By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week the Philadelphia Eagles faced a Denver Broncos team that was looking for a statement victory over the defending champions. The Broncos scored 18 unanswered points on the vaunted Eagles defense, and they could not respond to what Denver was doing in all phases of the game losing their first game of the 2025-26 NFL regular season to the Broncos 21-17.

The Eagles were able to unlock their passing game against the Broncos; they found the holes in their defensive scheme as Hurts completed two touchdown passes to Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley and passed for 280 yards. The most yards he has accumulated through the air so far this season. The Barkley touchdown pass put the Eagles up by 14 points. Philly was demonstrating creativity in their passing scheme that has not been present so far this season, and all those big plays were undone by multiple bad penalties (The Eagles committed 12 penalties for 121 yards).

A deep pass to DeVonta Smith was negated by an illegal man downfield penalty on Tyler Steen, a positive Eagles drive ended up in a punt thanks to a false start penalty, just to name a few. This pattern held throughout this contest and the penalty issue/undisciplined play has been masked by the fact that Eagles continued to win games. As a result of their talent advantage over the opposing team, they could not do that to Denver this afternoon.

Philly will have to clean up their penalty issues because it took a game from the win column to a loss column for them. Now the Eagles will have to respond and are lucky they have a short week and can respond on Thursday night.

Credit to the Broncos defensive unit they were able to take away the Eagles short passing game and prevent Hurts from escaping the pocket. They were able to sack him six times in this contest and stop multiple Eagles offensive possessions. Denver’s defensive unit kept this game within reach, and their offensive unit found the balance Philly could not. Using their explosive run game to force Philly to blitz and that opened the passing game for Denver. Which allowed them to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion, which put the Broncos up permanently in this game.

The Eagles had multiple chances to get Denver’s offense off the field, but a late intentional grounding call was changed to an incomplete pass, Zach Baun got called for unnecessary roughness after Andrew Makuba made a big defensive play to force a field goal try. That call gave the Broncos a chance to milk the clock and make the game winning field goal.

Two missed pass interference calls on Dallas Goedert, and a missed Hail Mary attempt allowed the Broncos to escape Philly with the statement victory they needed. The Eagles must clean up the penalties and find a balanced offensive scheme that will help them feed all of their difference makers on the offensive side.

Philly was up 14 points, and Saquon Barkley only had seven carries in this game, which must improve, and Kevin Patullo must find a way to breathe life into a rushing game that is one of the worst in the league. The offensive line is banged up but the next stretch of games for the Eagles are against beatable opponents (the New York Giants twice, and the Minnesota Vikings) before they head into their bye week.

These are three get right games for the Eagles and they must take advantage; there is not any excuse to lose a game when you are up 14 points and do not turn the ball over. The Eagles must find their discipline and re-energize their rushing game.

Last year, the Eagles used their rushing attack to score touchdowns and control the clock, something that has been missing throughout five games this season. Becoming that team again will help Philly rediscover their dominant form and keep their defense off the field and refreshed.

The Broncos took full advantage of an Eagles defense that was tired and on the field way too long. Losing this game could be the wake-up call Philly needs as they head into this stretch of three winnable games, which starts on Thursday night against the New York Giants.

Philly will have to take full advantage of an aggressive Giants defensive unit, keep them on the field by sustaining drives and using the short and screen passing games to wear them out and keep their defensive unit fresh. Doing this will allow the Eagles to find their offensive prowess again, rediscover the dominant team that has been dormant so far this season, and win their fifth game of this season.