Eagles Postgame Report: Chargers Gifted Win As Hurts’ Five Turnovers, Brown’s Drops Spoil Defensive Masterclass

The Eagles offense got off with a bang after AJ Brown whiffed on the deep pass that was probably Hurts’ best throw of the entire half and then they wasted the conversion as Hurts stood in the pocket waiting for the sack and the punt. The defense came out with a bang by failing to have anyone cover the running backs on three different plays that went for 70+ yards and a quick touchdown.

The ground game was going well with many early runs featuring Cam Latu. It worked so well that they opted to go to designed QB runs and stall out the drive to settle for a field goal.

The Eagles defense forced a three and out and the Eagles had Hurts nearly respond with an interception right outside the redzone that he managed to just get to the ground and overturn the fumble to settle for their own punt. The defense allowed a quick first before allowing another punt.

The offense got into a grove and put up 53 yards before Hurts threw the ball right to another defender for an interception, which was forced out by Shipley nearly saving the drive as Hurts picked it up. But in the midst of his already terrible play, Hurts then fumbled the ball away to lose more yardage. With a few yards, that setup the Chargers for their own field goal.

Hurts came out determined and he was able to hit another Chargers defender for another interception quickly. Nakobe Dean looked to pick up the offense by forcing the fumble and the short field. The Eagles relied on the run game and quick, pre-determined passes to get right down to the two-yard line where a BS hold was called to back the Eagles up and then the Birds watched Hurts stand in the backfield for 3+ seconds per play to ensure they settle for a field goal.

With a last gasp, Herbert was looking to push the ball and got his arm hit by Phillips, allowing Adoree’ Jackson to corral an interception and a personal foul left the Eagles in field goal range at the end of the half. Instead, Hurts whiffed on another pass and Elliott botched the field goal to leave the LA lead at four entering the half.

The Eagles defense could have gotten off the field, but Nakobe Dean failed to bring down Justin Herbert and allowed him to run for a first down into field goal range. When they forced them to settle for a field goal, Ojomo was called for leverage and pushed the Chargers inside the 10. The defense did rally again to keep that to a shorter field goal, however.

A 26-yard gain on a wide-open AJ Brown route was all that happened on the next offensive drive as Hurts proptly followed that up with another long pause in the backfield with an ensuing incompletion and Cam Jurgens failed to block anyone for a loss on the run, leading to a long field goal attempt that Elliott was actually able to make this time.

The defense forced a fumble on the scramble, but it was recovered by LA for a five-yard gain. They kept the pressure on and had the Chargers moving backward to force the three and out, after that. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Eagles pitched the ball to Barkley, who took it 52-yards to the house behind lead blocker Darius Cooper to give the Eagles their first lead of the game.

After Nakobe Dean whiffed on yet another sack when he was unimpeded to the quarterback, the Eagles were bailed out by a Herbert poor throw to force a punt. A 22-yard return from Covey setup a much better field position for the Eagles and the Eagles got a chunk on the pass to Cooper, but then he targeted AJ Brown with a high pass that was tipped by Brown and intercepted, yet again. It was the only interception of the night you could say wasn’t on Hurts, but the earlier dropped INT means his stats are still pretty accurate. With easy field position, the Eagles defensive stop meant another field goal handed to the Chargers to tie the game.

Hurts on 3rd down stood there forever, flushed himself into the pressure instead of away, then launched the ball into triple coverage. It was a step up, however, as the three-and-out was better than his many interceptions. The defense came up with the stop before some YAC to AJ Brown put the Eagles in field goal range. That’s where AJ Brown dropped a touchdown pass – Hurts’ second best throw of the night after the first one he dropped – and that brought up 3rd and 11, Smith dropped it to force a field goal attempt. The attempt was good to give the Chargers the ball with 2:16 on the clock and one timeout with just a three-point lead.

Three incompletions seemed to be putting the defense on track to lock up the win, but Quinyon Mitchell was called for pass interference to move the chains and get the Chargers a new set of downs. That got the ball moving with east as they worked well into field-goal range. When it got to 4th and 1 with 12 seconds left, Cameron Dicker came out to tie the game and did just that to force overtime in a game nobody had wanted to continue watching for the previous two hours.

The Eagles decided to give the ball to LA to start. The defense gave up 30 yards on two carries to start OT. That’s when the defense decided to make the stop and Dicker kicked the 54-yard field goal to re-take the lead.

AJ Brown was wide-open with no coverage so Hurts stood there forever and then threw an off-target pass that fell incomplete to bring up 3rd and 6. A big scramble was called back by Jurgens holding to setup 3rd and 16. That’s where DeVonta Smith broke open the 28-yard slant and ran into three different defenders to get the ball to midfield. On 3rd and 4, the Eagles saw another deep pass to Brown bounce off of one hand.

Instead of the nearly 60-yard FG, the offense stayed out. An offside got the new set of downs and an outside pass to Goedert got the ball inside the 20. That’s when Hurts threw his fourth interception of the night to seal the loss.

The Eagles are now out of the first seed for sure and may not win the division, especially if they’ve got a guy actively undermining the team throwing the ball  40 times per game.

Offensive MVP: Saquon Barkley

He had more yardage before the end of the game saw sure-fire runs with Calcaterra as the lead blocker for negative yardage. That said, he had 118 yards in this game and averaged over six yards per carry anyway. He still averaged almost 4 yards per carry without the big touchdown run and averaged 5.5 during the first half. Despite all the calls for Bigsby, who should have some place in the offense, Barkley was a lead back tonight who did more than enough to win comfortably if the QB doesn’t have four turnovers in the game.

Defensive MVP: Jalyx Hunt

Hunt tied for the team lead with eight tackles. He also led the team with 2.5 sacks in this one. Despite not playing the majority of snaps, he was a one-man wrecking crew that seemed to get the defense going many times throughout the game.
And did anyone else catch this young defensive linemen on the sideline going through the entire offense to try and lift up that pathetic crew? That’s some strong leadership from the young defender.

Game Notes

• Saquon averaged 5.3 yards per carry in the first half. That meant nothing with Hurts’ 27.2 QBR.
• Hurts went 10/19 in the first half for 95 yards, two interceptions (he very well should have had three) and a fumble. It was abysmal and if he didn’t win a Super Bowl last year, fans wouldn’t allow him to enter the locker room without severe harassment with the trash play he put out there.
• A second game in a row where Hurts has played as the worst quarterback in all of football and they not only leave him out there the whole game, but they let him throw to lose the game again.
• Cam Latu was heavily featured in the second drive and got the run game going. Then he disappeared again as the Eagles decided to go to designed QB runs and keep the ball in the hands of the offense’s worst player on the field in this game.
• Another strong game from Adoree’ Jackson. It wasn’t a 100% game, but you rarely see a perfect game out of a corner and Jackson was making plays left and right up to his being slammed into the ground.
• Marcus Epps, activated earlier today, did start over Brown.
• Moro Ojomo’s penalties (two of them) took a defensive stop and an interception off the board in this one – not good for a depth DL who doesn’t play a majority of snaps and otherwise nearly didn’t appear in any stat sheet.
• Britain Covey had his own fumble on a kickoff return. He recovered, but it’s not a good sign for the guy who is supposed to be replacing the previous fumble machine in just his second game back as the returner. He did have 157 return yards on a busy night, however, so it wasn’t as bad as previous returners this season.
• Another strong game for Brett Toth – it was certainly his best game lining up as a guard.
• This was a very strong defensive game and the defense should have gotten at least one intentional grounding call, too. They really just need an offense to not be the worst in the league when they play like this.
• A strong night for Byron Young, who had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks. Davis was in the same area with 1.5 sacks and 2 tackles for loss.
• AJ Brown was “always open” in this one but not always capable of catching passes he could get his hands on. This game would have been over if he didn’t drop any of the three passes he did.

Injury Notes

• Landon Dickerson left yet another game in the second quarter. He was replaced by Brett Toth. Dickerson did return.
• Adoree’ Jackson was shaken up at the end of the second half on the play he made the interception that was promptly wasted by the offense/special teams. He was able to return.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Los Angeles Chargers – December 8, 2025