickly. With the momentum on their side and the ball back in their hands, the Broncos dinked and dunked their way down the field for a score.
Nix hooked up with Evan Engram for an 18-yard catch and Sutton for a 14-yard catch. After a few small runs and a penalty for offensive pass interference, up came 3rd and 15 for Denver. Nix dropped back and found Sutton open for a huge 34-yard gain to put them on the 11-yard line, and one play later, Nix found Engram open over the middle for an 11-yard touchdown.
Down one point, Broncos head coach Sean Payton elected to go for a two-point conversion to take the lead over a one-point PAT. On the two-point try, Nix found Franklin open on the right side of the endzone after he beat Keelee Ringo on his route for a successful two-point attempt to make it 18-17 Denver.
Losing for the first time all day, the Eagles needed a long drive to retake the lead. Unfortunately, they did the exact opposite as they went three and out, being forced to punt. With the lead and the ball, the Broncos started to chew the clock away, getting the ball all the way down inside the 15-yard line with just over two minutes left.
The Broncos began running the clock and forcing the Eagles to use all of their timeouts, but they were forced to kick a field goal to make it 21-17. The Eagles had 1:11 left to go down and score a touchdown to win.
The first three plays of the drive only wasted clock as Hurts took a costly sack, Barkley caught a checkdown in bounds for seven yards, and an incompletion brought up fourth down. On fourth down, the Broncos got called for pass interference, resulting in a first down.
Near midfield, Hurts hooked up with Jahan Dotson for a 24-yard catch, putting the Eagles at the 29-yard line with nine seconds left. Hurts stepped back and fired to the endzone looking for Goedert, who was held, but no flag was thrown. On the last play of the game, Hurts fired a Hail Mary to the endzone that was dropped by Smith and Brown, ending the game with the Eagles losing 21-17.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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