Game Recap, Week 8: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders

October 30, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Commanders Come Up Short 38-31 Against Eagles

First Quarter

Philadelphia won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. Washington started on offense, and started off throwing the ball. Sam Howell completed his first two passes to Curtis Samuel for 7 yards and 2 yards to Jahan Dotson. Brian Robinson then rushed for 2 yards to pick up the first down. After another 2 yard run, Robinson caught a pass for 9 yards and another first down. Washington gained another first down when Eli Ricks held Terry McLaurin on a pass play. The Commanders only gained 4 more yards after that, though, and Tress Way came into punt the ball away, pinning the Eagles on their own 8 yard line.

D’Andre Swift rushed for three yards on first down and Boston Scott caught a 4 yard pass. On third down, Percy Butler broke up a pass to Dallas Goedert. The Eagles were forced to punt.

Washington’s next drive was short and productive. Jamison Crowder returned the 58 yard punt 11 yards to the Washington 38 yard line. Howell hit Samuel for 7 yards, which was followed by a 29 yard run by Robinson who broke an inside run to the outside down the sidelines. Howell then hit McLaurin on a deep pass to the left for a 26 yard touchdown. Joey Slye converted the extra point. Commanders 7, Eagles 0.

Philadelphia responded on their next drive by moving the ball 42 yards in seven plays. The key plays were a 7 yard scramble by Jalen Hurts on third down which gained the first down and a 12 yard pass to A.J. Brown. The drive stalled at the Washington 33 yard when the Eagles failed to convert on a third and 10 play. Jake Elliot split the uprights on a 51 yard field goal. Commanders 7, Eagles 3.

Second Quarter

After a touchback on the kickoff, the Commanders started on their own 25 yard line. Howell started off with three straight completions. McLaurin caught a pass for 9 yards, followed by an 8 yard reception by Logan Thomas and an 11 yard pass to Robinson. After Howell’s first incompletion of the game, Antonio Gibson picked up 6 yards on a run. Howell then completed two big plays, a 16 yard pass to Thomas and 11 yard completion to Gibson down the Eagles 14 yard line.  Thomas picked up a penalty on a low block which seemed incidental and not deliberate. Backed up 15 yards to a first and 25, Howell hit Samuel for 9 yards. The Eagles broke coverage on the next play and a wide-open Jahan Dotson caught a 21 yard touchdown throw. Commanders 14, Eagles 3

The Eagles went to the A.J. Brown show. He caught passes of 24, 14 and 20 yards on the drive. Goedert contributed catches of 6 and 10 yards. With the ball inside the Commanders 10 yard line, Kenneth Gainwell fumbled the ball on a terrific strip by Kamren Curl. Phidarian Mathis, in his first action of the season, recovered the ball for the Commanders.

The Commanders move the ball into Eagles territory behind an 18 yard pass to Crowder and 23 yard pass to Dotson. However, they only gained 9 more yards and failed to convert on fourth down. The Eagles then took advantage and moved the ball down the field behind short throws and runs to the Washington 49-yard line. Hurts then hit three straight big plays, 15 yards to DeVonta Smith, followed by another Smith catch for 18 yards and then 16 yard touchdown to Brown who made a spectacular one-handed grab over good coverage by Benjamin St-Juste. Commanders 14, Eagles 10

With 34 seconds left in the half, most coaches would have run out the clock, but Washington went on the offensive. Howell completed four consecutive passes, including two to Dotson for 13 yards and 14 yards to put Washington into field goal position for a 56-yard attempt. Chris Paul was called for a false start which backup up the attempt to 61 yards. Slye nailed it thru the uprights to expand Washington’s lead to 7 points. That kick set a franchise record and was a personal best for Slye. Commanders 17, Eagles 10.

Third Quarter

Washington’s defense started off with a neutral zone infraction to give the Eagles a free 5 yards. Swift gained 9 yards on the next play. Three plays later on third down Hurts hit Gainwell for a 17 yard gain. Swift gained 7 yards on the next three plays. On fourth down and three, St-Juste was called for defensive pass interference on Brown in the end zone. From the one yard line, the Eagles went to the “tush-push” play and Hurts fumbled it. Kendall Fuller recovered at the one.

Washington was able to complete an 18 yard reception to Dotson, but an intentional grounding penalty on Howell kept them backed up. With a second and twenty, Washington only gained 11 gains on two plays, forcing a Way punt. Brian Convey returned the punt 25 yards.

After a sack on a Hurts scramble, the Eagles gained 7 yards bringing up a fourth and four. Smith caught an apparent 17 yard reception, but the replay showed it was not a catch. Ron Rivera was unable to challenge the call before the Eagles ran their next play. Three plays later Hurts hit Brown for a 25 yard touchdown over Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin. Commanders 17, Eagles 17.

Fourth Quarter

In a drive that began at the end of the third quarter, Washington was able to convert on third with Dotson catching a 9 yard completion, which was followed by a 14 yard catch by Crowder. Howell converted another third down on a keeper. John Bates then made a diving catch for a 17 yard gain. Howell scrambled for another first down on third down and four at the Eagles 14 yard line. Robinson gained three yards on first down which was followed by an incompletion on second down. Howell then made a great throw on third down to thread the ball into Thomas for a 7 yard touchdown. Commanders 24, Eagles 17.

On the following drive, the Eagles went on an eight play, 75 yard drive, with the two big plays being a 16 yard catch by Brown and 16 yard completion to Goedert on third and short. Two plays after that Danny Johnson appeared to blow his coverage, which left Smith wide-open for a 38 yard touchdown. Commanders 24, Eagles 24.

On the next Washington drive, Howell overthrew McLaurin and the ball was intercepted by Reed Blankenship, who returned it 17 yards, with another 8 yards being tacked on due to an unnecessary roughness penalty. Julio Jones caught an 8 yard touchdown pass after Swift lost a yard on first down. Eagles 31, Commanders 24.

Robinson started off Washington’s next drive with runs of 10 yards and 7 yards. Howell then hit Gibson for a 16 yard completion. Washington was unable to convert on fourth down and eight when McLaurin was not able to make a sliding catch.  On Philadelphia’s subsequent drive, Washington’s defense was stout, allowing the Eagles to gain only 1 yard before forcing a punt.

After the Eagles three and out, Washington got the ball back with a little over three minutes to play. On third down, Dotson failed to control the ball and the challenge was upheld. On fourth down the Eagles got their first sack of Howell on a strip-sack by Haason Reddick. Andrew Wylie, who gave up the sack, recovered the ball.

The Eagles got the ball at the Washington 16 yard line. Swift ripped off a 7 yard run on first down. Swift gained 1 yard and second down. On third down, the Eagles lined up as if they were going to do another “tush-push” play but ran a sweep with Swift running it for a touchdown untouched. Eagles 38, Commanders 24.

Gibson returned the kickoff 27 yards. Howell went on another hot streak, completing passes of 9 yards to Crowder, 18 yards to McLaurin, and then 19 yards to Crowder. Crowder followed that up a diving 26 yard touchdown reception. Unfortunately, there was less than minute to play and Washington had no timeouts left. Eagles 38, Commanders 31.

When the Eagles recovered the onside kick, they ran out the clock.

Thoughts

Much better play calling by Eric Bieniemy who helped out the young QB with better protection by moving the pocket around and quicker throws.

The defense gave up 28 second half points, just terrible.