'Beautiful Noise': Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke Silences Eagles Crowd in Upset Win
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Washington Commanders - eventual 32-21 upset winners at Philadelphia - knew coming into Monday night they'd be facing two foes.
The first, and most obvious, wore green and call themselves the "Eagles.''
Washington's second opponent in Week 10 wore mostly the same colors and were the fans that fill the infamous Lincoln Financial Field seats.
"Infamous,'' because the fans there are known for causing problems for visiting teams and their fans who brave the stadium themselves.
At least one Eagles fan could be seen during the game wearing a hoodie that represented the city of Philadelphia and proclaimed, "Nobody likes us, and we don't care."
Philly will never find itself short of willing trash-talkers. This much is certain.
But on Monday, the Commanders found a way to quiet the crowd. And they did it by giving them nothing to cheer for.
"At the beginning of the game, you could hear them," said Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke, a folk hero to some but an emergency sub only to others. "But when you continue to have those 16-play drives and you're converting third downs, you can hear them get silent. It's a beautiful noise for us."
Washington suffocated the life out of Lincoln Financial Field with drives consisting of 16, 14, 13, and 12 plays.
Three of those came in the first half alone, and each took gulps of the game clock of six minutes and thirty seconds or more.
The longest lasted over eight minutes.
And in their first six drives of the game, Washington converted 12 of 16 third-down attempts, converting four more than Philadelphia faced all game long.
For the Commanders, they played the best four quarters of football they've put together all year long to jump to 5-5, and to hand Philly (now 8-1) its first loss of the season.
And doing it to the "Eagles,'' in front of their angry fans, in primetime? The audible silence is burgundy-and-golden.
Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82 and on the Locked On Commanders podcast.
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