Jason Kelce blames himself for costly Eagles penalty: 'They've been warning me of that for years'

There are a lot of reasons the Philadelphia Eagles, until recently one of the NFL's hottest teams, lost 20-17 to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night. And one of them was definitely a second-quarter false-start penalty that likely cost the Eagles four points.

The false start was called on center Jason Kelce, one of the most talented and durable players in the NFL. The Eagles were on Seattle's 3-yard line, positioned to run the "Brotherly Shove" on third-and-inches. It would have been an easy first down, but the Eagles never got to run it. The penalty was called just after everyone had lined up for the play, moving the Eagles back and eventually forcing them to settle for a field goal.

Eagles fans on social media were enraged (shocker!) because it wasn't completely obvious where the false start had occurred. But after the game, Kelce took full responsibility for the penalty, explaining that he had moved the ball forward before the snap. He's been doing that for years, but surmised that the refs wouldn't tolerate any movement of the ball on third-and-inches.

Is it odd that the officials would call that penalty on Kelce at that moment when they've apparently been warning him "for years?" Definitely. But Kelce didn't fall back on blaming the officiating, regardless of how inconsistent it has been this season. He committed a false start and the team got penalized for it.

That penalty wasn't the only reason the Eagles lost: the offense was spotty yet again, Jalen Hurts was playing sick, and Matt Patricia's defense failed to stop the Seahawks the one time it absolutely had to. But with the Eagles losing by just three points, the penalty that cost them four points sticks out like a sore thumb.