I Wanted the Eagles to Pass More. They Lost. Do I Have Egg on My Face?

I’ve been saying it for weeks. The Eagles needed to throw the ball more. Be aggressive. Let Jalen Hurts and this wide receiver group take over games. After a 4–0 start, I thought the next step was opening things up through the air.

Then came Sunday in Denver, a 21–17 loss that snapped the streak, and I’ve got to ask myself: was I wrong, or are we just learning the difference between throwing more and playing balanced football?

What Went Down: The Facts

Final: Broncos 21, Eagles 17. Philly drops to 4–1.

Pass tilt: Jalen Hurts went 23/38 for 280 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT; sacked 6 times.

Rushing scarcity: Just 11 team rushes for 45 yards.

• Saquon Barkley: 6 carries for 30
• AJ Dillon: 2 for 12
• Hurts: 2 for 3
• Will Shipley: 1 for 0

Top targets:

• DeVonta Smith 8 for 114 (long 52)
• Barkley 3 for 58 with a 47-yard TD
• Dallas Goedert 3 for 19 and a 2-yard TD
• A.J. Brown 5 for 43

Fourth-quarter swing:
Denver put up 18 points in the 4th — J.K. Dobbins 2-yard TD; Bo Nix to Evan Engram for 11 yards plus the two-point to Troy Franklin for an 18–17 lead; Wil Lutz hit a 36-yard FG for 21–17.

Critical penalty: A 4th-and-4 chunk gain to DeVonta (around 30 yards) was wiped out by an illegal shift on Barkley, forcing a punt.

Final snap: Hurts reached the Denver 29. The last-second heave was knocked down in the end zone.

So… Do I Have Egg on My Face?

Yeah, a little bit.

But let’s be real — this wasn’t just me being loud for the sake of it. I genuinely thought the Eagles needed to lean into the passing game. And Sunday, they did exactly that. Hurts went 23-of-38 for 280 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks.

The volume was there. The execution? Eh. The balance? Not even close.

Hurts said it himself after the game: this came down to a lack of execution and communication. They weren’t sharp. You could see it in real time — missed reads, late throws, receivers breaking off routes, protection breaking down.

The intent was right. The details were wrong.

The turning point was that illegal shift on Saquon Barkley that wiped away a 30-yard 4th-and-4 conversion to DeVonta Smith. That was the game. Not the concept, not the aggression — the mistake. You can’t survive those in tight, physical matchups on the road.

The Broncos took advantage, ripping off 18 straight points in the fourth quarter while the Eagles sputtered.

So yeah, maybe I’ve got some egg on my face. But the bigger takeaway is this: passing more wasn’t the issue. Passing poorly was.

The idea still has merit. I just underestimated how far away this offense is from running it cleanly. You can’t fake rhythm or chemistry. You have to build it.

If they clean that up, this loss will look like a growing pain. If not, it’s a warning.

For now, I’ll take the hit — because the film doesn’t lie, and neither does the scoreboard.

What This Loss Really Shows

1. They don’t know who they are right now. This offense feels like it’s searching for an identity.
2. Timing and communication are off. Hurts and his receivers aren’t synced up, and DeVonta basically said as much postgame.
3. Mental mistakes are killing drives. The illegal shift. The unnecessary roughness penalty. These are the details championship teams clean up.
4. Fourth-quarter control vanished. Three straight Denver scoring drives. No answers.
5. The O-line’s starting to crack. Six sacks is not Philly football.

Final Word: Egg, Sure — But Keep It Sunny Side Up

I’ll take the L here. I wanted the Eagles to air it out. They did, and they lost. But I still believe they need a stronger passing identity to reach their ceiling.

The mistake wasn’t wanting that. It was assuming they could flip the switch overnight.

The goal isn’t just throwing more. It’s playing smarter football — be balanced, stay disciplined, use tempo, protect Hurts. Let your stars make plays, but don’t forget what made you 4–0 in the first place.

So yeah, there’s egg on my face. But it’s not cooked through yet.

Thursday night in New York comes fast, and we’ll find out if this team learned its lesson — or if it’s about to slide further off balance.

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