Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor committed several costly errors that led his team to lose to the Seahawks 26-15 in Seattle on Sunday.
The Eagles seemed to gain the lead on a 57-yard catch-and-run by tight end Zach Ertz midway through the second quarter. On the opposite side of the play, nevertheless, they were called for an illegal formation; Agholor had appeared to line up behind the line of scrimmage. Philadelphia punted two plays later.
On the subsequent series, Agholor– a 2015 first-round pick (20th overall) out of USC– dropped a perfect pass from quarterback Carson Wentz deep over the middle, thus stalling another drive. The Seahawks then extended their lead to nine over that span and trampled the injury-filled Eagles offense the rest of the way.
“I’ve got to get out of my own head,” said Agholor, a 23-year-old who was born in Nigeria. “Pressing so much and worried about so much. … I’m thinking too much and so worried, and it’s such a selfish thing that I need to stop. I need to give my energy to my teammates and this organization and not myself, and feeling so pressured to make every single thing. Just have fun.
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“I did it to myself. I started getting in my own head and just trying so hard to think about being perfect, and when miscues were there and they were exposed, I just let it eat at me.”
The Eagles’ top two running backs both left with injuries– Ryan Matthews (knee) and Darren Sproles (ribs). Working against one of the top defenses in the NFL, Wentz finished 23 of 45 for 218 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Agholor entered the game ranked 120th in receiving yards (264) and with a drop rate of 6.5 percent, which ranks 125th in the NFL, per ESPN Stats & Information research.
The wideout now has four drops this season. He recently came under fire for his post-game comments after one of those drops against the Cowboys, when he said, in part, “I dropped the first one. I didn’t drop one after that. What does it matter?” Coach Doug Pederson later expressed his disappointment in his player’s remarks.
“I’m going to keep encouraging him,” Pederson said following the Seattle loss. “He works hard every single day. … By no means am I going to be down on him. This loss today was on me. I have to make sure that I am doing everything I can to get these guys ready to play.”
The Eagles (5-5) will next host the Green Bay Packers on Monday, Nov. 28. The Seahawks (7-2-1), meanwhile, will visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – JANUARY 03: Nelson Agholor #17 of the Philadelphia Eagles carries the ball in the third quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on January 3, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants 35-30. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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