Eagles defensive line makes a play during their 20-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Photo by Andy Lewis / contrastphotography.com

The Eagles, on paper, are a better team than the Miami Dolphins.

But football games are not decided by comparing rosters, you have to go out and get the job done.

The Eagles wasted or threw away opportunity after opportunity and found a way to lose to the Dolphins 20-19 on a brisk, beautiful afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.

Adding to the disappointment is the loss of running back Ryan Mathews and quarterback San Bradford who both left the game in the second half with concussion symptoms. Bradford also suffered a should injury on a hit by Chris McCain in the third quarter.

Their status for next week’s game against Tampa Bay is unknown.

Eagles (4-5) finally delivered a fast start, a 16-3 lead after the first quarter.
The Birds and their fans were demanding a three-game winning streak going into their December 6 date with defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

That is not going to happen.

The Eagles defense got off to a slow start again on the Dolphins first possession, giving up a 10-play 44-yard drive that ended with a 42-yard Andrew Franks field goal.

The offense though, got off to a bang on the first play when Sam Bradford hit tight end Brent Celek over the middle for a 60-yard catch-and-run that ended at the four-yard line.

Two running plays to DeMarco Murray didn’t work out.

Bradford then scrambled to right on a broken play and threw-across his body-to a wide open Josh Huff in the back of the end zone that gave the Eagles a 7-3 lead.

The Dolphins had to start their next drive at their own one-yard line when Damien Williams twisted his ankle as he crossed the goal line coming out of the end zone. Williams was not able to return to the game.

On the first play from scrimmage Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill was sacked by safety Walter Thurmond and the score was 9-3.

The Eagles took the ensuing punt and drove 58 yards on 10 plays ending with Mathews scoring from the one yard line. That made the score 16-3.

It looked like the Eagles would blow out the Dolphins.

But unfortunately for the Eagles, special teams had a major collapse in the first half of the game. It started early when the kick coverage unit gave the Dolphins good field position, starting their first drive on their own 32-yard line.

It got worse when Caleb Sturgis missed a 32-yard field goal on the first drive of the second quarter, the equivalent of an extra point. The Dolphins took the ball and drove 74 yards on 11 plays before the drive stalled and Franks kicked a 22-yard field goal to make the score 16-6.

The Eagles next drive stalled at the 37-yard due in part to another hold by center Jason Kelce, who has been having a tough season with regards to penalties. He drew three flags against the Dolphins.

“My worst game of the season,” Kelce said after the game

The Eagles special teams fell apart again allowing the Dolphins Zach Vigil to block a Donnie Jones punt and hand the ball to Miami at the 12-yard line.

On the second play of the short drive, Tannehill hit Lamar Miller for a 13-yard touchdown pass to make the score 16-13 at the half.

Neither team did much in the third quarter. Bradford fumbled twice before leaving the game but was fortunate that 6-foot-8, 321-pound Dennis Kelly was nearby and nimble enough to recover the ball both times.

As the third quarter ended Dolphins connected on a 43-yard catch-and-run pass from Tannehill to Rishard Matthews that set Miami up for a first and goal from the Eagles eight yard line.

Connor Barwin got an assist on the next play when, after a Fletcher Cox penalty, put the ball at the four-yard line. The defensive end batted Tannehill’s pass sky high in the air and by good fortune landed into the hands of wide receiver Jarvis Landry giving the Dolphins the lead 20-16.

“It was exactly how we drew it up,” Landry said with a laugh after the game. “The play was supposed to work that way. But no, seriously, I do not even know what happened. I did not know if someone tipped the ball or if it hit someone’s helmet. Once I saw the ball in the air, especially there, I knew that it was either them or us. I just put myself in a position to make a play. I jumped as high as I could and squeezed the ball as hard as I could, coming down and making sure that I possessed it coming down to the ground.”

Tannehill finished 21 of 36 for 217 yards and two touchdown passes. He did not throw an interception but was sacked four times.

The Dolphins as a team rushed 26 times for 99 yards.

All the Eagles could muster the rest of the game was a 37-yard Sturgis field goal to make the score 20-19.

The Birds had a touchdown pass to Zach Ertz nullified two plays earlier on an illegal shift called on wide receiver Riley Cooper did not catch a pass and was not thrown two at all against Miami.

“I wasn’t set,” Cooper said after the game. “That was my fault.”

Cooper was asked whether the offense was moving too fast at that point for him to get lined up in time for the snap.

“No, it was completely, completely my fault,” he said. “Everyone else did everything great and Ertz made a great catch.”

With less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Mark Sanchez, who came in for Bradford, led the Eagles on a drive from midfield to the Dolphins nine-yard line only to throw a terrible pass aimed at Miles Austin that was intercepted in the end zone by Reshad Jones.

Earlier in the quarter, Austin caught what looked like a 26-yard touchdown pass but his foot was out of bounds at the back of the end zone by inches.

Austin, who finished with no catches but was targeted four times talked about missed opportunities.

“Anytime you get a loss like this, it’s a tough thing to go through,” Austin said. “Regardless if we would’ve won today, we would still have to shake it off and go into next week, the same way as if you lose. We just have to shake it off and come back ready to work. The next team is not going to feel sorry for you.”

Bradford was 19 of 25 for 236 yards and a touchdown. He did not throw an interception but was sacked four times.

Sanchez was 14 of 23 for 156 yards and an interception.

Murray rushed 22 times for 66 yards and caught six passes for 58 yards.

Murray was asked whether he expected to have a bigger impact on the running game against Miami.

“You expect to win the game,” Murray said. “You expect the hard work you put in to carry over. They outplayed us today. We have to give credit to those guys. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and go from there.”

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Notebook:
* TE Brent Celek amassed 134 yards on four receptions, marking the third-highest receiving yardage total of his career and the most since he had 157 on 9/16/12 vs. Baltimore … It was Celek’s eighth-career 100-yard game … Celek’s 134 yards tied for the fourth-highest total by a tight end this year … Celek had a 60-yard reception, the third-longest of his career and his longest since a 73 yarder on 12/18/15 vs. NYJ … His 33.5 yards per reception were the most by an NFL tight end (with at least four catches) since Cincinnati’s M.L. Harris had 148 yards on four receptions (37.0 average) on 9/16/84.

* S Walter Thurmond recorded a strip sack of Ryan Tannehill for a safety. It was Thurmond’s second-career sack, his third-career forced fumble and the first safety by the Eagles since 12/22/13 vs. Chicago (Cedric Thornton tackled Matt Forte in the end zone).

* QB Sam Bradford threw for 236 yards and a touchdown for a 118.1 rating. He has exceeded a quarterback rating of 100 in consecutive games for the third time in his career … RB DeMarco Murray accumulated 119 total yards from scrimmage (61 rushing, 58 receiving) and now has 596 total yards over the last five contests … RB Ryan Mathews scored his fifth rushing touchdown of the season and has reached the end zone in four of the last five games … WR Josh Huff scored his second-career receiving touchdown … Since 2013, the Eagles have eclipsed 400 yards of offense a league-leading 26 times, including a 436-yard performance with 29 first downs against the Dolphins.

* The Eagles recorded four sacks, including one by LB Mychal Kendricks, who now has a sack in three-straight games after his return to the lineup, the longest streak of his career … LB Connor Barwin, LB Brandon Graham, DE Flecher Cox and DE Vinny Curry each registered a half sack … Barwin now has 23 as an Eagle, moving past Darren Howard and into 18th on the team’s all-time list … Graham has 4.5 over the last six games … Cox has tied a career high with 5.5 this year.