LANDOVER, Md. -- After a discouraging loss like the Philadelphia Eagles experienced on Saturday, there are plenty of missed opportunities to linger over.
Two especially hurt.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins tore the ball from the arms of Washington return man Andre Roberts. Nolan Carroll saw the ball come out and made a beeline for it. Carroll dove on the ball before it could bounce out of bounds, and the Eagles had the ball on the Washington 16.
Four plays later, the Eagles had nothing. No ball, no points, no ground gained against Washington.
“That was big,” Eagles coach Chip Kelly said after the 27-24 loss. “You want to come away with points, obviously. You start off, it was a momentum swing and Malcolm makes a nice play on the kickoff. You think you are at least coming away with three points, but you always want seven in those situations.”
LeSean McCoy ran around left end for 1 yard on first down. He caught a Mark Sanchez pass but was dropped for a loss on second down. On third down, Sanchez threw the ball into the end zone. Unfortunately, none of his teammates were near where it landed.
Rookie kicker Cody Parkey, who had missed just two field goal tries all season, came out for the 34-yard attempt. Parkey has had some issues with his groin muscle, but Kelly said that did not bother Parkey on Saturday. He just kicked the ball a few feet wide to the right. Parkey missed a 46-yard attempt later in the quarter.
“I just left my hips open a little bit and missed it wide right,” Parkey said. “I’m still confident in my ability because I know what I can do and I know what I’m capable of doing. Tonight just didn’t go my way.”
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles had driven from midfield to the Washington 4-yard line. On third down, Sanchez dropped back. Tight end Zach Ertz had slipped out, picked his way through Washington’s zone coverage and found a spot in the end zone.
“I tried to squeeze it in to Ertz,” Sanchez said. “They ended up dropping eight [players into coverage], so I was just trying to get a quick one over the middle to him. They converged on him pretty quick. A safety got a hand on it. [Ertz] came over and was, like, 'I’ve got to catch it, I’ve got to catch it.' That’s just the way he is. He’s an awesome guy and wants to catch every ball.”
Parkey kicked a 22-yard field goal to tie the game at 24, but the Eagles had blown a chance to take a four-point lead there.
“I was hoping to have another [chance],” Parkey said. “Obviously, I wasn’t able to do that. It falls on me because if I make those two [missed] kicks, it could be a different story.”
