A collapse in every way: 5 takeaways from Rams-Eagles a day later
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni looks up during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The Eagles, down nearly half their starters on a wet, misty afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field, had a victory handed to them on a silver platter. For three quarters, the Los Angeles Rams did nearly everything in their power to lose a football game.
The Eagles had it. Until they did not. What appeared to be a resilient win turned into a devastating 24-20 loss. The Eagles are now 2-2. Things are starting to get a little concerning.
“It’s Week 4. I’m not concerned, and I can’t be,” Jordan Mailata said. “I can’t be concerned. If I get concerned, then that’s what it starts from. It’s like an infection. It starts from the top down.”
There are a lot of questions that need answers quickly. The Eagles led 20-10. They are being dominated in the second half of games. They are not playing complementary football. Things are starting to be way too similar.
It was all on display Sunday. Even with the injuries and absences of Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goedert, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Quinyon Mitchell, Marcus Epps, Zack Baun, and Jonathan Greenard, this was embarrassing.
Here are my five takeaways a day after the loss:
1. Whatever is going on at halftime, fix it
The Eagles have now been outscored 54-20 in the second half this year, 31-0 the last two weeks, and they have been outgained by an average of 202-103. The Eagles had four first downs in the second half on Sunday, and the Rams had 16.
You are not going to win games if you play for 30 minutes. The offense is wearing down the defense, and the Eagles are losing games. It is simple, but obviously complex for this team, considering this issue is not new.
Of course, the players have to execute on the field, but this is coaching malpractice. Defenses are making adjustments at halftime, and the Eagles just have no answer. This is Nick Sirianni’s offense. He is the constant behind the offensive coordinator carousel. After halftime, his offense is unprepared, overmatched, and embarrassed.
Yes, there were a ton of injuries, but it may be time to start looking towards the top.
2. Historically bad on third down, and it’s getting worse
Saying the Eagles were bad on third down is an understatement. Since the NFL began tracking third downs in 1991, the Eagles had never been 0-for-12. Until Sunday.
“Poor execution,” Jalen Hurts said. “I don’t think there’s any other way to put it.”
Five of their 12 opportunities Sunday were third-and-four or shorter, and they still could not convert. The Eagles’ average yards-to-gain when they first faced third downs on Sunday was 6.58 yards. A couple of penalties put them in longer situations.
To make things worse, they went one-for-four on fourth down.
“Obviously, everybody contributed to that. Everybody,” Sirianni said. “So, there’s execution errors, there’s coaching errors. Everybody contributes to it. It’s an ultimate team game. You can’t sustain drives and do the things that you want — Some of our problems offensively has been [that] we’ve been behind, but it wasn’t quite the same case [Sunday], where we were in second-and-long and all those different things.
“It was more we couldn’t convert on third down for multiple different reasons. So again, there’s always a lot of contributors to that. I need to go watch the tape before I react to anything. But I know when you’re 0 for whatever we were [Sunday], everybody has a hand in that. Our job is to figure out what happened and get better from it and not assign blame. That’s what we’ll be doing.”
The Eagles had no answer for the Rams’ blitz, which was pervasive on third down. The Rams blitzed the Eagles on 11 of 12 third-down situations. The only one they did not blitz was third-and-17 at the end. They generated six pressures and a sack on those third-down blitzes.
What is growing more concerning is the regression the offense is facing over four weeks. They have gone three-and-out on over 45% of their offensive possessions, which ranks 31st, behind only the Green Bay Packers. They had a success rate of 53% on third downs through the first two weeks. The last two: 0.1%.
“I have a ton of confidence in Sean [Mannion],” Sirianni said. “He’s going to wear a lot of this — no doubt. I’m going to wear a lot of this. Our offense is going to wear a lot of this. You win together, you lose together. I have no complaints with what happened there [Sunday]. There’s opportunity for us to grow.”
3. Let Hurts run!
Starting to pick this up: when the Eagles let Hurts run, the offense succeeds. Pretty wild, is it not?
If you have followed the Eagles for the last five years, it does not take an expert to recognize the pattern.
Despite his two early touchdown passes, Hurts had a tough day. He went 12-for-27 for 44% with four sacks. Of course, his second half was deficient, going two-for-nine for 10 yards and two sacks for 10 yards, which totals zero net passing yards in the half.
“I’ve got to figure it out,” Hurts said. “However it looks, whatever it means. Find a way to win the game.”
I mentioned the struggle against the blitz, and a lot of that is due to the fact that Barkley exited early and his safety blanket, Goedert, is still injured. He also was not helped by this incompetent offensive line, which also featured an absent Johnson on late notice.
When the Eagles had that third-and-goal from the two late in the fourth quarter, Hurts fumbled the snap and was unable to hand it off, taking it himself for no gain. The reason for that is that Cam Jurgens slightly false-started, but it was not called.
Jurgens’ hand hit the ball when snapped, and it destroyed the play and the game.
So, what can Hurts possibly say to his team now?
“Get up,” was his message.
4. The penalties are becoming an issue
This may be swept under the rug a bit, but the Eagles hit double digits in penalties for the second straight game. It negated big plays again.
Whenever the Eagles get a big play on either side of the ball or build some momentum, there is some sort of call that negates it, sends them back, and crushes the drive.
The Eagles let the Rams get away with way too many mistakes on Sunday. It is just another part of the sloppy game the Eagles have been playing the first two weeks.
“There are things obviously that I definitely have seen us improve,” Sirianni said. “But then there’s still little mistakes that we’re making, coaching, playing, that we got to continue to clean up.
“I don’t think improvement always looks exactly how we want it to look. Improvement’s not [linear]. Sometimes it’s gonna feel like you’re here, you’re here, you’re all over the place, and I know that all we got to do is continue to put the right work in. We know how we know our formula of how we need to do that within the week, and we have to trust that.
“Even though sometimes growth feels invisible, you know you got to trust and keep putting the work in.”
5. Defense held through, until the end
The defense had its moments on Sunday.
They finally got a turnover after failing to record one in their first three games for the first time in franchise history. Interceptions from Andrew Mukuba and Cooper DeJean came in the first half.
But as the offense fell, so did the defense.
For the first three and a half quarters, the Eagles held the Rams to 10 points, 256 yards, 14 first downs, and 177 passing yards. To close it out, the Rams recorded 14 points, 159 yards, 12 first downs, and 140 passing yards. They averaged 19 yards on their first 11 drives, then averaged 89 yards on their last two. In all, the Rams netted 415 yards, the second-most the Eagles have allowed at home under Vic Fangio.
By the end of the game, the Eagles’ defense was missing Baun, Epps, Mitchell, Greenard, and DeJean for a few snaps. Still, no excuse.
“You’ll never hear me say a word about an injury,” Sirianni said. “I have a lot of faith in everybody on this football team. There’s a reason they’re Philadelphia Eagles. I’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to coach better.”
This is not a new issue. The Eagles’ defense has struggled to close out games all year. It does not help that they seem to be on the field for what feels like the entire second half while the offense scrabbles for answers. But in years past, they have been able to find them. The Eagles started 2-2 in 2024 and won the Super Bowl. The concerning part, though, is that the issues that plagued last year’s hangover seem to be carrying over.
We are a quarter of the way into the season. The Eagles face a trip to London next. There is still a bit of a ways to go.
“It’s a marathon,” Hurts said, “not a sprint.”
Benjamin Goldstein
Benjamin is a Sports Media major at Temple University and an aspiring sportscaster and journalist. Since 2017, he has covered Philadelphia sports as the founder, editor, writer, and podcast host of Philly Sports Reports. In addition, Benjamin is a freelance sports writer for The Temple News, a broadcaster and radio host on WHIP Radio. He previously interned with the WBCB Sports Network on 1490 AM for four years. Through his coverage and media work, he has had the opportunity to meet Phillies owner John Middleton in his suite and has been recognized as KYW Newsradio’s Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week.
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