Eagles miss chances for big early lead, then fall apart amid injuries, mistakes in loss to 49ers
Martin FrankPHILADELPHIA – And just like that, it fell apart for the Eagles and head coach Nick Sirianni.
They had two chances for touchdowns in the first half that went by the wayside – one when Jalen Reagor stepped out of bounds before catching the 36-yard pass, the other when the Eagles had a first-and-goal from the 49ers' 1 yard line and came away without any points.
Add in a season-ending injury to defensive end Brandon Graham and a possible multi-week injury to right guard Brandon Brooks; an unnecessary roughness penalty on K'Von Wallace that negated an Eagles fumble recovery in the fourth quarter; and you can see how a potential big, early lead turned into a 17-11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
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All of this came one week after Sirianni was widely praised for his game plan in the Eagles' season-opening win over Atlanta.
Let's start with the 1st-and-goal from the 1 midway through the second quarter with the Eagles leading 3-0. That was set up by a 91-yard pass from Jalen Hurts to Quez Watkins, then a pass interference call on the 49ers' Josh Norman on DeVonta Smith in the end zone.
Hurts threw incomplete on first down, handed off to Miles Sanders for a three-yard loss on second down, then ran out of bounds for a yard on third down, setting up 4th-and-goal from the 3.
Then Sirianni called for Hurts to hand off to wide receiver Greg Ward, who rolled to his right, looking for Hurts in the back of the end zone. Hurts was covered, and Ward threw the ball away.
It was hardly reminiscent of the famous "Philly Special" in the Super Bowl.
"I don't think I called good plays in that area," Sirianni said. "There are going to be times where you're going to look at it and be like, ‘I want those calls back.’ When they work, it was a good play. They didn't. So it was my fault. I didn't call good enough plays right there."
The 49ers, who at that point were outgained in yards 204 to 65, drove down the field and scored a touchdown with 12 seconds left in the half, and the Eagles trailed 7-3.
The missed plays ended up haunting the Eagles (1-1), as did the injuries to Graham and Brooks. Brooks left with a chest injury while Graham left with what the Eagles called an ankle injury.
Graham was carted off into the locker room just before halftime. The injury seemed serious as he couldn't put weight on his leg and teammates came over to show their support.
NFL reporter Derrick Gunn reported that Graham tore his Achilles and will miss the rest of the season. Graham confirmed on Twitter that he's out for the season.
Related:2 key players injured as Eagles miss several chances to take big lead, trail 49ers at halftime
It only got worse in the second half.
The 49ers embarked on a 16-play, 92-yard drive midway through the third quarter that took up 9 minutes. During the drive, safety Anthony Harris was called for an obvious pass interference call in the end zone on a 3rd-down pass that fell incomplete.
The 49ers got a first down at the 1 and scored two plays later, taking a 14-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles couldn't get anything going on the next series. But they seemingly had a chance when 49ers running back Trey Sermon fumbled the ball away. Darius Slay picked it up and returned it into 49ers territory.
But Wallace was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit and the fumble was negated. Instead, the 49ers had a first down at the Eagles' 35. The 49ers ended up with a field goal and a 17-3 lead.
"I don’t agree with the call," defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. "That was a big turning point in the game for us. As a player, being honest, it kind of just sucked the air out of you when things like that happen."
Before that, the Eagles had several chances to take a big lead against San Francisco.
There was a 36-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to Reagor late in the first quarter that was called back when Reagor stepped out of bounds before catching the ball. Jake Elliott later tried a 45-yard field goal that was blocked.
Instead of a 10-0 lead, or even a 6-0 lead, the Eagles' lead was still 3-0.
"If it’s a touchdown, it’s probably a whole different outcome of the game," Hurts said. "But, hey, dog mentality, move on from it."
And the Eagles had another chance after taking over at their 3-yard line with 7:12 left in the first half.
That was the first play with Landon Dickerson in at right guard in place of Brooks. Hurts threw deep down the right sideline to Watkins, who hauled the pass in just past midfield and was finally pulled down at the 49ers' 6.
The Eagles came away empty there.
"I think the biggest thing is finish, finish, finish," said Hurts, who finished 12-for-23 for 190 yards. He also ran for 82 yards and a touchdown. "In this game, we didn’t finish more than we did. We had to capitalize on those opportunities moving forward and learn from this."
Going for 2 down 14
Trailing 17-3, the Eagles scored with 4:02 left on Hurts' 1-yard sneak. This came after Hurts ran for 30 yards down to the 49ers' 30, then got 15 yards added because of a late hit penalty on the 49ers.
Hurts then hit Dallas Goedert down to the 1, and then scored on the next play.
Rather than kick the extra point to make it a seven-point deficit, thus giving the Eagles a chance to tie the game with another touchdown, the Eagles went for 2.
Had they missed, they would have trailed by 8, needing a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie. The Eagles converted when Kenny Gainwell scored and trailed by 6. Thus, a touchdown and extra-point would have won the game.
As it turned out, the Eagles never got another chance.
Quez's connection
Quez Watkins opened the preseason in August with a 77-yard reception. He surpassed that Sunday with his 91-yard reception.
That is tied for the fifth-longest passing play in team history. It was the Eagles’ longest completion since Michael Vick connected with DeSean Jackson on a 91-yard TD on on Dec. 12, 2010 in Dallas.
Watkins finished with two catches for 117 yards. He leads the Eagles with 140 yards receiving through two games.
Last season, Watkins, the Eagles' sixth-round pick, had just 107 yards on 7 receptions.
“It was one of the shots we hit," Hurts said. "It feels nice, but we didn’t score.”
UD, Eagles reunions
University of Delaware's Zach Kerr is a defensive tackle for the 49ers after spending last season with the Carolina Panthers.
But Kerr was not on the game-day roster after playing 25% of the snaps last week in the 49ers' win over the Detroit Lions.
Kerr, in his eighth NFL season after signing as undrafted free agent in 2014 with the Colts, has had a nice career so far. He's on his fourth team in four seasons.
In addition, four former Eagles are on the practice squad in quarterback Nate Sudfeld, linebacker Nathan Gerry and tight end Jordan Matthews. Running back Kerryon Johnson was with the Eagles in training camp this summer.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.