LOS ANGELES — Beyond the far corner of the end zone and up the tunnel to the tiny locker rooms of the Memorial Coliseum, the scene on Sunday evening went from light to darkness just like that. It was a real sunset over the west wall of the stadium, on the wide ocean beyond, and a symbolic one for a team that had just won a battle but lost a larger war at the same time.
The players eventually emerged one by one wearing their NFC East party hats. Some league-affiliated sponsor had paid for them to be worn and, fallen quarterback or no, the Eagles were going to come out of the locker room wearing them.