Saquon wore down Commanders after sluggish start. Jake Elliott missed his first two field-goal attempts — both wide left — and later missed an extra-point try that kept it a 12-10 score after the Eagles took the lead for the first time early in the fourth quarter. That’s seven points the Eagles left on the field. It felt like they had dominated the game after a Commanders’ TD drive, but the outcome was in doubt until late. Then Saquon Barkley delivered the second of three second-half haymakers, a 23-yard TD, with just under five minutes left to finally give Philadelphia a two-score edge. Twenty seconds later — after a Jayden Daniels pick — Barkley broke off a 39-yard TD to give him 146 yards and two scores. The NFL’s leader in rushing yards and scrimmage yards blew past the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the first half and demolished Washington in the final few minutes. Barkley’s 43-yard catch-and-run also set up Jalen Hurts’ TD sneak earlier in the fourth quarter. It was yet another slow start for Philadelphia’s offense — with some special teams gaffes mixed in — but the Eagles eventually got it going, with big thanks to Barkley. What a terrific addition he’s been to this Philly attack.
Daniels struggled, but his wide receivers were invisible. Jayden Daniels has been the overwhelming favorite for AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year since the first few weeks of the 2024 season. He’s undoubtedly been great. But is he perhaps hitting the rookie wall? That’s two straight subpar performances in two games — last Sunday’s loss to the Steelers and Thursday night against the Eagles. Those are also two very good teams, so the competition level must be considered. Daniels appeared a tick slow on some throws, was flustered at times when his first read wasn’t open and again found few scrambling lanes. Most of Daniels’ throws were short; there were just no downfield windows available most of the night. His late interception was just a forced pass, and it was costly. But the blame also can be dished out to his wide receivers, who combined for four receptions and 28 yards. Terry McLaurin didn’t see a target until the 11:11 mark of the third quarter, the second time in his career he’s had a target-less first half. His first catch came at the 10-minute mark of the fourth. Austin Ekeler also had a third-down drop with a chance at a conversion. Daniels rallied the Commanders with a late score and two-point conversion, but the Eagles fell on the ensuing onside kick to end it.
Hurts settled down after rough first quarter. Stop the presses: Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia attack got off to a slow start. But keeping in touch with their recent offensive flourish, the Eagles found their way as the game went on. Hurts struggled in the first quarter, completing four of 10 passes for 42 yards and taking a drive-killing sack. Despite being evaluated for a concussion before halftime, Hurts started controlling the game prior to Saquon Barkley’s massive fourth quarter, hitting on 14 of his final 18 passes for 174 yards over the last three quarters, along with the TD run. His scrambling and designed runs seemed to wear down the Commanders’ rushers in the second half, when the Eagles had two scoring drives longer than five minutes. Philly’s offensive line struggled to get its footing early, too, with Landon Dickerson leaving the game briefly and Lane Johnson giving up some pressures and a sack. But eventually, that unit, Hurts and Barkley took over. It was a good final three quarters, progressively getting better throughout the game.
Commanders’ defense again faltered late, giving this team its first losing streak. For the second time in five days, Washington’s defense has struggled after halftime. Sunday against Pittsburgh, the Commanders relinquished a 10-point lead, starting strong defensively but allowing two long TD drives in a tough home loss. On Thursday night, the Commanders led into the fourth quarter, amazingly, once again playing well early before softening considerably. The Eagles racked up 426 yards and just outmuscled Washington up front; they should have scored over 30 points, with all the missed kicks. There was some bad gap integrity late against Barkley that looked to be the function of a struggling, tired defense. Granted, the offense wasn’t doing its job, with five possessions lasting less than two minutes. The Commanders will have some time to work out the issues, with a nine-day break until the Cowboys come to town, and perhaps newly acquired Marshon Lattimore will be ready by then. They could’ve used the veteran corner on Thursday night. But the Commanders know they’ll have to put in better 60-minute efforts defensively, with or without Lattimore.
Eagles corners led a big defensive effort. When the Commanders strode down the field for a quick TD drive in the first quarter, it was a brief flashback to some of the pre-bye struggles the Eagles’ defense experienced. That feeling was fleeting. The Eagles rebounded with a smothering defensive performance most of the night, led by their standout cornerbacks Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell. It says something about the Eagles’ trust in the rookie Mitchell that they’d task him with covering a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver such as McLaurin, but Mitchell rewarded them with a fine effort, helping to hold McLaurin to one 10-yard catch on the night. Slay was great against Noah Brown, too. We should also point out some other big efforts, such as Zack Baun, who had a nice pass defended and 14 tackles, including a great stop on Jayden Daniels on a fourth-down scramble. Jalen Carter and Brandon Graham also had big nights up front. But those Eagles corners were on fire Thursday.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Commanders-Eagles (via NFL Pro): Jalen Hurts completed all of his final eight passes against the blitz for 109 yards after starting the game by going 0-for-2 and taking two sacks. When facing four or fewer pass rushers, he completed10 of his 18 passes for 112 yards. In the second half, Hurts was not pressured on any of his 11 dropbacks and completed eight of his nine throws for 120 yards (+7.5% CPOE).
NFL Research: Saquon Barkley has six games with 100-plus rushing yards this season, the most in the NFL. Barkley had six such games combined from 2020-23 with the New York Giants.
