Eagles Fall From the Ranks of the Unbeaten, Lose to Commanders, 32-21
PHILADELPHIA – Down nine entering the fourth quarter, this was the adversity fans and national pundits wanted to see the Eagles face.
It was a test they failed, fumbling away the football three times in the final quarter to fall to the Washington Commanders, 32-21, at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night.
The NFL is out of undefeated teams, and, somewhere, the remaining members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins are popping champagne corks. That team from 50 years ago remains the lone one to navigate an NFL season without a loss.
“I wasn’t entertaining (17-0) at all," said QB Jalen Hurts, who threw TDs to Dallas Goedert from 6 yards and DeVonta Smith from 11 and used his legs to score another on a 1-yard sneak. "You obviously want to win all of the games we play in. (Monday) wasn’t our night."
The Eagles trailed 23-14 after three quarters, but Hurts’ second TD pass of the game, this one to Smith, cut the deficit to 23-21 with 14:54 to play.
A Chauncey Gardner interception – his league-leading sixth – gave the Eagles the ball at their own 7 with 12:24 to play.
The Eagles gave it right back, though, on a catch from Dallas Goedert. While being tackled, the tight end was viciously face-masked by linebacker Jamin Davis. Somehow, NFL referee Alex Kemp and his officiating crew didn’t see it.
Goedert was hurt on the play after nearly having his head ripped off.
Interviewed by a pool reporter after the game, Kemp said nobody saw the face mask. Obviously. It was clear to everyone in the stadium and those watching on TV, though.
"I think whether the calls were bad or whether the calls were good or whatever it was, I think when you play the way we did (Monday) when you play the way we did on all three phases, offense, defense, special teams, coaching, right, when you play like that, it does seem like everything is going against you," said head coach Nick Sirianni.
"You create your own luck and we played like crap. We didn't do a good enough job. It feels like things go against you. Those plays, those scenarios that happen when you play like that get magnified, whether it was the right call or wrong call.
"So, we made our own luck today and it was bad."
The Eagles lost the turnover battle, committing four while forcing two.
"From the beginning, I think we went out and we started out hot," said Brown, who rolled his ankle early in the game and was used as a decoy most of the way and ended with only one catch for seven yards.
"They responded, and we started kicking ourselves in the foot. They kept playing good ball. And if you don’t keep playing good ball in this league, and don’t protect the ball, it’s going to be hard to beat anybody."
The fumble by Goedert stood and Washington took over at Philly’s 34 and led to a 55-yard field goal from Joey Slye, who ended the first half with a 58-yard field goal that gave Washington a 20-14 lead at the break.
It was the first time Philly trailed at halftime all year, and the crowd let them know it, booing them off the field.
After Slye made the score 26-21, Jalen Hurts hit Quez Watkins for a 51-yard completion. Watkins fell to the ground untouched, got up, and began to run, but was stripped of the ball by Benjamin St. Juste.
The fumble was recovered by Washington and returned 12 yards to Washington’s 27.
The Eagles' defense forced a punt after Watkins’ first fumble, but the offense went three-and-out, allowing the Commanders to basically run out the clock.
Philly had the Commanders stopped with 1:38 to go and would have forced a punt, but Brandon Graham plowed into Taylor Heinicke who was giving himself up and was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Kemp told a pool reporter: "That was my call. I had ruled the quarterback had clearly given himself up. Therefore, he is down and a defenseless player. The contact by Philadelphia No. 55 was not only late but also to the head and neck area.”
Graham said: "I was just trying to touch him down. It looked like he was going to get up. You just never know. That’s on me. I’ll own that one."
The Eagles committed an uncharacteristic seven penalties for 75 yards.
Perhaps it was the long layoff. This was just their third game in 29 days.
Washington, now 5-5, was far and away the more physical team, owning both sides of the line of scrimmage.
They ran right at the Eagles, now 8-1 with a road game against the Jeff Saturday-led Indianapolis Colts up next on Sunday.
It wasn’t only the first loss of the season for the Eagles, but it also snapped quarterback Jalen Hurts’ streak of winning his last 11 regular-season games in a row.
The Commanders didn’t pick up any huge gains in the run game, they hammered away, content to pick up four, five, and six yards at a clip.
They finished with 154 yards on 49 runs. Rookie RB Brian Robinson led the way with 26 runs for 86 yards and a 1-yard TD.
This was a blueprint for beating the Eagles you could see coming the past month, with four previous Eagles' opponents able to rush for more than 120 yards.
Jordan Davis’ injury has hurt this team more than many may have thought. The run-stuffing, rookie nose tackle would turn first-and-10 into second-and-10 and that allowed the Eagles to dictate.
Davis can’t return until Dec. 4 when Derrick Henry and the Titans visit, but there are no guarantees Davis will be ready at that time. He was seen limping in the locker room this week with his high ankle sprain.
Even before Henry comes to town, the Eagles face a massive challenge from Colts RB Jonathan Taylor followed by Green Bay’s Aaron Jones the following week.
"I am only worried about Jonathan Taylor at this point," said Sirianni.
The Eagles’ defense also couldn’t get off the field on third down. The Commanders were in mostly third-and-manageable situations and converted 12 of their 21 third-down tries.
The time of possession was embarrassing for the Eagles, who had it for just 6:11 in the first half then began the second half with a three-and-out. The Eagles had the ball for just 19:36 in the game compared to Washington’s 40:24.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
