EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The performance was as ugly as the wind in the Meadowlands on a crispy, fall day. The Philadelphia Eagles committed four turnovers and earned their first loss of the season, falling to the New York Jets 20-14 in the ugliest performance of the year.
The Jets defeated the Eagles for the first time in franchise history in 13 attempts, which was tied for the longest losing streak against a team in a series in league history. New York scored just 10 points off the four takeaways, but that was enough to beat Philadelphia.
Tony Adams picked off Hurts with two minutes remaining and took the ball down to the Eagles' 8-yard line in a 14-12 game. The Eagles allowed the Jets to score on a Breece Hall touchdown run on the next play to make it 20-14 with 1:46 left (Jets converted the two-point attempt on a Zach Wilson pass).
New York was 2 of 11 on third down and 1 of 4 in the red zone, yet good enough to overcome all the offensive struggles to beat Philadelphia for the first time. The Eagles were held scoreless in the second half and had two turnovers.
Below are takeaways from this showdown in MetLife Stadium.
Why the Jets won
The Jets forced four turnovers and shut down the Eagles offense for much of the afternoon. The Eagles scored a touchdown on two of their first three possessions, but were held scoreless for the rest of the day. Part of that had to do with the Jets' opportunistic defense forcing three turnovers on their next six possessions and only allowing the Eagles to get into the red zone once in their last seven possessions -- which ended up in a missed field goal. The Eagles were out of rhythm all afternoon, which mostly had to do with the Jets getting the takeaways they needed.
Why the Eagles lost
Four turnovers were the culprit toward the Eagles losing their first game of the year, three of which were off the arm of Jalen Hurts. While the first two interceptions were credited to Hurts, they weren't exactly his fault. The third was just a poor read from Hurts that went into the arms of Tony Adams that set up the Jets' winning touchdown. Players mentioned turnovers as the main culprit for the loss.
Turning point
Jake Elliott missed a 37-yard field goal with the Eagles holding a 14-12 lead and 8:17 left, an uncharacteristic miss for one of the NFL's best kickers. Elliott missed the kick to the right, adding to the frustration of the Eagles being unable to score a point in the second half. The drive was the Eagles' best of the second half, going nine plays for 63 yards -- but the Eagles came up with nothing.
If Elliott makes the field goal, the Jets have to score a touchdown (which is what they couldn't do until the Eagles allowed them to walk in and get the ball back) after Hurts' third interception. A converted field goal puts the Eagles up five and the Jets have to score a touchdown at the end of the game to win -- instead of the Eagles just wanting the ball back.
Play of the game
Tony Adams picked off Hurts on the first play after the two-minute warning and took the return down to the Eagles' 8-yard line. The Jets' fourth takeaway of the day was the biggest one, coming from one of the unlikely players expected to make a big play.
Adams' interception was what the Jets needed to pull off the upset. The Jets defense came up large on Sunday, but that was the biggest play of the afternoon.
The quote
"How do you grow? This is life, man. Compared to that, life is harder than that. I'm not even like upset at the loss. I'm upset at just us not holding up to that standard like how we talk about."
"And it's OK to be a little frustrated because sometimes you need that, man. You know what I'm saying? To light a fire under everybody. But we're going to be fine. We're going to grow from it, we're going to learn from it. I'm not even upset at that loss. Stuff like that happens. That's life. But we're going to grow. We're going to get back to work." -- A.J. Brown on the Eagles growing from this loss.
Up next
The Eagles (5-1) play host to the Miami Dolphins (5-1) on "Sunday Night Football" while the Jets (3-3) head to their bye week and return "on the road" against the Giants in Week 8 at MetLife Stadium.