It was a night of firsts for the Philadelphia Eagles this season. None of them were good.
The Washington Commanders handed the Eagles their first loss of the season, in a hard-fought 32-21 win on the road in Philadelphia.
The another first was the Eagles going into halftime trailing, as the Commanders absolutely dominated time of possession and made the most of that time with the ball in their hands. It was a stark difference with the Commanders owning the ball for 23:49 of the first thirty minutes to the Eagles’ 6:11.
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But still, this undefeated Eagles squad has never been out of games this season, even when thy were down. And it looked like Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was about to bring his team back when he launched a 51-yard shot to wide receiver Quez Watkins, who hauled it in.
However, Watkins popped up off the turf for some extra yardage and cornerback Brandon St-Juste immediately knocked the ball out of his hands for a fumble that quickly changed the momentum in the game. Lincoln Financial Field went from screaming in admiration to groaning in heartbreaking fashion.
On the prior drive, referees also missed a facemask on tight end Dallas Goedert, who fumbled with the Commanders recovering. Joey Slye would eventually knock in a 55-yard field goal to make it 26-21, making sure the Eagles have to score a touchdown if they want to win the game.
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The Eagles weren’t able to regain any momentum, as Hurts was sacked by Montez Sweat, forcing Philly to punt. And once again, a tough call didn’t work out in the Eagles’ favor on the final drive of the game.
Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke gave himself up on a third-down play, but defensive captain Brandon Graham came flying in for the tackle anyway. It was an unnecessary roughness, and instead of giving the Eagles enough time for game-winning drive, they had just a few seconds for a miracle to happen.
Instead, their lateral play resulted in a touchdown for the Commanders, putting the cherry on top of a major NFC East upset on Monday night.
The tone was set early in this one by the Commanders, using the run game to get five straight scoring drives that would result in a 20-14 lead at halftime. It didn’t start well with the Eagles strip sacking Heinicke and scoring a touchdown three plays later.
Washington bounced back with a 13-yard drive that saw Antonio Gibson find the end zone on a one-yard run. Philadelphia would follow up with another touchdown, as Goedert got in on a six-yard catch. But it was all Commanders from there.
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Slye had himself a solid game, as he didn’t just hit that 55-yarder. He hit a career-long 58-yard field goal to end the first half as well as a 44-yarder on the Commanders’ third drive of the game.
Rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. also had a touchdown and showed toughness with all of his runs. He had 26 of the 49 carries by the Commanders, totaling 86 yards with a touchdown in the first half.
As for Heinicke, he went 17 of 29 for 211 yards with Terry McLaurin catching eight receptions for 128 yards to lead the way in the passing game.
For Philadelphia, Hurts was 17 for 26 for 174 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. Washington was able to keep A.J. Brown with just one reception for seven yards on four targets in the game, while Devonta Smith had 38 yards on six catches with a touchdown on his 24th birthday.
Now that there’s officially no undefeated team in the NFL, the Eagles will look to immediately bounce back in their matchup against the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday on the road.
Riding high from their win, the Commanders will take on the Houston Texans on the road as well.
