Defense a no-show in Eagles' first home loss of season

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Coming into Monday night, the Eagles were seemingly unbeatable at Lincoln Financial Field. And it was because of their vaunted home defense. 
 
The defense that had given up just 38 points in four home games — 9.5 points per game.
 
The defense that had given up just an average of 213.5 yards per game at home. 
 
The defense that had shut down Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Sam Bradford and RGIII. 
 
Well, that defense didn’t show up on Monday (see Roob's obervations)
 
Instead, the Eagles were gashed by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on the way to a 27-13 loss, their first this season at the Linc (see Instant Replay)
 
On Monday, the Eagles gave up 27 points and 387 yards — both season highs at home — in a game in which Rodgers showed why he’s widely considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
 
Perhaps the worst part of Monday’s game for the Eagles’ defense was that the Packers converted on 10 of 14 third-down situations. 
 
“You said 10 for 14?” cornerback Leodis McKelvin said. 
 
Yeah – 10 for 14. 
 
How hard is it to win a game like that? 
 
“It’s very tough to win a game when we stay on the field the majority of the game,” McKelvin said. 
 
“It’s hard to get off the field. It’s hard to win games when you can’t get off the field. It’s hard to win games when you have bad technique. It’s hard to win games when it comes to 3rd-and-5 or short yardage and you make mistakes like jumping offsides. We just beat ourselves. We just beat ourselves overall from the front line to the back end. We made those mistakes.” 
 
While the Eagles’ defense was making mistakes, Rodgers was making it rain. He completed 30 of 39 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions — good for a passer rating of 116.7. 
 
Rodgers' completion percentage of 76.92 percent is the third-highest ever against the Eagles for a quarterback who attempted at least 30 passes. Peyton Manning (82.35 in 2013) and Daunte Culpepper (78.72 in 2004) are the only two above him.
 
“His day, [Rodgers] had a better day today than our defense,” McKelvin said. “That was pretty much the outcome. They stayed on the field. They controlled the clock. We gotta get off the field. We can’t put ourselves in bad situations and shooting our own self in the foot and that’s pretty much what happened today.”
 
In addition to Rodgers' dropping some perfect passes through tough coverage and the Eagles’ inability to stop the Packers on third down, the Eagles also had a few key penalties to extend drives. Fletcher Cox was hit with a roughing the passer on third down when the Eagles should’ve had a stop, and Brandon Graham was called for a neutral zone infraction on a 3rd-and-5.  
 
The Packers were also extremely efficient on offense. They had just six real possessions — aside from short ones to run out the clock in each half — and came away with three touchdowns, two field goals and punted just once all night. 
 
All of that together amounted to one of the most frustrating defensive performances of the year. 
 
“Yeah, I think so,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “We’re one or two plays here and there on every drive where we’re off the field. It was just one of those things where we knew we had to be patient. We knew he was going to run around and make plays. We would have to just hunker down and eventually make a stop, so we knew the drives would be long, but we just couldn’t find a way to get that one play.”
 
Jenkins was right. The Eagles didn’t make a big play on defense. 
 
Monday was the first time since 2012 they didn’t pick up a sack or force a turnover in a game. It was the first time since 2007 they failed to do either at home. 
 
The Eagles’ defense didn’t look like the same unit that had dominated at home coming into Monday. They have five games left this season to see if that defense will show up again. 
 
“They really only remember what you do in December,” rookie cornerback Jalen Mills said. “The good thing is, the season isn’t over. That wasn’t our last game. We have five games left. The message right now from Coach Pederson was go 5-0. Period.” 

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