PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts held a clipboard, wore a headset and paced the sideline with the identical the look of consternation on his face as furious Philly fans within the stands as their stress tightened in one other Eagles loss without the franchise quarterback.
Hurts and the Eagles didn’t like what they saw — and now, fully healthy or not, the banged-up, show-stopping QB may need to come back to the rescue with every little thing he helped construct on the point of unraveling with one game left within the season.
“If Jalen’s capable of go,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said, “he’ll go.”
That is little bit of a reason to exhale after the Eagles lost their second straight without Hurts, putting their hopes of securing the NFC’s top seed in jeopardy. Marshon Lattimore returned an interception 11 yards for a late touchdown, and the Recent Orleans Saints beat Philadelphia 20-10 on Sunday.
The Eagles have to beat the Recent York Giants next week to secure the highest seed. A loss by Philly and a win by Dallas would give the Cowboys the NFC East title. Hurts is recuperating from a sprained right shoulder.
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“His health is the No. 1 priority,” Sirianni said.
The Giants can rest their starters after clinching a playoff berth with a 38-10 win over Indianapolis. The Eagles cannot rest easy on the considered a 3rd straight start by backup QB Gardner Minshew.
“We have now every little thing we ever wanted in front of us,” Minshew said.
And yes, that is true. But their prospects of beating the Giants — or doing anything within the playoffs — are cloudy without Hurts.
“I’m not anybody that’s ever going to hit a panic button,” Sirianni said.
But in Hurts’ case, how about breaking some glass in case of emergency?
The Saints (7-9) won their third straight game as they continue to be in contention for a playoff spot all the way down to the ultimate weeks under first-year coach Dennis Allen. Taysom Hill had a 1-yard TD run in Recent Orleans’ surprising first half.
“We found a method to close them out the last three weeks,” Allen said. “That is been good to see. That is the form of team I feel we could be.”
Andy Dalton, who threw for 204 yards, accomplished his first 13 passes, including a 58-yard reception by Rashid Shaheed. That play arrange certainly one of two field goals by Wil Lutz in the primary half that gave the Saints a 13-0 lead.
Minshew had a pass intercepted by Lattimore, who had missed 10 straight games with an abdominal injury, late within the fourth. The backup QB finished 18 of 32 passing for 274 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his second straight start and showed no signs he could ably lead the Eagles on a postseason run should Hurts get hurt again.
Minshew connected with A.J. Brown for a 78-yard touchdown late within the third that made it 13-10 and temporarily woke up the group — which had voraciously booed the Eagles many of the game — and a clumsy offense. But Minshew didn’t convert on a fourth-down dive late within the fourth that cost his team as much as his late pick.
The Eagles were shut out in the primary half for the primary time this season.
“We just played terrible. That’s that,” wide receiver DeVonta Smith said.
The Eagles hadn’t allowed greater than 4 sacks in a game this season but — playing without injured right tackle Lane Johnson — allowed five in the primary half. The Eagles didn’t convert a primary down until there have been 12 seconds left within the half.
Even the play-calling was questionable. As a substitute of attempting to help their backup QB by leaning a bit more on 1,000-yard rusher Miles Sanders, the Eagles gave him only two carries within the half.
Hurts seemingly solidified his MVP credentials without taking a snap. He most definitely won’t win the award now, however the Eagles are significantly worse without the QB who tied a franchise record with 35 total touchdowns.
Eagles fans booed the team off the sphere and suddenly a team that expected to play two home games within the postseason is just trying get there with its confidence intact.
Jake Elliott kicked a 56-yard field goal for the Eagles.
“We never panicked or stressed or pressed,” Minshew said. “We just couldn’t make it occur.”
And the probabilities they’ll make it occur — that Super Bowl run that was of their grasp just three weeks ago — could also be nonexistent without Hurts.
The Eagles sacked Dalton seven times, their fifth consecutive game with six or more sacks — the longest streak by any team within the Super Bowl era.
Additionally they became the primary team to have 4 players with 10-plus sacks in a single season (Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave and Brandon Graham) since individual sacks were first recorded in 1982.
Saints: OT Ryan Ramczyk suffered a hip injury.
Eagles: Sweat suffered a neck injury but had movement in all extremities after he was injured attempting to make a tackle. The Eagles said Sweat was taken to a hospital as a precaution. The defensive end, who has 11 sacks this season, pounded the bottom together with his hands before he was faraway from the sphere on a stretcher in the primary quarter.
The Saints finish at home against Carolina next Sunday.
The Eagles host the Recent York Giants next weekend with the No. 1 seed at stake.
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