In a showdown to determine the best team in the NFC East, the Eagles left no doubt about it.
After a sluggish start and three missed Jake Elliott kicks, the Eagles pulled away in the second half and rode a monumental defensive performance over rookie phenom Jayden Daniels and the Commanders to a 26-18 win over their only challenger in the division at the Linc. The Eagles scored three points in the first half, 23 in the second.
Eagles 8-2.
Commanders 7-4.
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Washington needed a Zach Ertz touchdown with half a minute left to make the score look respectable. But this was a blowout.
That’s six wins in a row since a 2-2 start. This team is HOT.
They’ll meet again on Dec. 22 in Landover, Md. It won’t matter.
1. For me, this game came down to three plays midway through the fourth quarter. Washington, trailing 12-10, had a 2nd-and-1 on the Eagles’ 25-yard-line. Second down, Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean stuffed Brian Robinson for no gain. Georgia combo tackle. Third down, B.G. and Zack Baun stopped Robinson again for a loss of one. Dan Quinn decides to go for it on 4th-and-2 and once again Baun makes the stop, with Reed Blankenship racing across the field to support him. Eagles ball. It’s one thing to play that sort of defense against the Browns or Giants or Jaguars or Cowboys. But to do it against Washington and their 4th-ranked offense? Just huge.
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2. It’s been such a consistently efficient stretch for Jalen Hurts it was certainly discouraging to see him struggle for much of the game. He was just off. Especially at big moments, big third downs, key plays. The Commanders have a good secondary, but Hurts struggled to get into any kind of rhythm. And then … once again … he woke up. Hurts was 10-for-19 for 101 yards in the first half and then 8-for-9 for 120 yards in the second half. That's the kind of rebound what we've come to expect from Hurts. It wasn't always pretty Thursday night, but when he had to make plays, Hurts made plays. We see it over and over again. Whatever goes wrong early, Hurts fights through it and makes plays when he has to. Hurts’ final numbers weren’t special, but in the end he finds a way. And that’s all that matters.
3. I’ll tell you what, holding the Commanders to 18 points and 264 yards is more impressive than anything this defense did the last five weeks against second-division teams and low-octane offenses. This is the No. 4 offense in the NFL, averaging 29 points per game, and the defense came up huge. Gave up a touchdown on a 58-yard drive on Washington’s second possession and then held the Commanders to three points and 151 yards on their next eight drives. Once again, coverage was next-level. Pressure was outstanding – the Eagles got sacks from Nolan Smith, Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat. Other than a couple big plays that Austin Ekeler made in the passing game, they tackled well. Amazing Quinyon Mitchell held Terry McLaurin to one harmless catch. And Jalen Carter, my God, he’s a monster. I don’t care if it shows up in the stats, but his ability to disrupt on the offensive line is frightening. This defense doesn’t have any clear weakness, and they just held one of the top offenses in the NFL to 209 yards and hounded Jayden Daniels into his worst game as a pro – 13-for-21 for 146 yards, a 62.8 passer rating and only his third interception of the season – a Reed Blankenship exclamation point with five minutes to go. This defense is scary good.
4. Saquon Barkley is a beast. My goodness. After three quarters, I scribbled down Barkley’s stats – 20-for-69. That’s a modest 3.5 yards per carry. It just wasn’t his day. I was surprised the Eagles couldn’t get him going against a pretty weak Washington run defense – ranked 28th coming in. So then what happens? Barkley is the best end-of-game running back I’ve ever seen. He just gets stronger and stronger as the game goes on, and the Eagles’ offensive line just wears defensive lines down. Fourth quarter, Barkley runs six times for 77 yards and two long touchdowns – 23 and 39 yards 20 seconds apart after Blankenship’s interception. He finished 26-for-146 and another monster game. Not to mention 52 receiving yards for 198 scrimmage yards. Flat-out beast. Here’s what I love: Even when the running game isn’t working, Kellen Moore sticks with it. Keeps hammering it. We’ve seen our share of coaches around these parts who just gave up on the running game if it didn’t pay immediate dividends. In the end, with this back and this o-line, it’s just a matter of time. As a team, the Eagles finished with 39 carries for 229 more yards and three TDs. You can’t stop them.
5. I also thought it was a great job by Kellen Moore changing up and giving Kenny Gainwell a bunch of carries on that 3rd-quarter touchdown drive. Barkley hadn’t gotten going and was only averaging 3.5 yards per carry, but from a 1st-and-10 on the Washington 38, Gainwell gained 14, 13 and 7 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown, a Hurts keeper. Gainwell is a talented back and he’s backed up three Pro Bowl running backs in his four-year career, and he knows how to stay ready, and he gave the offense a dimension of speed and elusiveness that Washington wasn’t prepared for. As a play caller, you have to have that kind of flexibility that no matter how big a star someone is or how much they’re getting paid, if a little change-up might help, you do it. Gainwell finished with 43 yards on just four carries, but they were four huge carries. And after Gainwell’s little run, Barkley came back in and took over.
6. One of my favorite plays was Nakobe Dean’s tackle on Jayden Daniels on a 3rd-and-5 at the Washington 12-yard-line late in the first quarter. Daniels is a big, fast, strong runner and tough to bring down by yourself, but Dean didn’t get fooled by a couple Daniels jukes and made a sure solo tackle, stopping Daniels three yards short of the sticks. That was a situation where Washington was already up 7-0 and if they convert there after the Eagles had them pinned back at their own 4-yard-line, who knows what happens next? But Dean made sure nobody found out. It’s easy to overlook Dean’s play because the other linebacker, Zach Baun, has been so good. And he was incredible again Thursday. But Dean is paying off on the Eagles’ patience while he sat as a rookie and got hurt last year. In Year 3, Dean has been terrific.
7. Jayden Daniels is having a terrific rookie season and is going to be a fine quarterback. But this was a welcome-to-the-NFL game for the 23-year-old kid. The final stats were inflated by that late drive, but the Eagles didn’t give him anything. Their coverage was impeccable. Again. Austin Ekeler turned a couple short passes into big gains, but Daniels didn’t complete a pass to a wide receiver longer than 10 yards, averaged an anemic 5.9 yards per pass attempt, only managed 18 rushing yards on seven carries and just never got anything going. This Eagles secondary is playing at such a high level right now – all of them – that there just aren’t open receivers down the field. Mitchell absolutely shut down McLaurin, and he’s Daniels’ favorite target. When Daniels took his time in the pocket, they sacked him. And Blankenship became only the third player to pick him off this year. The scary thing about this secondary is that they’ve only played six games together. Cooper DeJean replaced Avonte Maddox before the Browns game, so this is a young group that keeps getting better, and that isn’t going to stop.
8. Are you getting sick of me writing about Zack Baun? I don’t care, I’m not going to stop. The guy is playing at an insane level right now. I ran into Malcolm Jenkins before the game, and Jenkins and Baun were teammates in 2020 and 2021 with the Saints, and Jenkins said he could see Baun’s athleticism right away. “Demario Davis is one of the most athletic linebackers I’ve been around, and Baun reminded me of him a little bit just with how athletic he was. For Zack, it was just a matter of getting into the right system and being with coaches who know how to use him, and he’s definitely got that now, and it’s been fun to watch.” What this dude is doing right now is mind-blowing. Play after play after play. He’s playing his way into the NFL Defensive MVP conversation.
9. One game at a time and all that nonsense, but I don’t care - let’s look at the rest of the season. The Eagles are 8-2 and if they take care of business against the Panthers, Cowboys and Giants, that gets them to 11 wins. Their other opponents: The Rams Sunday night in Inglewood, the Ravens, Steelers and Washington again. Go 2-2 in those four and you’re at 13-4. Would that be enough for the No. 1 seed? The Lions are 8-1 and they’ve got some tough games coming up – Packers, Bills, 49ers, Vikings – along with the Jaguars, Colts and Bears twice. The Lions are very good and they’ve won seven in a row since losing to the Bucs. But I really think that No. 1 seed is within reach. I know we’re not supposed to get this far ahead of ourselves, but if the Eagles can beat the teams they’re supposed to beat and the Lions let up somewhere along the line, the Eagles can certainly claim that top seed. The Lions are the favorites right now but not by a lot. The Vikings at 7-2 are in the mix as well, but I think the Lions are the team the Eagles need to get in front of.
10. No idea what’s up with Jake Elliott, but he sure does not look like himself lately. Coming into this season, he was the 9th-most accurate kicker in NFL history at 87 percent (minimum 100 attempts), and he had made 16 of his last 18 from 50 yards and out going back to 2020. But he’s just been bad this year. With misses Thursday night from 44 and 51 yards and a missed PAT – as well as makes from 21 and 33 - he’s now 14-for-19 this year and 0-for-4 from 50 yards and out after making 71 percent of his 50-yarders in his first seven seasons. His five misses this year equal his total number of misses from 2022 and 2023 combined, when he was 50-for-55. He now has as many misses in the last six games as he had in his previous 43 games. And at 73.7 percent, he’s 29th out of 31 kickers who’ve attempted at least 10 field goals this year. That’s the last place you expect to see him. He’s one of the best in NFL history. But he’s human and it happens. It’s just never happened to him before. My gut feeling is he’ll be fine. But this was ugly.
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