Eagles Lose Heartbreaker to Ravens 27 to 26

A gutsy call has left the Eagles feeling sick to their stomachs.

With four seconds left in Sunday’s game against the Ravens, the Eagles scored a touchdown to pull within one, but Doug Pederson’s decision to go for two backfired.

Carson Wentz’s slant pass to Jordan Matthews fell incomplete on the two-point conversion and the Eagles lost 27-26 on a dreary afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium. 

With the loss, the Eagles fell to 5-9 on the season and have lost five straight. After starting the season with three wins, the Eagles are 2-9 since.

With the win, the Ravens improved to 8-6 and helped their playoff odds.

This is the Eagles’ first five-game losing streak since 2012 and just the 14th such streak in the modern era.

The Eagles got the ball on their own 41-yard line with 1:39 left in the game and drove down for a touchdown. Wentz scrambled into the end zone for a four-yard touchdown to set up the failed two-point conversion.

Jordan Hicks had a key interception to give the Eagles the ball back down 10 with about six minutes left in the game. The Eagles drove but came away with just a field goal to make the score 27-20.

In the third quarter, Wentz and the Eagles’ offense started a 13-play drive that lasted just under seven minutes that took the game into the fourth, but came away with just three points, to cut into the Ravens lead, 20-17.

But the Birds’ defense couldn’t follow it up with a stop, allowing the Ravens to go on an eight-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown on a pitch play for Kenneth Dixon. It looked like a similar pitch play that got them last week against Washington.

A little later, the Eagles were driving but stalled when they ran a jet sweep to Nelson Agholor on 4th-and-2 and the receiver gained just one yard.

Pederson stayed committed to the run on Sunday in Baltimore and it almost helped the Eagles break their four-game losing streak. The Eagles ran for 169 yards, the most Baltimore has allowed all season.

Turning point
The Eagles had a lead until Joe Flacco hit Steve Smith Sr. on a 34-yard touchdown pass with just nine seconds left in the first half.

Key stat
The Eagles are now 0-9 when allowing over 15 points this season.

First half
The Eagles rebounded from a disastrous start to eventually take a lead in the first half, but then gave it away.

The Ravens went into halftime with a 20-14 lead after Flacco hit Smith with a 34-yard pass down the right sideline with nine seconds left in the half. The Eagles came into the game leading the league in pass plays of 20-plus yards allowed and this one hurt.

Before the Smith touchdown, the Eagles took a 14-13 lead on a 34-yard Caleb Sturgis field goal. That capped off a 17-play drive that went 59 yards in 7:42.

The Eagles' only touchdown of the first half came after a Nigel Bradham strip-sack gave them the ball at the 8-yard line. After a penalty, Ryan Mathews punched in a four-yard touchdown.

The disastrous start happened when the Eagles gained two yards on the first two plays of the game and then Wentz threw off his back foot and was picked off. The Ravens then went 36 yards on five plays in 1:54 to take a quick 7-0 lead.

The Ravens out-gained the Eagles 187-96 in the first half.

Offensive stud
Mathews had a really big day. He rushed for 128 yards and scored a touchdown and now has a career-high eight rushing touchdowns this season.

Offensive dud
Agholor didn’t have a good game and then he stepped out of bounds on a key 4th-and-2 in the fourth quarter.

Defensive stud
We’ll give this to the Eagles’ linebackers. Bradham had a huge strip-sack in the first half that led to an Eagles touchdown. And Hicks had an interception in the fourth to give the Eagles a chance.

Defensive dud
Jalen Mills was beaten by Smith on that long touchdown and Leodis McKelvin was beaten on a 54-yarder. The Eagles came into the game having given up 50 pass plays of 20-plus yards.

Injuries
Allen Barbre (hamstring) came into the game as questionable and was unable to play, which meant Isaac Seumalo played right tackle. Barbre taped up his left hamstring before the game and ran some before the game. Lane Johnson returns from suspension this week, so if Barbre is ready to play by Thursday’s game, he could be back at left guard.

Darren Sproles (concussion) and Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee) also missed Sunday’s game after being ruled out on Friday.

Up next
The Eagles have just two games left in 2016. They’ll play the Giants on Thursday night before having a long week to get ready for the Cowboys in the season finale. Both games are home at the Linc.