The Eagles defense didn’t allow any points in the fourth quarter in their first game of the season, but the last three games have seen some breakdowns in the final 15 minutes.
They’ve allowed 52 points -- they’ve allowed 92 over the entire season -- in the fourth quarter of their last three games, which resulted in a loss to the Chiefs, a last-second win over the Giants and a tight close to Sunday’s win over the Chargers. Coach Doug Pederson was asked at a Monday press conference if he thought conditioning has played a role in those outcomes.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s much of a conditioning aspect,” Pederson said in comments distributed by the team. “It was really warm at the Giants game. And that game, offensively, we kind of shot ourselves a little bit in that third, and a little bit of the end of the third, fourth quarter and kept our defense out there a little bit.”
Pederson pointed to injuries in the secondary as one thing that might be a contributing factor and called it “something we’ve just got to continue to evaluate.” He also pointed out the offense’s ability to answer with points of their own the last two weeks, but closing games out in more emphatic fashion would be a good way to keep things rolling after a 3-1 start.