Eagles see red in blown scoring chances in loss to Chiefs

Updated Oct. 3, 2021 6:07 p.m. ET

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jason Kelce may have been yelling for all of Philadelphia when he shouted “don’t do this!” at an official after a flag was thrown that wiped out an Eagles’ touchdown.

Too late.

The damage was done, an offensive pass interference call in the third quarter took away a Jalen Hurts touchdown pass and the Eagles settled for a field goal.

The flags flew against the Eagles more than Patrick Mahomes touchdown passes -- and the Kansas City Chiefs star threw five -- and they had three touchdowns taken off the board because of penalties.

The Eagles were too sloppy on critical possession inside the 20-yard-line, the lost points truly a turning point in a third-straight loss, this one 42-30 to the Chiefs on Sunday.

“We’re clearly not there as a football team,” Hurts said.

Clearly.

Again, bright spots were dimmed by yet another game full of flags and foolish play that doomed momentum as the Eagles tried to hang with the AFC champions. The Eagles entered with an NFL-worst 35 penalties and were whistled for nine more against the Chiefs. The three negated TDs turned into just two field goals, the kind of game plan that’s not going to work with Mahomes throwing scores just about each time KC had the ball.

“It tastes nasty,” cornerback Darius Slay said of losing. “I’m going to go spray some orange juice or something down my throat.”

The Eagles moved the ball fine against a Chiefs defense ranked 30th in the NFL: Hurts threw for 387 yards and DeVonta Smith caught seven passes for 122 yards.

But once within striking distance of a touchdown, the Eagles stalled.

__ Late in the second quarter, Hurts had his touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert nullified by a penalty on left tackle Andre Dillard for being ineligible downfield. Hurts then missed an open Greg Ward in the end zone. The Eagles settled for a short field goal, a 25-yarder by Jake Elliott.

— A 3-yard TD pass from Hurts to Zach Ertz in the third quarter was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty on J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, forcing the Eagles to settle one more time for a 31-yarder by Elliott.

Need one more for good measure?

— Smith was whistled for stepping out of bounds with 5:16 left in the game that took his TD catch, yup, off the board. The Eagles did not score on the drive and Eagles fans fled for the Linc exits.

“We control the penalties. We control the little things,” Hurts said. “It’s all magnified in games against good football teams.”

It could get worse.

The Eagles play next week at 3-1 Carolina and then return home for a game against defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay.

Try winning those games with another nine penalties.

It’s not just an undisciplined offense hurting Philadelphia.

Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett -- always good for an untimely penalty -- was whistled for a personal foul that gave the Chiefs a first down at the 3. The Chiefs scored a TD with 51 seconds left in the first half.

“They are costing us, extending drives,” Slay said. “We need to get off the field, so they are tough. But that’s self-discipline.”

Hurt threw the ball away multiple times on fourth down and said Eagles fans need to keep quiet.

“Little stuff like crowd gets loud, that’s something new for me,” he said. “Quiet them down, everyone can hear me.”

The same penalties again and again are an early indicator that something isn’t connecting between the team and rookie coach Nick Sirianni. Consider, in the loss to San Francisco in the home opener, the Eagles thought they had a touchdown on a Hurts pass to Jalen Reagor but it was overturned on replay when it showed the 2020 first-round pick stepped out of bounds before he ran back into the end zone.

How hard is it to stay in bounds?

Sirianni chirped all game at the officials and nothing went his way. And yes, it’s Sirianni’s job to pump up his players and keep them motivated but he rolled some eyes when he said Hurts’ performance one of the best games from a QB he’s ever seen. Sirianni worked with Andrew Luck and Philip Rivers in Indianapolis and coached Rivers in San Diego and Matt Cassel in Kansas City.

Hurts was having none of it.

“We lost the game,” he said. “Got to do more, got to do better.”

___

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