Eric Hartline
There were enough moments in Sunday's Jacksonville Jaguars-Eagles game to do about 100 takeaways. Whether it's a game-sealing interception from Nakobe Dean, a dominant drive that DeVonta Smith capped with a one-handed touchdown reception or some questionable decision-making from Nick Sirianni, there will be plenty of fallout from Sunday's contest.
But if you're looking for a place to start at, Saquon Barkley would be it.
Barkley made a questionable decision to go down in bounds late in the fourth quarter, rather than keep running towards the first down marker and potentially get pushed out of bounds to stop the clock. That drive ended up stalling, and Jake Elliott then missed a 57-yard field goal that would have put the Eagles up by eight points. Barkley also had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Jacksonville in the third quarter, something we'll dive more deeply into in a minute.
With all that said, Barkley was still the best player on the field Sunday, rushing for 159 yards and adding 40 receiving yards as well. He even had a backwards hurdle in the first quarter, a move he may very well have invented: Insane run from Saquon Barkley 🔥
pic.twitter.com/8aKVmOsqEo
Even if it wasn't a perfect afternoon for Barkley, he helped the Eagles to win their fourth consecutive game, moving to 6-2 on the season. Here are five immediate takeaways from the game.
The Jaguars won the coin toss, choosing to defer to the second half. That meant the Eagles — who hadn't scored in the first quarter across their first seven games — got the ball to open the game.
They didn't do much with it initially, as they had to punt after a six-play drive that netted just 14 yards to open the game.
However, Austin Trammel muffed the punt as he was hit by Sydney Brown, allowing Kelee Ringo to recover it and set the Eagles up at the Jacksonville 20-yard line:
Eagles making plays on special teams!
📺: #JAXvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/J8cCN9ozXe
From there, it took the Eagles just two plays to find the end zone. Jalen Hurts connected with Barkley for a 20-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles what had been an elusive first quarter touchdown, allowing them to take a 7-0 lead:
FIRST SAQUON BARKLEY TD IN KELLY GREEN IS EVERYTHING!@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ohXJC4CxvD
For all that Barkley did well Sunday, the most notable play involving the star running back was what will go down as a miscue in the box score.
The Jaguars outscored the Eagles 16-6 in the third quarter, in large part because of a touchdown that shouldn't have counted. After a 10-play, 61-yard drive that netted the Jaguars a touchdown was capped off with a successful two-point conversion, the Eagles got the ball back leading just 22-16. Barkley fumbled the ball and the refs allowed a touchdown return from Travon Walker to play out, seemingly under the belief that if he was down before fumbling, replay would correct it:
Don't look now...#JAXvsPHI on CBS pic.twitter.com/e1SZUQawAB
The problem is that despite seemingly universal agreement in the three-person broadcast booth that Barkley was touched in the backfield and should have been ruled down by contact when his left forearm hit the ground, the touchdown was confirmed upon review.
Gene Steratore — who was an NFL official from 2003-2018 — is the rules analyst for CBS. On top of Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber and Jason McCourty in the booth, Steratore said on multiple occasions after the play was reviewed that he was surprised that it wasn't overturned:
My breakdown on the Saquon Barkley ruling. ⬇️pic.twitter.com/xH3cPxbFM9
Barber — who, along with his twin brother Ronde, did plenty of damage against the Eagles in his career — summarized the failed replay in the best way possible.
"To me that sounds like a tackle," Barber said. "Probably is going to be a training tape next year."
After returning as an alternate a season ago, the Eagles wore their Kelly Green uniforms for the first of two times this campaign Sunday afternoon.
Since introducing Midnight Green in 1996, the Eagles have done quite a bit of winning. It's a fierce looking shade, and the Eagles don't have much of a motivation to get rid of it considering under the current arrangement they have fans buying both Midnight Green and Kelly Green garb.
But make no mistake, the Eagles look the best in Kelly Green, and Sunday was a reminder of that.
First, there's the jerseys and helmets:
Is this what y'all have been waiting for? 😏@saquon in Kelly Green!! pic.twitter.com/wnFntzDJop
Second, the silver pants, which the Eagles wore on a full-time basis from 1974-1995:
It's not just a color....
🟢 IT'S A WAY OF LIFE 🟢@Ticketmaster | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/7oww7ereol
And finally, the Kelly Green field:
No, we don't think you understand...
we're ✨OBSESSED✨ pic.twitter.com/lOw4NyoDjO
The Eagles looked great Sunday, and will do so once more this season when they wear Kelly Green against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17.
If you're interested in a full breakdown of the history of Kelly Green and the Eagles, we've got you covered:
The History of Kelly Green and the Eagles - @OnPattison https://t.co/HGK6346wNf
It would be incorrect to say that under Doug Pederson, the Eagles simply got hot one postseason and won a Super Bowl. They did get hot that postseason with Nick Foles under center, but they had been the Super Bowl favorites for much of the regular season before Carson Wentz tore his left ACL. In addition to winning the Super Bowl in the 2017 season, the Eagles also made the postseason in 2018 and 2019 under Pederson. Pederson finished his Eagles tenure with a 42-37-1 record, a strong five-year run overall.
However, the Eagles went 4-11-1 in Pederson's final season at the helm. A large part of that was because Wentz's career spiraled. But there was a brain drain from Pederson's original coaching staff after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in his second season, and they never quite found the right mix again. Mike Groh's two-year run as offensive coordinator after Frank Reich left to become the Indianapolis Colts coach was a failure. The Eagles elected not to name an offensive coordinator in 2020, but the belief was that quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Press Taylor had quite a bit of influence. And for most of the year, the Eagles offense was unwatchable.
Though he admitted Pederson didn't deserve to be fired, owner Jeffrey Lurie dismissed Pederson after 2020 because he didn't feel like he had an adequate plan to get the offense back on track. Whatever you think of Nick Sirianni, Lurie's instincts to move on from Pederson appear to have been wise.
Pederson took the 2021 season off before being hired by the Jaguars in 2022. Just a year after the Urban Meyer debacle, Pederson led the Jaguars to the postseason, and they even went on a 24-3 run in the second half to storm back and beat the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round.
However, Pederson's Jaguars have gone in the wrong direction over the past two seasons. They got off to an 8-3 start in 2023, only to lose five of their final six games and miss the playoffs. They are now 2-7 in 2024, having lost all five of their road games. Trevor Lawrence — who the Jaguars rewarded with five-year/$275 million contract before the season that guaranteed him $200 million — was supposed to be a generational talent, and instead looks like a middling quarterback. The offensive coordinator for Pederson in Jacksonville? Taylor, who he's been immensely loyal to, probably to a fault.
Give the Jags some credit, they didn't quit on Pederson Sunday, and that probably temporarily saved his job. But owner Shad Khan called this year's iteration of the Jaguars "the best team assembled" in franchise history back in early September. They are now 2-7, and Lawrence's contract looks like an albatross. Whether it's at some point this year or after the season, it feels like Pederson's time as an NFL coach is coming to a conclusion. He had a stretch of being a really solid NFL coach, but didn't stay ahead of the curve.
The Eagles will travel to AT&T Stadium for their first of two matchups with the Cowboys this season. In fact, the Eagles have a pair of crucial division matchups coming up, as they'll see Offensive Rookie of the Year and MVP candidate Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders in Week 11 at the Linc.
