The Eagles couldn’t overcome a dreadful first half, lost to the hapless Saints, 20-10, on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, and failed to clinch the No. 1 seed for a second straight week. Win, lose, or draw, here’s what we learned:
Jalen Hurts may be forced to play in the season finale
Despite Nick Sirianni’s absurd comments about Jalen Hurts’ superhuman-like ability to recover from injury, the Eagles are clearly a much lesser team without the quarterback. Any number of NFL squads can say the same about the difference between their starters and backups, of course, but Gardner Minshew’s magic ran out after one solid outing vs. the Cowboys. He didn’t receive much help from Sirianni’s game plan or offensive coordinator Shane Steichen’s play-calling against the Saints, but he was often skittish in the pocket and erratic in his throws. Minshew also lacked the elusiveness that can make Hurts so dangerous to defend.
