Eagles news: Ex-Birds, analysts weigh in on 'incomplete' Hurts; the biggest concerns moving forward; updated playoff picture

The Eagles waived long snapper Cal Adomitis on Tuesday, opening the door for the return of Charley Hughlett.

Hughlett, the free agent the Eagles signed in the offseason to replace longtime snapper Rick Lovato, has been on injured reserve since late September after suffering a core muscle injury that required surgery.

Hughlett, 35, also had a neck injury in camp.

Despite the offense’s struggles, the Eagles defense put up a bounce-back performance against the Chargers. Vic Fangio’s unit allowed just one total touchdown the entire game, and turned over Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert twice while sacking him seven times. Other than running back Kimani Vidal, who recorded a 60-yard reception on the Chargers’ third offensive snap, no L.A. pass catcher finished with over 25 yards.

The Eagles open as double-digit favorites on Sunday despite their current three-game losing streak. That likely has to do with their opponent, the Raiders. It has not been a good season for Las Vegas, which is riding a seven-game skid, including a 31-0 loss to the 6-7 Chiefs and a 24-10 loss to the 3-8 Browns. The Raiders have only scored 20 points once in their last seven games. Quarterback Geno Smith is also tied for the league lead in interceptions with 14. The Eagles enter the matchup as 11.5-point favorites.

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The reigning Super Bowl MVP is not a top 10 quarterback in the NFL, according to ESPN analyst and Birds fan Ben Solak.

“He’s an incomplete quarterback. To me, he’s not a top 10 guy,” Solak said on the Up and Adams Show, when asked about what is fair to say about Hurt’s game the day after the Eagles extended their losing streak.

While offering Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, and Caleb Williams as examples of NFC quarterbacks that are playing better than Hurts, Solak also cautioned against overreacting to his poor showing on Monday Night Football.

A.J. Brown believes he has the “best hands in the world.”

The Eagles’ star receiver, who has been open about the need for the passing game and the offense as a whole to meet its potential, and for the team to take advantage of his abilities, reached 100 yards for the third consecutive game.

He had six catches for 100 yards and made a few key plays. But inside the visitor’s locker room at SoFi Stadium late Monday night, it was the balls that hit his hands and landed elsewhere that stood out the most and had Brown looking inward.

Ultimately, Stephen A. Smith said on First Take Tuesday, the Eagles lost to the Chargers because Jalen Hurts and the offense once again failed to step up and deliver in a big moment. While not all of Hurts’ five turnovers were his fault — one of his four interceptions slipped right through Brown’s hands — his game-sealing pick was a bad mistake.

“You can’t make that throw,” Smith said. “You’re in field-goal range, in a position to tie, you know how much is on the line. Dallas has a tie on its record in your division and they’re tugging at your heels. … If you’re playing this game like Jalen Hurts has shown he’s capable of playing this game, that is a mistake at that particular moment in time that you simply cannot make. He made it, and once again we find ourselves sitting here talking about the Eagles offense, because the Eagles’ defense, outside of the 80-yard drive to open the game put the Chargers pretty much on lock and key.”

Longtime former Colts center Jeff Saturday said he thinks the Eagles listened too much to outside noise about the offense, and moved away from the more conservative style that won them games last year.

No one has defended Jalen Hurts more than former Eagle LeSean McCoy over the course of the season, but even he didn’t have much to say in Hurts’ defense after his performance on Monday.

“Did he play bad?” McCoy said. “Yes. Did he play horrible? Hell yeah, but he ain’t no four-pick-type quarterback. He had a bad game. A lot of quarterbacks have that.”

“You guys have been waiting for a moment like this,” McCoy said later in the show. “You talk about Jalen Hurts all the time and you try to bash him. The truth is, all he does is win. You can’t really bash him.”

Eagles Super Bowl champion LeGarrette Blount believes that getting more touches for Saquon Barkley is the key to unlocking Philly’s stagnant offense. While Barkley finished the game with 122 rushing yards and a touchdown, Blount said the Eagles star needs the ball even more.

“You got to get him more and more touches,” he said on Good Morning Football, pointing out that while Barkley carried the ball 13 times in the first half against the Chargers, he only carried it 7 more times in the second half and in overtime. Barkley finished the game without a reception.

“That’s not enough to get it done,” Blount said.

Monday’s game against the Chargers was the worst game of Jalen Hurts’ NFL career. Hurts threw four interceptions and lost a fumble, which was on the same play as one of his interceptions, making him the first player in recorded history to commit two turnovers on one play.

“If you were going to tell me going into last night that somebody was going to throw four interceptions, I would have thought it’d probably be the guy with only one hand,” Dan Graziano said on ESPN's Get Up, referencing Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert’s broken non-throwing hand.

So, is there hope that the Eagles can turn it around in time for the playoffs? Or is the offense doomed to repeat the collapse of 2023?

Seven months after he nearly played hero in the Super Bowl, Terrell Owens started the 2005 season by doing sit-ups in his driveway after being sent home from training camp in Lehigh University during a contract dispute with the team.

Every “next question” from Drew Rosenhaus should have foretold what was to come: a Super Bowl hangover, an offensive meltdown, and an eventual split between Owens and the Eagles.

Parallels to today? There are a few. The Eagles did something Monday for the first time since 2005: Had a fifth consecutive game come and go without scoring more than 21 points.

It was all there for Jalen Hurts.

Despite the turnovers, missed throws, and maybe the worst four quarters of his NFL career, the quarterback had an opportunity to drive the Eagles to victory in overtime.

He did not.

The Eagles' (8-5) magic number to clinch the NFC East — combined wins and Dallas Cowboys' losses — remains three following Monday night's overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers (9-4).

Yes, the vibes remain bad, but despite three straight losses, the Birds remain on track to become the first team in 21 seasons to win the NFC East in back-to-back years. That would mean hosting at least one playoff game at the Linc.

Even if the Cowboys win their four remaining games — at home against the Chargers and Minnesota Vikings (5-8), on the road against the Washington Commanders (3-10) and New York Giants (2-11) — Dallas would still need the Eagles to lose two of their final four games to take the division.

When Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts turned the ball over twice on the same play against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night, not even the fictional characters of Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. could keep up with one of the most bizarre sequences in recent NFL memory.

It also proved costly, giving away three valuable points in what would be a 22-19 overtime loss for the Eagles.

Hurts didn’t see defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand dropping back into coverage over the middle on third down midway through the second quarter and threw it right to the 300-pounder. Hand started running but was stripped from behind by Eagles running back Will Shipley, sending the ball bouncing into Hurts’ hands, only for Chargers defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell to force another fumble which was recovered by linebacker Troy Dye.

So we know what kind of team the Eagles are now. It took 13 games, and to watch most of them was to experience the same amount of pleasure as when you slam your fingers in a door. But they have revealed themselves, and there’s no use disputing the diagnosis.

The Eagles are an excellent defensive team, and that is all, and that is not enough, not even close. Not with an offense like this. Not with this team’s tendency to commit untimely and inexcusable penalties. Not with so many questions that don’t get answered and so many problems that don’t get solved.

They lost Monday night to the Los Angeles Chargers, 22-19 in overtime, and we know now that the most basic assessment of their status is deceiving. They still are 8-5, still in first place in the NFC East, still on track to make the playoffs and, in theory, have a shot at winning another Super Bowl in a conference without a dominant team. But no one who has watched them can see through that spin, that false representation of who they are and how the rest of this season could play out.

On Monday night, the Hollywood lights were too bright for Jalen Hurts.

The fifth-year starting quarterback tossed a single-game career-high four interceptions in the Eagles’ 22-19 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Backup safety Tony Jefferson called game, picking off Hurts near the end zone on a pass intended for Jahan Dotson.

The game went to overtime after Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker tied it, 19-19, with eight seconds remaining in regulation. The Eagles won the toss, and the Chargers had the first possession. Vic Fangio’s defense got gashed on the ground, but limited the Chargers to a field goal, giving the offense a chance to win the game with a touchdown.