Delayed Start: First Half Woes Haunt Commanders Again vs. Eagles
After 30 minutes, the Washington Commanders (1-2) found themselves in an eerily similar situation to last Sunday. They trailed the Philadelphia Eagles (3-0) by a 24-0 deficit at halftime after an abysmal second quarter. The Eagles went on to win 24-8.
In their previous game, the Commanders trailed the Detroit Lions 22-0 at halftime and only mustered two first downs. Washington went on to lose the Lions 36-27.
The Commanders’ offensive ineptitude from the first half against the Lions leaked into their first half against Philadelphia. Washington had 50 total yards. They ran for 66 yards and threw for negative 16 yards thanks to poor performance from their offensive line.
Wentz's first game against his former team was disastrous. He was sacked six times in the first half and had two fumbles due to the constant duress. One of the fumbles was recovered by the Eagles and led to their first touchdown of the game.
Wentz was sacked nine times in the game. In the last two games, Wentz has been sacked 14 times. He completed 25 of his 43 passes for 211 yards.
The Commanders’ defense didn’t fare much better than the offense in the first half. Jalen Hurts threw three touchdowns in the second quarter to Dallas Goedert, DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown. Hurts completed 22 of his 35 passes for 340 yards.
Smith turned in the best performance of his career, catching eight passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. Brown caught five passes for 85 yards and his first touchdown as an Eagle.
The lone defensive bright spots for Washington’s defense are they kept Philadelphia scoreless in six possessions in the second half and Daron Payne forced a safety in the fourth quarter.
The Commanders’ lone touchdown of the game came on a one-yard run by Antonio Gibson with under two minutes left in the game.
In the first half of their last two games, Washington has been outscored 46-0. If Washington wants to have any hope of competing in the NFC East or a wild card spot, not trailing by three touchdowns before the second half would be a good start.
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