🤦‍♂️ London bawling| Sports Daily Newsletter

You’d be forgiven for thinking an Eagles’ victory in London was all but assured when Jake Elliott connected from 48 yards out on Sunday. Hell, even some of the most loyal Jaguars fans likely thought the game was over. The kick put the Eagles up 16-14 over Jacksonville with eight seconds left, and the Jags, who lost their long snapper earlier in the game, had just missed an extra point.

The Eagles could’ve — and should’ve — just kicked the ball out of the end zone and given Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville offense the ball at their own 35-yard line. Instead, Elliott was instructed to keep the ball in play, even after the Jaguars’ earlier success on returns and the Birds’ own personnel issues. It was indeed the wrong call, as Ameer Abdullah nearly broke free for a touchdown and set his team up in field-goal range with two seconds left. Cam Little’s 57-yarder sent the Eagles home with a 19-17 loss.

“I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game,” Sirianni said, adding that it was one that will “stick with me for a long time.”

Perhaps what hurts most is that this was a game the Eagles were lucky to be leading in the first place. They were without Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith and were playing with an offensive line in disarray. They only rushed for 22 yards, and were massively outgained by the Jaguars. But they won the turnover battle, and twice stopped Jacksonville from the one-yard line. They also got strong play from Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, and the front seven to keep them in the game.

It wasn’t enough to overcome Sirianni’s late-game blunder.

In addition to the coach’s poor decision-making, the offense once again fell asleep in the second half — hey, at least they got a couple first downs and field goal this time — and one of the team’s best special teams players got ejected in the first 14 seconds. As Marcus Hayes wrote after the game, those issues can also be traced back to Sirianni, who is now under .500 for the first time since 2021 following a third straight loss.

He better be careful, or the wheels could quickly fall off. They’re already pretty loose.

— Matt Mullin, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The big story around the Eagles leading into their loss in London was the state of the offensive line, following the retirement of Lane Johnson and the team’s decision to trade Cam Jurgens on back-to-back days last week. The team was already without Landon Dickerson, and backup Drew Kendall, who had been starting, was out with a knee injury.

“This week has been a week from hell,” Jordan Mailata said after the game.

The names in front of Jalen Hurts on Sunday — save for Mailata — were likely unfamiliar to many Eagles fans, or at least less so than past years. They included Jake Majors, Willie Lampkin, and Fred Johnson, who filled in when Tyler Steen exited for a series.

So against a tough Jaguars defense, Jalen Hurts was surely in for a long day on Sunday, right? Not quite. He was sacked just once and hit two other times.

“I was very proud of our offensive line in today’s game,” Mailata, the lone Week 1 starter to play the entire game, said. “We continued to grow. Through it all, through the bad, the good, and ultimately [we] put ourselves in the position at the end there to win the game, and unfortunately, we fell short.”

It wasn’t perfect — Jeff McLane gave them a C for their efforts — but it wasn’t bad for the patchwork unit.

McLane also makes the point that while the attention will be on Sirianni’s game management on Sunday, the offense taking step back last season plus this year’s further regression is a bigger problem.

Next: The Eagles return home Sunday when they host the Carolina Panthers (1 p.m., CBS)

As bad as the last few weeks have gone for the Eagles, at least they’re not the Flyers. Winless in their first six games and off to one of the worst starts in franchise history, the Flyers’ 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday tied them with the 1999-2000 and 2008-09 teams. On Sunday night, they stretched their winless streak to a franchise worst seven games with a 4-1 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Despite the loss, all is not lost. Both of those teams made the postseason — and the 1999-2000 team reached the Eastern Conference finals. How? According to Martin Biron, Simon Gagné, and other players from those teams, it was a combination of coming together as a team, drawing on past experiences, and remaining grounded.

Can this year’s much younger squad follow in their footsteps? Time is running out, especially after last night’s loss. They need to start stringing some wins together, and they’ll have to do it without one of their most veteran players after putting Travis Konecny on injured reserved over the weekend.

Next: The Flyers are back on the ice on Tuesday night when they host the Seattle Kraken (7 p.m., ESPN).

The Sixers traveled to Boston on Saturday where they faced old friend Paul George, who was making his Celtics debut following the offseason blockbuster that landed Jaylen Brown in Philly. Brown didn’t play against his former team — neither did Joel Embiid or LeBron James — but two of the players who remain close to PG did get a chance at a reunion.

George said that VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey still regularly call him and called his connection with the two guards and his other former teammates “a brotherhood.” George’s family still lives in Philly, where Embiid is their neighbor and their kids attend the same school. “I love those guys,” George said.

“He’s an OG in the game,” Edgecombe, who scored 19 points in the Celtics’ 144-106 win over the Sixers, said of George. “ … It seems like he’s in a really good space, mentally and physically, also.”

George played 25 minutes and finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, five steals … and lots of love from his former teammates.

Next: The Sixers host the Celtics on Friday for their preseason finale (7 p.m., NBCSP).

The Eagles’ loss to the Jaguars was their third straight. Including their current skid, how many times have they lost three games in a row (including the playoffs) since Sirianni took over in 2021?

A) Two

B) Three

C) Four

D) Five

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Olivia Reiner, Jeff Neiburg, Jeff McLane, Marcus Hayes, Ryan Novozinsky, Alex Coffey, Jackie Spiegel, Conor Smith, Mia Messina, Chris Hine, Faiyaad Kamal, Lexie Linderman, Hannah Chang, and Gina Mizell.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thanks for reading. We’ll will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. — Matt