If the point of playing games in London is to give the Brits a taste of, as they say over there, crackers NFL action then Sunday’s game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium did that from the start.
On the opening kickoff of this game …
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott kicked the ball 55 yards to the Jacksonville 10-yard line and Josh Cameron returned it 90 yards for a touchdown. It marked the first kickoff return touchdown in the NFL this season.
But, no!
Back upfield, officials – they had quite a week, by the way – had thrown multiple flags on the play. Two of those officials saw so much hijinks they threw their flag and then, seeing a second foul, threw their caps.
So, with bated breath, we waited for the official announcement. And we learned both teams were flagged on the kickoff and players from both teams were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The touchdown was thus nullified because the Eagles lined up in an illegal formation and the Jaguars had linebacker Branson Combs called for holding. Nice start to a game.
Then we learned that Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Jacksonville linebacker Bryan Thomas Jr. were both flagged for giving each other the business.
It seems both men engaged in a block during the play and carried their standoff all the way to midfield where Trotter slammed Thomas to the turf after the play was over and then Thomas kicked up at Trotter while on his back.
Both were flagged.
Both were disqualified for the rest of the game – on a play that didn’t even count.
That hurt the Eagles more as Trotter was expected to get work with the starting defense while Thomas is exclusively a special teams contributor.
So to recap: A season-first kickoff return touchdown was nullified by a penalty while a player from either team was ejected. It took officials a couple of minutes to sort it all.
This game was bonkers from the beginning and then the crowd, a majority of which are Eagles fans, saw something perhaps stranger:
The Eagles attempted to convert a fourth-and-1 play on their first possession but did not employ the Tush Push.
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The team that turned the play into a major NFL play lined up in shotgun and ran the ball. The conversion attempt failed.
So why?
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has been nursing a calf injury recently, and the Eagles offensive line is something of a work in progress.
The Eagles are without starting center Drew Kendall this game as they traded left guard Cam Jurgens to the Baltimore Ravens last week, and right tackle Lane Johnson retired.
And all that begs the question: Why did Eagles coach Nick Sirianni go for it on fourth-and-1 in the first place?
