Sloppy mistakes turning champs into 2-3 chumps

PHILADELPHIA — Mental mistakes, sloppy turnovers and too many penalties have turned the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles into a mediocre team.

Carson Wentz and the rest of Philadelphia’s offense again had trouble converting in the red zone and on third down, even after the defense gave them a perfect opportunity to take a lead.

Now the Eagles (2-3) have lost two games in a row for the first time since 2016, which was the previous time they had a losing record.

“We have to take a hard look in the mirror,” Wentz said following a 23-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in a rematch of last season’s NFC championship game. “Little mistakes are killing us. We’re playing like a young, rookie team and we’re not.” LIONS: Mason Crosby didn’t have any excuses Sunday afternoon. The Green Bay Packers kicker, who had never missed three field goals in a game despite spending 12 seasons at Lambeau Field, missed four and an extra point in a 31-23 loss to the Detroit Lions.

“I don’t usually get this much attention unless I’ve done something really good or really bad,” Crosby told a crowd of reporters after the game. “This one is unfortunately really bad.”

To make things even stranger, the game was played indoors at Ford Field.

“This hurts a bunch,” he said. “This was something I’ve never been a part of before and I hope to never be a part of it again.”

SEAHAWKS: The scenario was all lined up for Russell Wilson to lead Seattle to a 25th career fourth-quarter comeback.

Needing just a field goal to take the lead, the Seahawks were already in range for Sebastian Janikowski. But with two untimely penalties, Seattle’s plans of a late comeback fell apart. And instead of making the NFC West a race, the Seahawks trail the Rams by three games.