The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t really deserve to beat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon.
The Birds were outgained by 243 yards. That’s typically not a recipe for success.
Neither is failing to convert a single third down despite having 12 chances to do so.
Despite these struggles … and despite entering this game with a lot of key absences and only suffering more injuries during the day … the Eagles almost managed to steal this game.
Almost.
They were two yards away from going up 17 points with
about 7.5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. If they score a touchdown in that spot, the conversation is a lot different than it is right now.
But that’s not our current reality. The Eagles lost their second game in a row and one can only wonder if there are more losses on the way.
Time to hand out winners, losers, and I don’t knows.
For even more analysis, check out my appearance on the PHLY Eagles postgame show along with Brandon Graham, Bo Wulf, and others!
WINNERS
DARIUS COOPER
September 21, 2026:
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: good things happen when Hurts throws the ball to Cooper.”
My love for Cooper isn’t just a bit! He’s proving to be a useful player. Three of his five receptions this season have resulted in touchdowns.
On his first touchdown, Cooper made a great effort to snag the ball out of the air to prevent an interception and put points on the board for the Eagles instead. Cooper then managed to get wide open in the back of the end zone for Hurts for his second score.
Cooper finished this game with a team-high seven targets. That volume speaks to Hurts’ trust in him.
It’s pretty silly that this guy saw zero targets in Week 1. And that he played the fifth-most snaps of any Eagles receiver in Week 3, when he also logged zero targets.
Cooper can make plays as a pass-catcher. He’s the Eagles’ best blocking receiver. He’s among the NFL leaders in special teams tackles.
The Eagles need to stop messing around and get him more regularly involved.
It’s really a shame they lost this game because Cooper would be getting much more shine if they won.
MARKEL BELL
Bell graded out better as a run blocker than a pass protector. The rookie tackle was able to use his size and strength to pancake some defenders.
Bell wasn’t perfect. But he had to start this game on short notice after Lane Johnson did not play due to personal reasons. It’s not like he got a full week in practice to prepare for this situation.
Bell did not look totally lost out there. He did not wreck the game. That might sound like a low bar but it’s an encouraging starting point.
ANDREW MUKUBA
Mukuba has drawn a lot of ire but he made a really nice diving interception for a 21-yard return that allowed the Eagles’ offense to set up at the plus 28-yard line and ultimately score three points. Mukuba’s playmaking ability is part of his purported appeal, so, that was good to see.
He did was charted for two missed tackles, which isn’t ideal. But those mistakes are a little more easy to live with if he’s generating big plays.
COOPER DEJEAN
DeJean has bounced back since a rough Week 1. Impressive focus to stay with a tipped ball and make the grab for a pick and 25-yard return to set up an Eagles touchdown right before the end of the first half.
JEREMIAH TROTTER JR.
Tackles aren’t a perfect stat but Trot Jr. led the team with 15 total, 10 of which were solo. A team-high three of his tackles were classified as “stops,” which are tackles that constitute a failure for the offense.
Trot Jr. did miss a key tackle on Kyren Williams’ touchdown run that gave the Rams the lead. Shame, too, because he had the running back lined up for either no gain or a loss. Didn’t make the play.
Still, more good than bad from a player making his first NFL start in a game where the Eagles weren’t resting their starters.
NOLAN SMITH
Smith timed up the snap count well to get to Matthew Stafford unblocked for a sack. His second sack of the season accounts for the Eagles’ total of four sacks through four games. Smith also had two “stops. One of them was a TFL.
Also worth noting that Smith officially started this game as one of two edge rushers … with the other being Jonathan Greenard.
MICHAEL CLAY
Part of the reason why the Eagles were in position to steal this game was because their special teams unit played well. We’d be ripping Clay if his group had a rough day, so, it’s only fair to give the Eagles’ special teams coordinator credit here.
JAKE ELLIOTT
Including training camp practices (28/31), preseason games (7/7), and the 2026 regular season thus far (13/13), Elliott is 48/51 on all kicks dating back to the offseason. That’s pretty good.
Elliott drilled a 56-yarder in the rain and wind today. He has two makes from 50+ yards on two tries this season. He was 5/15 from 50+ in the past two seasons combined.
Elliott also did his part to help pin the Rams back deep with a kickoff that hit the landing zone and bounced into the end zone to force LA to take over at their own 20-yard line instead of the standard touchback at the 35-yard line.
BRITAIN COVEY
Covey set the Eagles up at the plus 17-yard line with his 41-yard punt return. Two plays later, Hurts hit Cooper for Philly’s first touchdown of the game.
Covey is logging 13.5 yards per punt return this season. That figure would rank eighth among qualified punt returners from last season. Good stuff.
LOSERS
TEAM HEALTH
The Eagles have a long list of players who are injured coming out of their Week 4 loss. Far from ideal. Especially with an international trip coming up this weekend.
SEAN MANNION
This offense flat out sucks.
Is that entirely Mannion’s fault? No. We all know there are major injury issues. We can allow some room for growing pains.
But he is the offensive coordinator and the results were very, very bad.
The Eagles have failed to convert their last SEVENTEEN third down attempts. 0/17! They were 0/12 in this game.
One year after leading the NFL in three-and-out percentage, the Eagles continue to look pathetically inept.
A bunch of stats to back up the eye test:
JALEN HURTS
Not exactly one of the prettier box scores you’ll see: 12/27, 68 net passing yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 78.2 passer rating.
68 net passing yards! That’s 241 fewer than Stafford had.
As previously acknowledged, the Eagles were dealing with a bunch of key absences in this game. No DeVonta Smith, no Dallas Goedert, no Lane Johnson, no Saquon Barkley after the Eagles’ fourth offensive play, and so on. It’s not like Hurts could reasonably be expected to have the best game of his life.
But the Eagles needed more from their quarterback. That first down sack he took on the final drive was bad. He seemed to handle the blitz well in terms of dodging oncoming defenders. But he didn’t make the defense pay after avoiding those sacks.
Hurts was able to carry the Eagles’ offense in their first two games, which were both wins. He’s been worse over the past two weeks.
CAM JURGENS
A brutal mistake from Jurgens prevented a touchdown on 3rd-and-goal from the 2-yard line, one play before the Eagles went for it on fourth down and failed for a turnover on downs:
Jurgens also allowed a team-high five pressures:
Again, the Eagles did Jurgens dirty by giving him exactly zero reps at left guard this summer despite concerns about Landon Dickerson’s health. But the bottom line is that he’s struggling and the Eagles might need to consider replacing him at some point, if not now.
JIHAAD CAMPBELL
The accuracy of coverage stats can be questioned since it’s hard to always know a player’s responsibility on a given play. With that consideration in mind, Pro Football Focus charted Campbell with 12 targets for eight receptions and 80 yards. They have Campbell allowing a 113.7 passer rating when targeted this season.
Campbell has athletic tools to be able to be an asset in coverage. But he’s yet to really master the mental part of the game. That aspect might only come by continuing to play him to aid his development. But the coaching staff might be tempted to lean on Trot Jr. at some point if they feel like he’s the superior option.
THE TRENCHES
The Eagles just don’t appear to be as strong on the lines as they’ve been in the past. The offensive line is struggling. The defensive line is failing to produce relative to the investments the Eagles have made in that group. Hard to be a great team when you aren’t strong along the line of scrimmage.
JOHNNY MUNDT
His unnecessary holding penalty wiped out a goal-to-go sequence and contributed to the offense having to ultimately settle for a 56-yard field goal make.
JONATHAN JONES
Jones came in for an injured Quinyon Mitchell and got cooked by Davante Adams but got lucky that Stafford overthrew the receiver. Jones had a bad unnecessary roughness penalty to turn 4th-and-1 into a first down at the plus 13-yard line instead. Jones also had a Stafford interception go right through his hands on the Rams’ go-ahead drive.
HOWIE ROSEMAN
Roseman has played a role in this team not looking so inspiring at the moment. He didn’t exactly have a stellar offseason. The Eagles’ roster management has been bizarre (four quarterbacks, keeping vested veterans who are making rookie mistakes, etc.).
In Roseman’s defense, he’s done a lot of the heavy-lifting during this period of Eagles sustained success. It would be nice if the other core pillars of the team (head coach, quarterback) could return the favor to some extent and help pick him up.
I’ll also add that Roseman was on such a heater in terms of nailing personnel moves that it was inevitable he’d cool off at some point.
But, again, he’s contributed to the mess the Eagles find themselves in at the moment.
I DON’T KNOWS
NICK SIRIANNI
I don’t have big problems with Sirianni from this specific game as much as I do with him in the bigger picture.
I didn’t hate his game management in this one as much as others seem to.
I noticed a lot of criticism for his decision to keep the offense on the field at 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line. I think that’s a no-brainer go for it. The Eagles were struggling to move the ball. That was their chance to maximize points and go up three possessions. I’m down to criticize the design and execution of that fourth down play. But I respect Sirianni’s decision to try to put the game away right there.
The decision to go for it from 4th-and-1 at the Eagles’ own 38-yard line while up 10 points late in the third quarter wasn’t as obvious. But I didn’t mind the aggression as much I didn’t like going with a tush push from 4th-and-1 with the 1 being long.
Something not being talked about enough is Sirianni’s decision to NOT go for from 4th-and-4 at the Eagles’ 46-yard line with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter. The worst case scenario in that situation is NOT the Rams scoring a touchdown. It’s the Rams scoring a touchdown AND leaving less time on the clock for the Eagles to try to take the lead back. Had the Eagles converted that 4th-and-4, great! Had they not, the Rams’ touchdown could’ve happened sooner, perhaps allowing the Eagles to save their timeouts and maybe even have the two-minute warning to work with.
I also think Sirianni deserves some credit for having the team looking more motivated than they did on Monday night in Chicago. They put forth a better effort on Sunday.
The problem I DO have with Sirianni is that he clearly has no answers on offense. Kevin Patullo is gone and yet a lot of the same offensive issues remain. Hurts is also a common denominator in the equation. But the Eagles’ quarterback played well in the first two games and the offense still struggled when it wasn’t being carried by him.
The Eagles need their head coach to give them more than he’s providing at the moment.
VIC FANGIO
I was debating putting Fangio, as a representative of the Eagles’ defense as a whole, in the winners section.
I’m not really interested in blaming that unit for this loss.
Allowing 415 yards sure wasn’t ideal. But this defense came up with two takeaways that gave the offense two short fields to create 10 points, half of the Eagles’ total.
Fangio’s defense didn’t come up big when it mattered most. They allowed a 10-play, 98-yard touchdown drive and then a 10-play, 79-yard touchdown drive to score 14 points and take the lead late in the fourth quarter.
But the defense was gassed at that point in no small part because the Eagles’ offense couldn’t sustain a drive. The Rams ran 77 plays against this defense. That had to be exhausting.
Also, Fangio’s defense has done most of the heavy lifting since he took over as defensive coordinator. The lack of complementary football was a big issue last season and it’s carrying over into this year.
This isn’t to suggest the defense is above criticism. It’s just that the offense is so much more culpable by comparison.
LANE JOHNSON
Hope Lane is OK.
Saw a tweet going around that inaccurately claimed Brandon Graham — while speaking next to me on the PHLY Eagles postgame show — said Lane Johnson is considering retirement. That’s not what BG said. But I do think his thoughts on Johnson missing the game were interesting, if you’d like to check it out for yourself.
MAKAI LEMON
With DeVonta out, there was talk about Lemon seeing an increased workload. He did finish second in targets (to Cooper) with six. His three catches resulted in just 27 yards, though. Don’t think he looked bad. And it was nice the Eagles finally scrapped throwing to him on those entirely telegraphed screens. Would’ve liked to see more production from the Eagles’ 2026 first-round pick, though.
