Eagles clinch NFC East with big win over Commanders, 29-18

The Philadelphia Eagles are 10-5 after beating the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on Saturday evening. Final score: 29 to 18.

With a win on Saturday, the Eagles have officially clinched the NFC East — the first time there’s been a repeat division winner since 2004 — and also knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs. It was a slow start for the Philly team, but they really came alive in the second half.

It was a very uneven performance by the Eagles offense throughout the game, but the passing game continues to look improved and the wide receivers seemed more open than they have been for most of the season. Jalen Hurts connected with A.J. Brown on nine catches for 95 yards, and with DeVonta Smith on six catches for 42 yards and a touchdown, not including the clutch throws to Dallas Goedert in the second half. They married the run and pass game pretty well, and were able to take advantage of opportunities as a result.

Jake Elliott missed three field goals in the first half alone, and the offense refused to rely on him the rest of the game. Even head coach Nick Sirianni spoke at halftime and noted how both the offense and defense have been executing, but the special teams unit was an issue. If nothing else, it forced the Eagles offense to complete their drives with touchdowns, which they were able to do more consistently later in the game.

The defense continued dominating, and overall, it was a much more complete team performance against the Commanders. It was a good follow-up to what they were able to do against the Raiders, and will hopefully give them something to continue to build on as they start looking ahead at the postseason.

Next up for the Eagles: a road game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, December 28.

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Commanders won the coin toss and elected to defer to put the Eagles on offense first. Will Shipley fumbles on the kick return, and Washington recovered it near the sideline.
• The Commanders had a short field and started out with a three-yard run, followed by a seven-yard pass by Marcus Mariota to Terry McLaurin for a first down. Running back Chris Rodriquez carried the ball the next few snaps, getting five, six, and two yards, respectively. Mariota threw an incompletion on 1st-and-goal, and missed Treylon Burks in the end zone on second down. They didn’t connect on third down either, and the Commanders were hot that Cooper DeJean didn’t get called for pass interference — DeJean made sure to jaw back a bit. Washington’s field goal team took the field and Jake Moody made it from 20 yards out. EAGLES 0, COMMANDERS 3.
• Will Shipley was still on return duty and carried the ball 26 yards. Eagles offense starts with Jalen Hurts under center — the QB handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley who ran it for zero yards. Hurts then carried it himself for three yards, followed by a six-yard pass to DeVonta Smith, who did everything he could to stretch for the first down. The Eagles then tried to draw the Commanders offsides, but instead had a delay of game penalty on 4th-and-1, forcing them to punt.
• Sydney Brown made a great play on punt coverage, and the Commanders started on their own 15 yard line. Marcus Mariota threw short to John Bates on first down, and then Chris Rodriquez picked up seven yards on second down. They continued to march down the field, with a six-yard pass to Terry McLaurin, and two three-yard plays to Jeremy McNichols. Mariota then tried to throw it deep to Treylon Burks, which was called back due to an offensive holding penalty — this put them at 3rd-and-14 with the 10-yard penalty. Eagles LB Nakobe Dean was injured on the play, but was able to leave the field under his own power. Mariota threw another incomplete pass, and the Commanders were forced to punt.
• Britain Covey fielded the punt and returned it 11 yards, so the Eagles offense started with the ball on their 37 yard line. Jalen Hurts started off with a big 16-yard pass to DeVonta Smith. The QB then scrambled 14 yards, followed by a 15-yard pass to A.J. Brown to keep the offense rolling. Hurts tried to connect with Smith deep into the endzone, but the WR was unable to secure the ball through the tackle. Hurts did connect with Brown on the next play for 16 yards. Saquon Barkley carried the ball into the endzone from the two-yard line, but the TD call was reversed claiming the RB didn’t cross the goal line. Unfortunately, as usual, things started to unravel, and Fred Johnson was flagged for a false start and the Eagles were pushed back five yards. Thankfully, it didn’t matter much and Hurts finally connected with Smith for a six-yard touchdown. EAGLES 7, COMMANDERS 3.

• The Commanders started with the ball on their 31-yard line, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran the ball 13 yards for to move the sticks. They then went 3-and-out thanks to a Brandon Graham sack on third down — BG’s third sack of the season. On 4th-and-11, Washington opted to punt.

SECOND QUARTER

• Britain Covey made a fair catch, and the Eagles offense took the field. Jalen Hurts missed A.J. Brown for a deep pass, but followed that up with a 16-yard QB scramble. Saquon Barkley carried the ball three times after that, first for eight yards, then for six, and another for two. Hurts then did connect with Brown on a short pass that the WR then took for 24 yards. Barkley had two more carries after that, one for nothing and then a 10-yard run for a first down. Hurts then threw the ball to DeVonta Smith for -1 yards, and had two incompletions to Brown in a row — Hurts overthrew an open Brown, and then Commanders CB Mike Sainristil had a good PBU in the middle of the field. The Eagles were forced to settle for a field goal, but Jake Elliott ended up missing from 43 yards, wide left. A 12-play, 65-yard drive ended in no points.

• Washington wasted no time trying to get some momentum, and Marcus Mariota connected with Terry McLaurin for 40 yards — Adoree’ Jackson was the one in coverage. They followed that up with a two-yard run, 14-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, and then three more runs that put them in the redzone. It took them three more runs before finally getting into the endzone from the one-yard line. EAGLES 7, COMMANDERS 10.

• With 3:40 left in the half, the Eagles offense took the field, and started their drive with a five-yard run by Saquon Barkley. Hurts then connected with A.J. Brown for seven yards and a first down. Barkley had an eight-yard carry after that, leading up to the two-minute warning. Three of their next four plays were passes to A.J. Brown, for five, eight and seven yards, respectively. With 35 seconds left, Hurts fumbled the ball after the snap, but was able to recover the ball and carry it for four yards. Another four-yard pass to Brown put them in field goal range. The Eagles called a timeout on 4th-and-4, but couldn’t get the snap off in time and drew yet another delay of game penalty. Jake Elliott took the field after the flag, but missed his second kick of the game — this one from 57 yards. Thankfully, there was a flag on the Commanders for defensive offsides, and after an incomplete pass to DeVonta Smith, Elliott got to try again. Didn’t matter though, Elliott missed for a third time in one half.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Commanders took over at their own 32-yard line thanks to a 27-yard return. Washington’s offense started off strong with a 24-yard pass by Marcus Mariota to Treylon Burks, but the QB then threw three straight incompletions and the Commanders ended up punting.
• The Eagles started deep in their own territory, and opened things with a five-yard run by Saquon Barkley. Jalen Hurts then took over and leaned into the passing game. The QB connected with DeVonta Smith for seven yards, then Dallas Goedert for eight yards, and then Jahan Dotson for six yards. Hurts went back to Smith on another nine yard pass, and Saquon Barkley then ran it up the middle for a first down. Three more nothing plays by the Eagles offense, all to be in field goal range, but not confident in Jake Elliott. Instead, Hurts took the snap on 4th-and-7, dropped back and threw deep to A.J. Brown, but instead threw it right to the Commanders CB. The Eagles got lucky, though, and Washington was flagged for illegal contact and the Eagles got a fresh set of downs. Five plays later they were almost in the red zone, but a deep pass to DeVonta Smith drew defensive pass interference and put the Eagles on the goal line. They can’t even score on a tush push anymore — Hurts was held to zero yards, and then Landon Dickerson was flagged for a false start and five-yard loss. Two plays later Hurts connected with Dotson for a touchdown that was REVERSED due to a 10-yard holding penalty called on Fred Johnson. Hurts didn’t waste time after that, and threw the ball right to Dallas Goedert for a 15-yard touchdown. It was a 17-play drive that took 10:35 off the clock, but at least resulted in points. EAGLES 14, COMMANDERS 10.

• Marcus Mariota left the game with a hand injury and Josh Johnson took over at the end of the quarter. They then had a combination of short gains and incompletions, with a 20-yard Deebo Samuel play in between, but with 34 seconds left in the quarter, Johnson was intercepted by Cooper DeJean — with a strong “COOOOP” heard from the broadcast at an away game that looks like a home game.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Jalen Hurts was sacked on the first play of the next Eagles drive, but followed it up with a nine-yard pass to A.J. Brown and then a QB scramble for four more yards to convert on third down. Three of the next four plays were Saquon Barkley runs, with the final one, being a gritty 12-yard push through defenders and into the endzone. Barkley topped 1,000 rushing yards for the season, marking the first time he’s had 1,000-plus yards in consecutive seasons in his career. EAGLES 21, COMMANDERS 10.

• With the Commanders relying on QB3 at this point, they went three-and-out on their next drive and punted the ball back to the Eagles.
• The Eagles didn’t do much with their next opportunity, and also went three-and-out.
• And, another three-and out for the Commanders, and the NFC East is looking pretty locked in for Philadelphia.
• The Eagles were committed to the run on the next drive. Saquon Barkley took it six yards before breaking free for 48 yards. Tank Bigsby then took the rock for a four-yard run, followed by the running back taking the ball 22 yards to the house. They successfully converted a two-point conversion, and a huge fight followed. It started when Darius Cooper gave a shove to Washington, and when the Commanders started to retaliate, Landon Dickerson and Fred Johnson formed a wall to protect the rookie wideout. Things escalated quickly and before you know it, it was a full fledged brawl, with Tyler Steen throwing a punch and ending up on the bottom of a dog pile covered by Commanders players. Ultimately, Steen was disqualified, along with Javon Kinlaw and Quan Martin for Washington. Jalen Hurts helped get things separated, grabbing Steen by the collar and escorting him to the sideline. EAGLES 29, COMMANDERS 10.
• The Commanders were able to move the ball a bit on some moderate runs. A 20-yard run and then a 37-yard defensive pass interference call against Kelee Ringo put them near the goal line. Chris Rodriquez carried the ball three yards into the end zone, and the Commanders followed it up with a successful two-point conversion. EAGLES 29, COMMANDERS 18.
• Eagles pulled the starters for the final drive of the game. With just over a minute left to play, Tanner McKee was in at quarterback to run out the clock.

FINAL SCORE: EAGLES 29, COMMANDERS 18

EAGLES INJURY NEWS

• Nakobe Dean was slow to get up halfway through the first quarter. He was able to leave the field under his own power, and then shortly afterward walked to the locker room. The LB was ruled OUT shortly after halftime.