Philadelphia Eagles on the Ropes After Dropping Third Straight Game

The floundering Philadelphia Eagles needed to show some fight on Monday night.

They needed Rocky Balboa but they got Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The defending champs were punched in the gut for the third straight week, blowing a fourth-quarter lead and turning the ball over for the fifth time in overtime to end a 22-19 road loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Play by both sides was sloppy to the point of being cartoonish — and we're not talking about the animated Monsters, Inc. version of the television broadcast. The teams combined for six turnovers in the second quarter, the most in any quarter since 2013.

The Eagles allowed Justin Herbert to beat them with one surgically repaired hand tied behind his back, so to speak. He led the game-tying field-goal drive in the final two minutes of regulation and set up Cameron Dicker's fifth field goal to grab the lead in OT.

For much of the night, Philadelphia's offense was almost as unwatchable as one of Eagles superfan Bradley Cooper's Uber Eats commercials. Almost.

Jalen Hurts was picked off four times, two more than in his first 12 games combined. The fourth came in the red zone with his Eagles just 17 yards away from victory.

Hurts managed to turn it over twice on the same looney-tunes play in the second quarter, throwing an interception and then fumbling it away after recovering the football. He was the first player to do that since at least 1978, which is as far back as the Elias Sports Bureau's research goes.

So, was Monday's Rocky horror show a knockout blow? Are the Eagles spiraling toward a sequel of two years ago?

The evidence is mounting. They squandered a 21-0 lead in a 24-21 road loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12. They surrendered nearly 300 rushing yards in a 24-15 home loss to the Chicago Bears on a bleak Black Friday. They held fourth-quarter leads of 16-13 and 19-16 against the Chargers.

This three-game skid is Philadelphia's longest since the colossal collapse to the 2023 campaign, when the 10-1 Eagles dropped their first three games in December and six of their last seven — including a quick playoff exit.

There's still time for coach Nick Sirianni's crew to get off the canvas. The Eagles (8-5) still lead the Cowboys (6-6-1) in the NFC East.

The Eagles' next two games are at home against a Raiders team on a seven-game losing streak and at Washington, currently on an eight-game losing streak.

That should get Philadelphia to 10 wins before a Week 17 trip to Buffalo and a Week 18 rematch at home with the Commanders.

The margin for error in the division is slimmer than DeVonta Smith, however, as the Cowboys have a legit shot to win out. They close with home games vs. the Vikings and Chargers followed by road contests against the Commanders and Giants.

The Philadelphia defense did enjoy a strong bounce-back effort against the Chargers (9-4), sacking Herbert seven times, forcing three turnovers and limiting L.A. to 275 total yards.

Saquon Barkley also showed signs of life, posting just his second 100-yard game of the season thanks to a 52-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. A.J. Brown caught six passes for 100 yards but also had several big drops, including a potential TD late in regulation.

The Eagles aren't going to just throw in the towel, but let's not pull any punches.

This is a team on the ropes.