Philadelphia Eagles fans experienced the highs of highs and lows of lows on Thursday night. As Jason Kelce put on a free concert at the Linc, turning up the volume to insane decibel levels, then the Eagles and Commanders took the field for Thursday Night Football and tried to zap all the energy out of the stadium. It was a slog, painfully slow and eerily quiet, an unmemorable exercise in mundanity for most of the night.
There were a few oohs and aahs from the packed house, especially when Zach Ertz was introduced at midfield for the coin toss. The hero of Super Bowl LII appeared to be fighting back tears as the crowd wildly cheered him. The game between NFC East rivals unfolded less dramatically, with the loudest noise spike coming in the fourth quarter.
Eagles vs Commanders recap
The Commanders scored the game’s first points late in the opening quarter when Brian Robinson bruised through two Eagles defenders — Reed Blankenship and Milton Williams — for a one-yard touchdown run. The score capped a four-play drive, highlighted by a 34-yard screen pass to Austin Ekeler, that ate up 1 minute, 59 seconds. Zane Gonzalez easily tacked on the extra point to put the Commanders ahead 7-0. No one else trotted into the end zone in a boring first half.
The most exciting play, and equally alarming happenstance, occurred on the Eagles’ fourth possession on an ill-advised trick play that saw Jalen Hurts sacked for a 13-yard loss. Working out of the shotgun, Hurts handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley who flipped it to DeVonta Smith before the receiver gave it back to Hurts. The fake reverse fooled nobody, leading to Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu to slam Hurts down to the turf. Dead to rights. Hurts was dead to rights and appeared to be in pain, although he stayed in the game. Later, Hurts visited the blue tent and was checked for a concussion.
The Eagles went into the halftime locker room with a confounding 174 yards of total offense, compared to a paltry 124 yards for the Commanders. The two teams combined for only 17 first downs during the first two quarters. Sure-footed Eagles kicker Jake Elliott missed on two field goals, whiffing from 44 yards out and from 51 yards out. Elliott did punch a 21-yard attempt through the uprights to close out the second quarter. Head coach Nick Sirianni was unusually conservative in the second quarter, deciding not to go for a 4th-and-3 on the Washington 3-yard line. The Eagles left the field trailing 7-3.
A second half resurgence
Their rally started in a rather mundane way. The Eagles, trailing the Commanders 10-6 with 12 minutes on the clock, embarked on a punishing 11-play, 76-yard drive that gave them the lead for good. Jalen Hurts put his head down and followed Cam Jurgens into the end zone on the fabled “tush push” play to make it 12-10. Going mostly no huddle on the drive, Hurts worked his weapons and trusted his running backs.
The Commanders attempted to rally on their next possession but ran into a relentless Eagles’ defense that refused to break. Jayden Daniels had Washington knocking on the red zone door, then Zack Baun slammed it shut. The Eagles linebacker — a guy who should get a contract extension ASAP — fearlessly popped Daniels squarely in the shoulder, inches away from the first-down maker on a crucial 4th-and-2. Turnover on downs. Credit Jalen Carter for nearly sacking Daniels and flushing the speedy quarterback out of the pocket.
A.J. Brown made a 17-yard grab in traffic to move the chains, then Kenny Gainwell peeled off two big gainers — 13 yards, 14 yards — on back-to-back plays to get the Eagles down to the 4-yard line. Saquon Barkley picked up three yards, then Hurts finished it off. Jake Elliott missed the extra point. He looked completely off all night which is uncommon for him.
Not to be outdone, Barkley continued his convincing case for NFL MVP by exploding for a 39-yard touchdown rumble that left nothing in doubt. Barkley finished with 26 carries for 146 yards and two scores, giving him 1,137 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns on the year. His backfield mate, Kenny Gainwell, added 43 yards on four totes.
Five plays later, Barkley jumped back on his horse. The best running back in football — one worth every penny of the $12.5 million per year the Eagles are paying him — ripped off a 23-yard touchdown run to ice the game. Barkley’s dagger was set up by a 31-yard dart from Jalen Hurts to Dallas Goedert. Which could’ve changed the game for the worse if not for a Grant Calcaterra recovery as Goedert had the ball popped out of his hands by the defender. The only thing left was the shouting — well, that and a game-sealing interception from one of those “exciting whites” as Reed Blankenship stole a Jayden Daniels’ pass out of thin air.
The Eagles rattled off 20 unanswered points in the final frame, highlighted by a tandem of touchdowns from Saquon Barkley, and walked out of South Philly with an impressive 26-16 victory. The come-from-behind win gave them a two-game stranglehold on the NFC East. It’s what good teams do.
Jalen Hurts went 18-of-28 for 221 yards with no touchdown tosses. Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels finished 22-of-32 for 191 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His lone strike went to Zach Ertz, a score that came when the game was already out of reach. Ertz made six catches for 47 yards, plus he converted a two-point conversion in the closing seconds. The Super Bowl hero received a well-deserved standing ovation from the Philly faithful at the Linc. He appeared misty eyed as he stood at midfield for the coin toss.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
