In Philadelphia on Sunday, something’s gotta give.
The Raiders have lost seven games in a row, something coach Pete Carroll has never previously experienced in any of his 28 years as a head coach. And the Eagles have lost three straight; coach Nick Sirianni has never lost four in a row.
The Eagles’ recent stumbles have dredged up memories of only two years ago, when a 10-1 start melted into a 1-6 finish that was capped by an ugly 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
After Monday night’s loss to the Chargers, various members of the organization insisted it’s not 2023 all over again. Including the man who signs everyone’s check.
“Nothing like it,” owner Jeffrey Lurie told Michael Silver of TheAthletic.com. “Absolute opposite. We have a Super Bowl defense and great special teams. Our offense will get it going. I’m not worried at all.”
It seems like a stretch to be not worried at all. Given the current slide — and considering that it’s happening in December — there’s reason for at least some miild concern. Jeffrey?
“I have zero concern,” Lurie told Silver. “We had a lot of turnovers, but some of them were flukes.”
Lurie also regarded the interception that ended the Week 14 game to be an aberration. Possibly unprecedented in more than three decades of his ownership of the franchise.
“In 32 years, I don’t think we’ve ever lost a game we were about to win, like on a missed field goal or a last-second catch or something like that,” Lurie told Silver. “[Brian] Dawkins would get a pick in the end zone, or something would happen and we’d pull it out. Maybe I’m not remembering something, but I don’t think it’s ever happened. I expected us to do it again. We were just a couple of plays away.”
It did indeed feel like a win was inevitable, especially after quarterback Jalen Hurts connected with receiver Devonta Smith on a third-and-16 play in overtime that resulted in a 28-yard gain. The momentum was squarely in Philly’s favor. Until it suddenly wasn’t.
And while Lurie can brush it off as a once-in-many-blue-moons curiosity, it happened. The fact that it happened reasonably should spark at least some concern that something is off this year.
Is it 2023? Maybe not. But if feels a lot more like the season that ended with a thud than 2024, which ended with a ring.
Although a win over the woeful Raiders won’t guarantee a February trip to Santa Clara, a loss to arguably the worst team in the NFL — led on Sunday by Eagles 2024 backup quarterback Kenny Pickett — would also prompt Lurie to scan and re-scan his memory bank for a similar outcome during his many seasons of running the team.
