For the first time since Week 2, the Commanders are not in first place in the NFC East, but they can remedy that tonight with a road win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Thursday night games are always a challenge for NFL teams, but Washington, with a Week 14 bye, is probably struggling a bit more than usual with team health. That includes the team’s newest defensive starter, CB Marshon Lattimore, who was already dealing with a hemstring injury when the Commanders front office acquired him from the Saints at the trade deadline. Against a team as talented as the Eagles, Lattimore’s coverage skills would be extremely welcome, but it appears as if he won’t be playing this week.
After stumbling to a 2-2 start and making headlines for the wrong reasons early in the season, the Eagles seem to have righted the ship. They have won five straight games against an admittedly soft lineup of opponents (Browns, Giants, Bengals, Jaguars, and the Dak-less Cowboys) with an overall record of 13-35, but aside from a one-score win against the Jags, the Eagles’ margins of victory have been emphatic.
Washington is aiming to bounce back from a stinging 1-point loss at home against the NFC North leading Steelers, whose defense probably posed the toughest challenge rookie QB Jayden Daniels has yet faced in his young career.
Philly could offer another stern test. The Steelers defense is 10th in the NFL ranked by DVOA; the Eagles are ranked 7th.
Offensively, Washington ranks 2nd by DVOA behind the Ravens, so it’s probably fair to say that this could be the toughest test the Philadelphia defense has had to face this season (and they still have a road game against Baltimore in Week 13).
Whatever the outcome of this game, nothing will be decided about the division title since the Commanders will host the Eagles for the 2nd matchup of the ‘24 season in 5 weeks, and on week after Philly plays the Steelers team that Washington faced this past Sunday.
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First Quarter
The Eagles opened the game with the ball on the 30-yard line following a touchback. Within the first few plays, LG Landon Dickerson was hurt and had to be helped from the field.
The Eagles converted a pair of quick first downs to reach midfield before the first big play of the day — a 25-yard catch and run by WR AJ Brown to get the ball to Washington’s 2-yard line.
Big play – Hurts to Brown
After a loss and an offensive holding call, it was 2nd & 22 at the 35-yard line. Under pressure, Jalen Hurts ducked and threw the ball out of bounds to bring up a critical 3rd down. A simple handoff to Gainwell was not popular with the crowd who grumbled as the Eagles kicker came on the field. The dissatisfaction became even more vocal when Jake Elliott missed the 44-yard attempt wide left.
Washington took over at the spot of the kick at the Philly 34-yard line. The Eagles failed drive had lasted 11 plays and covered 44 yards. With just about 10 minutes left in the first quarter, it was Jayden Daniels’ turn. Hurts was 3-6 for 40 yards on the Philly opening drive.
Jayden Daniels opened with a completion & a handoff to bring up an immediate 3rd & 4 and the Philly crowd came to life. On the money down, the Philly defense did its job, with LB Zack Baun knocking down the Jayden Daniels pass to Noah Brown in the middle of the field.
After the punt, Philadelphia was set up for offensive drive #2 at their own 9-yard line with starting guard Dickerson back in the game.
Two runs for 9 yards brought up 3rd & 1 and the Eagles lined up for the ‘tush push’, which they converted easily.
A short completion and an incompletion brought up 3rd & 8 at the 22-yard line. On 3rd down, the Washington defense came up big, with LB Frankie Luvu sacking Jalen Hurts as he tried to step out of the pocket to extend the play.
Luvu sack
A short punt by the Eagles meant that the Commanders would begin their second offensive drive with outstanding field position at their own 42-yard line with 05:25 remaining in the first quarter.
On first down, a checkdown to Ekeler behind the line turned into a 24-yard gain, as Ekeler ran right through Baun’s arm tackle.
Austin Eleler 24-yard gain
On 2nd & 5, Brian Robinson broke through the line and exploded for 18 yards to the 1-yard line.
Another look
On the next play, Robinson got the ball again and powered into the end zone to give the Commanders a 7-0 lead.
Brian Robinson TD
The drive covered 58 yards in 4 plays, and comprised 3 runs and a screen pass.
On the kickoff, Philly had a good return to the 36-yard line to start its 3rd offensive drive of the game.
Hurts missed DeVonta Smith on first down, and Saquon Barkley ran for 6 yards on 2nd down. On 3rd & 4, Jalen Hurts hit Jahan Dotson in the hands 12 yards downfield, but Dotson dropped it under tight coverage by Mikey Sainristil.
Dotson drop
A good punt return by Zaccheaus was wiped out by an illegal block by Noah Igbinoghene, pushing the Commanders back to their own 5-yard line to start their third drive of the game with a touchdown lead.
The drive opened with a 2-yard loss on a checkdown to Ekeler, but a handoff to Ekeler went for 6 yards to bring up 3rd & 6 deep in Commanders own territory. A 2-yard scramble by Daniels wasn’t enough, and Tress Way had to come on the field to punt from his own goal line.
After a short return, the Eagles started their next offensive drive in Washington territory at the Commanders 48-yard line.
The first quarter ended with a nice run by Saquon Barkley for 7 yards.
Thus far, Jayden Daniels was 3-4 for 37 yards, while Hurts was 4-10 for 42 yards and one sack for -2 yards. Both teams were running the ball well. The Eagles had 9 rushes for 38 yards; Washington had 6 carries for 33 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles had run more offensive plays, but trailed by 7 points.
Second Quarter
The Eagles opened the quarter with a 2-yard run to bring up 3rd & less than a yard, and then a pitch to Barkley on 3rd down earned 3 yards to convert the needed first town.
On 1st down, Jalen Hurts, under pressure continually retreated and but was quickly sacked by Frankie Luvu again; this time for a 13-yard loss.
Another Frankie Luvu sack
Back near midfield again, Dallas Goedert earned 10 yards on 3rd & 17, and Jake Elliott came back onto the field to attempt a 51-yard field goal.
Elliott missed his first attempt from 44 yards; he missed even wider with his second attempt, giving the ball back to Washington at the Eagles 41-yard line with its 7-0 lead intact.
Jake Elliott misses another field goal
The non-scoring drive had covered 15 yards in 7 plays, with the key play being the Luvu sack.
Speaking of sacks, on 1st down, Jayden Daniels danced around a heavy pass rush before getting sacked by Brandon Graham for a 4 yard loss.
It was followed up by another sack — this one by Josh Sweat — to force 3rd & 22 from the 29-yard line. The Commanders ended up punting from the 35-yard line; the ball went out of bounds at the Philly 25-yard line. The drive had lasted 3 plays and lost 8 yards.
With 09:51 left in the half, the Eagles started their 5th drive of the game, having punted twice and missed a pair of field goal attempts.
Runs by Hurts & Barkley gained 6 yards to bring up 3rd & 4 at the 32-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Hurts was under heavy pressue. He extended the play and then threw the ball out of bounds while AJ Brown was standing all alone on the sideline after the defender fell down, and the boos from the Philly crowd started to rain down.
After the 3 & out and punt, Washington took over at the Commanders 37-yard line.
Another short pass on 1st down went to Dyami Brown, who picked his way to a 4-yard gain. Brian Robinson rumbled for 7 yards on the next play to earn another first down. It was the first reception by a Washington wide receiver in the game.
Another pass — this time to Robinson — went for 9 yards on 1st down, but a holding call against Dyami Brown forced 2nd & 10. A 6-yard gain on a pass to Ekeler brought up 3rd & 4, which Zach Ertz converted with a 10-yard gain to the Eagles 47 yard line.
After a short scramble and an incomplete pass, Washington faced 3rd & 9 at the 46-yard line. The Philly crowd got loud, and Ekeler dropped a pass that hit him in the hands, wide open in the open field to force the punt.
The drive had lasted 5 plays and covered 27 yards. Following the fair catch, the Eagles would start their next drive at their own 10-yard line with just over 4 minutes remaining in the half. Washington would get the ball to start the 3rd quarter, so Philly needed to put points on the board here.
Two touches by Saquon Barkley brought up a fresh set of downs at the 26-yard line, and then a completion to AJ Brown added another at the 36-yard line.
Two more plays earned another first down at the Eagles 48-yard line, with the final play before the two-minute warning being a rumbling carry by Saquon Barkley.
Following the timeout, Philly had the ball near midfield on a 1st & 10 play.
The Eagles had a big play on 2nd & 6 as DeVonta Smith turned a short pass into a 21-yard gain.
Smith run – Martin tackle
A penalty against Sainristil on the following play gave the Eagles a first-down at he 20-yard line.
A look at the Sainristil penaly
Washington started using time outs with 53 seconds left in an effort to keep enough time on the clock for a final scoring drive of the half.
Sainristil made up for his penalty by breaking up a nice pass to Smith in the end zone. Facing 3rd & 8 at the 18-yard line, Hurts scrambled for 9 yards to bring up 1st & goal at the yard line.
Hurts kept the ball and forced his way to the 4-yard line. Philly called time out with 33 seconds on the clock.
A short run by Barkley and another Eagles time out brought up 3rd & goal from the 3-yard line with 28 ticks on the clock. The third down play saw Hurts scramble under heavy pressure, and throwing the ball a few yards as he was being brought down by a pair of Washington rushers, forcing 4th down and the 3rd FG attempt of the game by Jake Elliott.
Goal line stop
This time, he made the 21-yard attempt to make the score 7-3 with 19 seconds remaining in the half. The scoring drive had lasted 15 plays and covered 87 yards.
Daniels did not take a knee; instead, he hit Ekeler in the middle of the field, who turned upfield and gained 18 yards. Using the team’s 2nd time out, the drive remained alive.
On the next play, Daniels missed Luke McCaffrey on the right sideline. The clock stopped with 9 seconds remaining in the half.
The final play of the half started with the snap of the ball at 4 seconds remaining; It was an anti-climactic ending as Daniels simply handed the ball to Brian Robinson who added 5 yards to his game stats.
On the game broadcast, it was announced that Jalen Hurts was being assessed for a possible concussion, but the final shot as the broadcast went to the break showed the Eagles QB running to the locker room, apparently just fine.
The Commander had a 4-point lead in a low-scoring half, and would get the ball to open the 3rd quarter.
Halftime Stats
Statistics via ESPN
Third Quarter
Washington received the 2nd half kickoff and started its 7th offensive drive of the game at the -yard line following 32-yard line after Austin Ekeler fumbled the ball at the end of his return. The fumble was recovered by Walker.
Robinson was talked for a loss on 2nd & 2 to bring up 3rd & 5 at the 36-yard line. The crowd was roaring, but the cheers turned to boos when the officials called Cooper DeJean for defensive pass interference against — stop me if you’ve heard this before — WR Noah Brown. It was a ticky-tack call, not unlike the weak call against Sainristil in the first half, gifting the Commanders a 1st down.
Another look at the penalty
Washington made hay with a 20-yard gain by Austin Ekeler on a catch and run to the Philly 28-yard line.
A run by Robinson and a short loss on a Daniels run brought up 3rd & 4 at the 22-yard line. An incomplete pass on the 3rd down play brought kicker Zane Gonzalez onto the field for an attempt that was pushed to 45 yards by a pre-snap penalty. The kick was right down the middle to make it 10-3 on the scoreboard. The drive had lasted 6 plays and covered 42 yards.
The Eagles took the field for their first drive of the second half and 7th drive of the game at the 13-yard line following a penalty for offensive holding on the kick return.
Runs by Hurts and Barkley brought up 3rd & 2 at the 21-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Dallas Goedert gained 15 yards to set up 1st & 10 at the 36-yard line.
Two runs by Barkley earned 4 yard to bring up 3rd & 6 at the 40-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Saquon Barkley eluded a Percy Butler tackle on a dumpoff pass, and the back raced 43 yards to Washington’s 17-yard line. A huge play!
43-yard TD run by Saquon Barkley
Two plays later, Philly faced 3rd & 6 at Washington’s 13-yard line. The Washington defense needs to stiffen up here and prevent any gain. They did. Hurts was unable to find AJ Brown in the end zone with good coverage by rookie Mike Sainristil.
Jake Elliott came out for his 4th attempt of the game; this 31-yard attempt split the uprights. The score was no 10-6 with 05:32 left in the quarter. The scoring drive had covered 74 yards in 10 plays, but the burgundy & gold defense came up with the red-zone stop to preserve the lead and give the Commanders offense a chance to build on it.
Washington’s offense took the field at the 30-yard line after Elliott’s touchback.
A Brian Robinson run and a Jayden Daniels scramble earned 10 yard sand a first down at the 40-yard line.
Jayden Daniels scrambles for a 1st down
Two plays earned 4 yards to set up 3rd & 6 at the 45 yard line. On the 3rd down play, the Philly defense came up big with a sack of Jayden Daniels for an 8-yard loss, with Brandon Coleman getting beaten by Nolan Smith on the left side.
Nolan Smith sacks Jayden Daniels
Tress Way punted to the 12-yard line, but Cooper DeJean had a good return to the 25 to set up the Eagles next drive.
The Eagles picked up a quick first down, and then Jalen Hurts extended a play and hit AJ Brown for 17 yards to push the ball to the Washington 48-yard line.
The quarter came to an end with Eagles fans booing the officials for picking up a flag that they thought should have been enforced against the Commanders defense.
A look at the no-foul
Fourth Quarter
The fourth quarter opened with Hurts scrambling for 7 yards on a 3rd & 7 to get an important first down at the Washington 38-yard line.
Two big runs by Gainwell earned another first down at the 11-yard line.
Two plays later, it as 3rd & goal at the Commanders 1-yard line. The next play was predictable; Hurts scored the touchdown on the ‘brotherly shove’ to cap an 11-play, 76-yard drive. Following a failed PAT by Elliott, who is suffering through a very bad night, the score was 12-10 with exactly 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Behind for the first time in the game, Washington set up for its next offensive drive at the 30-yard line following an Austin Ekeler return.
A pass to TE John Bates and a run by Brian Robinson earned another first down at the 40-yard line.
The next 1st down pass to Bates was incomplete — a poor pass by Daniels — but on 2nd down, Jayden hit his other tight end in the middle of the field for 16 yards and a first down at the Philly 44-yard linie.
McLaurin’s first reception was followed by another catch by John Bates and Washington was at the Eagles 34-yard line and in field goal range with the opportunity to take the lead with either a TD or FG.
On 3rd & 1 at the 25-yard line, the Eagles defense stuffed Brian Robinson for a loss of 2 yards.
On 4th & 2, Dan Quinn kept his offense on the field. Jayden Daniels kept the ball and was tackled for no gain, After opening the season 11-11 on fourth down attempts, the Commanders offense had now failed on back-to-back 4th down plays (Steelers & Eagles).
Jalen Hurts, instead of taking the field behind on the scoreboard, took over at his own 26-yard line with a 2 point lead and about 8 minutes remaining. Washington’s defense will now have to step up and get a big stop.
On 2nd & 7, Dallas Goedert had a huge reception with a gain of 31 yards, but Quan Martin punched the ball out of his hands, forcing a fumble. The ball did not bounce the way Washington wanted, however, and the Eagles recovered the ball at Washington’s 30-yard line.
Goedert fumble and Eagles recovery
Two plays later, on 3rd & 3, Saquon Barkley ran off right tackle unmolested into the end zone.
Saquon Barkley TD run
This time, Elliott slipped the ball between the posts to make the lead 9 points at 19-10 with just under 5 minutes left to play.
Washington’s offense has struggled all game, and now will need to score two times to win the game. The Dan Quinn decision to forego the field goal that would have given them the lead in a close game will certainly be talked about by fans all week — possibly all season.
For the second week in a row, Washington has given up a lead late in the game.
Jayden Daniels opened the drive with an interception — his 3rd of the season — by Reed Blankenship at Washington’s 46-yard line.
Interception
For all practical purposes, the game was over with this play, though 04:50 remained on the clock. Small chance has turned into no chance.
Dan Quinn started burning time outs and hoping for a defensive stop, but the ending feels inevitable at this point.
Saquon Barkley hammered the final — at least I hope it’s the final — nail into the coffin with a 39-yard TD run. After the successful PAT, the score was 26-10.
Barkley 39-yard TD run
The Eagles had a seemingly insurmountable 16-point lead with 04:38 remaining, but I doubt that Dan Quinn will think that way. Two touchdowns…two successful 2-pt conversions with a successful onside kick in between and the Commanders could force overtime.
A boy can dream, right?
The Commander ran some plays against a very soft Eagles defense and benefited from a roughing the passer penalty, but the clock kept moving.
At the two-minute warning, Washington faced 4th & 2 at the Eagles 24-yard line. They wouldn’t be kicking a field goal now.
After the time out, Zach Ertz caught a pass for 4 yards and a first down. Three plays later, it as 1st & goal at the 5 yard line.
Washington scored on a Zach Ertz reception with 00:28 on the clock. The 2-point conversion failed and any chance for a miracle evaporated.
Ertz touchdown
BUT WAIT…on further review, the ruling on the field was overturned; 2 points were awarded, and the score was suddenly 26-18!
2-pt conversion review
With 00:28 on the clock, the Commanders weren’t dead yet. They’d come from behind to beat Chicago not long ago with a touchdown drive that took just 19 seconds.
But it was not to be. Dallas Goedert covered the onside kick; and Jalen Hurts only had to kneel down to secure the win.
Full Game Stats
Statistics via ESPN
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