The Eagles and Washington meet for the 174th time Sunday night, with Washington needing a win to win the NFC East and the Eagles needing a loss to secure a better draft pick.
Here are 10 fascinating notes an Eagles-Washington series that goes back to 1934:
1. Alex Smith will become the 10th quarterback to start for Washington against the Eagles in the last 11 years. Dwayne Haskins, who beat the Eagles in Week 1, is no longer with Washington. The last time Washington swept the Eagles with two different starting quarterbacks was 1988, with Doug Williams and Mark Rypien.
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2. In the first Eagles-Washington game this year, the Eagles held Washington to 80 rushing yards on 36 carries. That’s the fewest yards the Eagles have allowed on 36 or more carries in 21 years and the third-fewest in the last 56 years.
3. Terry McLaurin already has the second-most receiving yards against the Eagles by a Washington receiver and the seventh-most by any receiver in his first two seasons in the league. McLaurin has had 125, 130 and 61 yards against the Eagles for 316 yards in three games. The most yards against the Eagles by a player in his first two seasons is 446 by Charlie Brown of Washington in 1982 and 1983.
4. The last Eagles rookie QB to beat Washington was Donovan McNabb in 1999. McNabb only threw for 60 yards in the Eagles’ 35-28 win at the Vet in his first career start. Sonny Jurgensen in 1957 and Randall Cunningham in 1985 are the only other Eagles rookies to beat Washington. McNabb and Jurgensen both went on to play for Washington.
5. Assuming Smith starts for Washington against the Eagles today, he’ll become the 12thquarterback to face the Eagles 15 years apart. Smith made his NFL debut against the Eagles with the 49ers in 2005 (throwing one pass). Earl Morrall faced the Eagles 19 years apart (1956, 1975), and Jim Hart, Fran Tarkenton, Vinny Testaverde and Ben Roethlisberger 16 years apart. Others who’ve faced the Eagles 15 years apart are John Brodie, Vince Evans, Kent Nix, Eli Manning, Tom Tupa and Brett Favre.
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6. The Eagles have held a 10-point lead over Washington after the first quarter eight times since 1982, and they’re 4-4 in those games. The Eagles blew a 10-0 lead to Washington in 1982, a 14-0 lead in 1986, a 14-0 lead in 2008 and a 10-0 lead on opening day this year. Washington is 11-39 against everybody else when they’re down 10 after the first quarter.
7. In the Eagles’ 37-34 win over Washington at the Linc in 2014, Chris Polk had a 102-yard touchdown on his first career kickoff return. He never had another kickoff return longer than 30 yards in his career.
8. Zach Ertz has the third-most catches ever against Washington with 84 in just 15 games. He trails only Jason Witten (137 in 32 games) and Michael Irvin (96 in 20 games).
9. Carson Wentz has the second-most 300-yard games ever against Washington with four in eight starts. Only Eli Manning (six in 29 starts) has more. Drew Brees (eight starts) and Joe Montana (eight starts) also have four 300-yard games against Washington.
10. The Eagles and Washington have only split their series three times in the last 18 years going into Sunday’s rematch. The Eagles have swept Washington 10 times and Washington has swept the Eagles five times.
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