INGLEWOOD, Calif. —An inflatable Easter Bunny showed up inside the Eagles’ locker room Saturday before the team’s final practice ahead of their game Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.Positive vibes was the intention.Star running Saquon Barkley also said that day that the Eagles needed more positive energy on the sideline during games.Perhaps they can try an inflatable holiday armadillo this week at practice because once again the Eagles struggled to score and were left to deal with their third straight loss, falling 22-19 in overtime on Monday Night Football to the Los Angeles Chargers.After the Chargers’ Cameron Dicker nailed his fourth field goal of the game from 54 yards out to start overtime, the Eagles drove from their own 31 to the Chargers’ 17, but on a first-down play, Jalen Hurts threw a pass that was tipped by cornerback Cam Hart and intercepted by safety Tony Jefferson at the 1-yard line.It was Hurts’ fourth interception of the game, a career high. He turned the ball over five times.The Eagles slipped to 8-5 and their magic number remained at three to clinch the NFC East. The Chargers improved to 9-4.The Eagles wasted a big night by Barkley, who rushed for 122 yards rushing on 20 carries, marking just the second time this season he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark.His best run came on a 52-yard pitch for a touchdown after the Eagles rushed to the line of scrimmage and acted as though they were going to run a tush push on a third-and-1 play. This wild affair included a combined eight turnovers (three on one play), nine field goals and just two touchdowns.The Eagles, who take pride in protecting the football, turned it over five times. Hurts had just two turnovers after 10 games this season and now has seven in his last two games. His third interception wasn’t his fault — it went through the hands of an open A.J. Brown and into the waiting arms of cornerback Cam Hart — but it was costly as the Chargers took advantage to get a game-tying field goal from Dicker with 7:29 left in the game.That led to a crazy finish, but there were no positive vibes in the Eagles’ locker room afterward.Britain returnsIt took until Week 13 for Britain Covey to finally get his job back as the Eagles’ returner and that was clearly a mistake in judgment by general manager Howie Roseman and coach Nick Sirianni.Covey had one punt and one kick return against the Bears and was simply solid, but against the Chargers, he was spectacular. He returned two punts for 36 yards and four kicks for 103 yards.His final return of the night was an 18-yard punt return that gave the Eagles the ball at their own 40. That good field position led to a 44-yard field goal by Jake Elliott that gave the Eagles a 16-13 lead with 2:20 left, but the Chargers forced the overtime with Cameron Dicker’s fourth field goal of the game with 12 seconds left.An impressive homecomingVeteran Adoree’ Jackson is a proud native of Southern California who played his college football at USC and he put on a show for his hometown family and friends Monday night.The ninth-year cornerback finished the game with two tackles, two passes defended and his first interception as a member of the Eagles.It was an interesting week for him to perform so well, too, because the news leaked that the Eagles had tried to get veteran cornerback Darius Slay back after he was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hard to imagine Slay could have played any better than Jackson did in this one.Two Hurts turnovers (and three overall) on one playFaced with a third-and-a-long play from the L.A. 20-yard line late in the second quarter, Hurts tried to get a pass to Brown over the middle, but was instead intercepted by defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand who had dropped into coverage.The Eagles, however, got the ball back when Tyler Steen punched the ball away from hand and into the Hands of Hurts.But there was still one more twist to take place. Jamaree Caldwell jarred the ball loose from Hurts and Troy Dye recovered for the Chargers at the 43.L.A. took advantage of the good field position with a seven-play, 30-yard drive that resulted in a 45-yard field goal by Dicker.More turnovers, more mistakes and no change in momentumTwo plays into the Eagles’ next offensive series, Hurts threw another interception — this time the pick was by cornerback Donte Jackson — after DeVonta Smith fell at the end of his route.On the very next play, however, Nakobe Dean blitzed and delivered a strip sack that was recovered by Byron Young.With some tough running by Barkley, the Eagles went 46 yards on 11 plays after the turnover and they appeared to score the game-tying touchdown with 1:04 left in the first half when Hurts connected with Brown on a two-yard touchdown, but the play was negated by a holding call on Jordan Mailata.The Eagles couldn’t recover from that mistake and settled for another Elliott field goal from 30 yards out.Elliott recovers from end-of-half missThe Eagles would have happily settled for another Elliott field goal on the final play of the first half after Jackson came up with an interception in L.A. territory that was forced by Jaelen Phillips’ hit on Justin Herbert.A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty put the ball at the 30-yard line and gave Elliott a chance to kick a field goal that would have cut the Eagles’ deficit to a point at halftime.Elliott, however, missed from 48 yards, creating yet another concern for the Eagles. It was Elliott’s fifth miss in 19 attempts this season and his third in six attempts in the last three games.He did, however, immediately bounce back with a 54-yarder after the Eagles’ first drive of the second half stalled at the L.A. 36-yard line. It was Elliott’s fourth kick from beyond 50 yards this season, but his first since Week 2 against the Chiefs.That kick got the Eagles to within 13-9 after the Chargers started the second half with a field goal of their own that came at the end of a 17-play drive. Elliott also hit from 44 yards to give the Eagles the lead in the fourth quarter.Chargers use RB tandem to score fast and firstAfter the Eagles punted away their opening drive, the Chargers needed just six plays and just under three minutes to cover 80 yards for the game’s first touchdown.As was the case against the Bears on Black Friday, the bulk of the damage against the defense was done by the running backs. Kimani Vidal was left uncovered in the flat and turned a short dump pass from Herbert into a 60-yard gain that was followed by an 11-yard run by rookie Omarian Hampton.Herbert finished the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to a wide open Hampton.Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
