Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Broncos game

The Philadelphia Eagles lost. That's not something they're used to doing of late, and frankly their loss was a little overdue. The Denver Broncos were the team that was finally able to take advantage of the Birds' mistakes.

As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The 'Different Books' Award 📗📘: Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown

Late in the third quarter still holding onto a 14-point lead, the Eagles called a shot play — a "dagger," as Jalen Hurts called it during his postgame press conference — and it was wide open.

Brown looked up for the ball but when he didn't see it initially, he stopped running on the play for a moment, before realizing that Hurts had indeed let it rip. The ball sailed harmlessly over Brown's head for an incompletion on what should have been a game-sealing touchdown.

Execution mistakes happen, but what was more alarming was Brown's and Hurts' commentary about the play after the game.

Asked if he talked to Hurts after the play, Brown said, "No."

Hurts was asked during his press conference what corrections or adjustments he'll make with a receiver on the sideline after that type of play, and he more or less didn't answer the question.

"In that situation, that play was a shot," Hurts said. "So, you either hit it or you don't and we didn't hot that one. So, we'll watch the tape when we get the opportunity to and learn from it. But in that moment in the game it's about finding a way to put the dagger in them, and that could have been the dagger."

It is clear that Hurts and Brown do not have the same personal relationship they once did, but if they can't discuss what is happening on the field in-game — and for the record, we can see from the press box that they are not communicating on the sideline — that's a big problem.

It's not that Hurts and Brown are not on the same page. They're not in the same book right now.

2) The 'Nah' Award 🙅: The Eagles' rushing attack

Hurts attempted 38 passes in this game, and Saquon Barkley only had 6 carries. He did run through a big hole for a gain of 17 on one run, but otherwise carried 5 times for 13 yards.

That's perhaps normal in a game that the Eagles are losing, but they led almost the entire game.

I remember a time when the Eagles got a big lead, and the entire stadium knew they were running it but were able to run it anyway. That has not been their reality this season. They can't run it, and now they won't run it.

3) The 'Out of Gas' Award ⛽: The Eagles' defense

For most of the day, the Eagles' defense was excellent. The Broncos' first eight drives of the game went like so:

1. Punt
2. 55-yard field goal
3. Punt
4. Punt
5. Punt
6. Punt
7. Punt
8. Punt

Against the Buccaneers Week 4, the offense kept putting the defense in bad situations with quick three-and-outs, but the defense repeatedly bailed them out.

That same trend continued against the Broncos, and the defensive dam finally broke. The Broncos' last three possessions:

1. 10 plays, 64 yards, TD
2. 6 plays, 72 yards, TD + 2-point conversion
3. 11 plays, 50 yards, FG

The Eagles' defense was fresh out of bailouts.

4) The 'Didn't Help' Award 🦓: The Officials

During the Broncos' final drive, Bo Nix was wrapped up by Jalyx Hunt, and he threw the ball away into the ground. The officials huddled up and decided that Nix should be flagged for an intentional grounding penalty.

The officials placed the ball at the spot of the foul at the Broncos' 29yard line, where Denver would face a 3rd and 24. Then suddenly, the referee announced that Broncos TE Adam Trautman was in the area, and it was instead ruled an incomplete pass.

They re-spotted the ball at the Broncos' 47 for a 3rd and 6, which Denver then converted.

Intentional grounding calls are reviewable in two ways:

1. Was the quarterback in the pocket?
2. Did the ball travel past the line of scrimmage?

What is not reviewable is whether there was a receiver in the area of the pass.

Pool reporter Zach Berman interviewed the officials after the game. Here was their explanation:

“So what happened there, we have an O2O – that’s our official-to-official communication system. My O2O was not working. Grounding is a teamwork foul. I had intentional grounding. The line judge had that there was a receiver in the area – 28 – but I didn’t hear the information over O2O so I threw the flag. The line judge came in and let me know that 28 indeed was in the area, and that’s why we picked up the flag.”

That all sounds like bullshit to me, if I'm being honest. We'll have much more on that soon.

5) The 'Chance To Win, Part I' Award 🤞: The Eagles' poor offensive operation

Down 18-17, the Eagles had a chance to either score a TD (plus try for a two-point conversion) or kick a lead-changing field goal. They faced a 4th and 4 from their own 49 yard line and made a bold call to go for it.

Hurts hit DeVonta Smith down the left sideline for a 30-yard gain down to the Denver 21. But… OH NO!… They were called for an illegal shift. A procedural penalty. OOF. 1st and 10 from the Broncos 21 became 4th and 9 from their own 44. They then punted instead.

The Eagles have taken pride in their ability to limit those kinds of mistakes, and usually they're very sound in that department. Not today.

6) The Chance to Win, Part II Award 🤞🤞: The officials, again

The Eagles got the ball with 1:06 left in the game at their own 26 yard line. They drove down to the Denver 29, when Hurts threw to Dallas Goedert. Denver S JL Skinner was pretty clearly guilty of pass interference on the play:

No flag. Egregious no-call. The Eagles should have had the ball inside the 5 yard line with one chance to win the game. Instead, they had to settle for an ill-fated Hail Mary attempt.

7) The 'Baby Steps' Award 👶: The passing game

The end result aside, the passing game did seem to make some strides. Smith had 8 catches for 114 yards, the offensive line often gave Hurts all day to throw, and there were some big plays open down the field, some of which they hit, some of which they squandered. But it did seem like a step in the right direction in some ways.

8) The 'Rest Up' Award: Landon Dickerson

Dickerson injured his ankle in the first half, and was ruled out for the rest of the game early in the second half. It feels like he could miss some time. And really, he hasn't seemed healthy all year so far. Injuries are never good (#analysis), but in this case, perhaps the rest of Dickerson's ailments can heal while he is out with his injured ankle.

In other words, given the circumstances, if Dickerson were to return… ohhhh, saaayyyy, after the bye, maybe that's not the worst thing, especially with the easiest part of the Eagles' schedule upcoming.

We'll find out soon enough the severity of his injury.

9) The 'Bad Weekend' Award 😖: Philly fans

The Phillies blew a 3-0 lead to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS and the Eagles blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead for their first loss of the season. Tough two-day stretch!

10) The 'Get Right' Award 🆘: The Eagles, maybe, over the next month

Big picture, the Eagles are through their hardest stretch of the season and they're 4-1. If you're an Eagles fan and you were asked if you'd sign up for that before the season began, you'd probably say yes, right?

Well, now they have the easiest stretch of their schedule ahead:

• Week 6: At Giants
• Week 7: At Vikings
• Week 8: Giants
• Week 9: BYE

To be determined if they can put aside personal feelings and start playing like a team again.

Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice

Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports

Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader