Eagles news: Saquon Barkley pops up on injury report; Nick Sirianni on missing the 'dagger'; Refs explain controversial calls

It was an operational issue, quarterback Jalen Hurts said, that caused the Eagles to be flagged for an illegal shift penalty in the fourth quarter, wiping out a long first down that would have put the Eagles in prime position to take the lead back.

But on the fourth-and-4 play from midfield with five minutes to go, Hurts and the offense appeared to have plenty of time to get the play off. A lot goes on before the snap. Hurts has to diagnose what he’s looking at from the defense, and then has to go through his signals and communications, including sending players in motion, in a timely matter.

That didn’t happen Sunday, and Hurts was asked if the play calls were coming in on time.

The Eagles haven’t found success running the ball. They have been very inconsistent passing the ball.

What can they lean on right now?

“I think every game dictates different things,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Yesterday we saw opportunity in the pass game to be able to take advantage of a couple things and a couple matchups we were getting. I think for the majority of the first half and even into the first drive of the second half we were having a lot of success with that.

It was a play that Jalen Hurts said would have been the “dagger.” The Eagles, leading 17-3 and in complete control Sunday, nearly had the put-away play. Hurts, on a first-and-15 from their own 39-yard line late in the third quarter, missed A.J. Brown on a deep ball that, had it been caught, would have gone for a touchdown.

It was one of the big takeaways after the Eagles’ first loss of the season Sunday. It’s easy to overanalyze one play, especially when so many moving parts make it up, but this one stood out because of the way it directly impacted the result of the game and because of the lead-up to Sunday and the rollercoaster ride that is the Eagles’ passing game and the connection between the quarterback and his star receiver.

So, did Brown slow up? Did Hurts’ hesitation pump cause the misfire? Was it something else?

The Eagles and Giants last met to end the regular season in January. However, with the NFC East and the conference’s No. 2 seed already secure, the Eagles rested many of their key starters — including Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith — in order to prioritize health heading into the postseason.

Of course, the Eagles still won, 20-13, to take both games against the Giants in the regular season. Their first matchup in October was a one-sided 28-3 victory for the Eagles at MetLife Stadium, in a game that saw Barkley rush for 176 yards and a touchdown in his first game against his former team.

Now, the Eagles are headed back to MetLife coming off of their first loss of the season. Meanwhile, the Giants are coming off a 26-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Ahead of their Week 6 matchup, the FanDuel and DraftKings are both favoring the Birds by at least a touchdown. 

Video has gone viral of Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Jonathan Gannon berating and pushing running back Emari Demarcardo during Sunday’s game between the Cardinals and Tennessee Titans. Moments earlier, Demarcardo pulled what’s become known as The Desean Jackson - dropping and fumbling the football accidentally before crossing the goal line while celebrating an easy touchdown.

The former Eagles defensive coordinator stormed over to the third-string running back on the sideline and tore into him, while a teammate put his arm around his shoulders.

Demarcardo’s 72-yard almost-score in the 4th quarter would have put the Cardinals up 27-6. But the Titans recovered the ball after Demarcardo’s gaffe, and it sparked a shocking 22-21 comeback victory.

Former Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez is now facing a felony charge of battery involving serious bodily injury in addition to the misdemeanor charges stemming from a weekend incident in Indianapolis that led to his arrest.

Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears made the announcement about the new charge, which carries a potential sentence of one to six years in prison, during a news conference Monday with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey. Mears said the investigation is ongoing.

“One of the challenges you have in a case like this is that you are dealing with individuals who are receiving medical care and that’s, obviously, the most important thing, that individuals are treated appropriately,” Mears said. “But once we were provided with additional information about the victim’s current medical condition, it became clear to us that additional charges needed to be filed.”

The Eagles are still at 4-1, leading the NFC East with one of the NFL’s best records. But each of the Birds’ four wins came by one score.

Former Eagle Chris Long said on Green Light that he believes the loss can be a wake-up call for the Eagles, who uncharacteristically were unable to close out a game with a two-score lead.

“If it were about the result, we’d all be really excited, but it’s not about the result, it’s about the way the team looks,” Long said. “... It’s hot right now, and it should be! You don’t want to do this after a win, and this is reflective of how sometimes teams can improve after a loss. I can only drag my team down so much after a win, sometimes you need a loss to wake the [expletive] up.”

Five games into the 2025 season, have the Eagles already lost their post-Super Bowl luster? Stephen A. Smith thinks they have.

“They don’t resemble the team that won the Super Bowl,” Smith said. “They’re not intimidating anybody, they’re not striking fear in anybody. People believe they can score on the Philadelphia Eagles. They believe they can wear them down.”

Damien Woody also thinks the Birds have lost their identity from last season, and haven’t established what kind of team they are this year on offense.

The Eagles entered Sunday undefeated at 4-0, but it wasn't the cleanest 4-0. Their inconsistencies and deficiencies caught up to them, and they lost a game Jalen Hurts started and finished for the first time since Week 4 last season.

Is it weird to taste defeat? That question was asked to Cooper DeJean, a rookie on last season's team who hasn't experienced many NFL losses and thinks the loss might actually be a good thing for the Eagles.

"Yeah. It definitely is weird," DeJean said. "It’s been a while, but I think it’s good for us. Good for us to go back to the drawing board and see what we need to clean up. We got away with a lot of things in those first four games and we found ways to win. Today we didn’t. We've got to clean up those little details so we can find a way to win in the end.

Nick Sirianni believes that penalties have a way of evening out in the end.

“I know sometimes there’s always going to be, ‘Well, we got screwed on this one,’” he said after the Eagles lost, 21-17, Sunday. “I don’t think that way. They all balance each other out.”

Call Sunday an aligning of the cosmos of sorts.

And then there were none.

Hours after the Eagles blew their fourth-quarter lead against the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots upset the Buffalo Bills, the league's last-remaining undefeated team.

The surviving members of the 1972 Dolphins can pop their champagne.

It's a short week for the Eagles (4-1), who travel to North Jersey to take on the New York Giants (1-4) on Amazon Prime Video's Thursday Night Football.

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart came crashing down to Earth Sunday in a sloppy loss to the New Orleans Saints (1-4). Dart threw two interceptions in the loss and also had a costly fumble in the third quarter.

Rookie running back Cam Skattebo also had a fumble, which the Saints returned 86 yards for a touchdown.