Week 11 Recap – Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles and Barkley Run Over the Commanders in Philadelphia

November 15, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Washington won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. The Eagles started with a swing pass to former Commander Jahan Dotson for 8 yards. After an incompletion, Saquon Barkley ran for 3 yards for the first down. Barkley then ran for 4 yards and was hit hard by Bobby Wagner. After an incompletion, Jalen Hurts hit A.J. Brown for 7 yards and followed that with a 25-yard slant to Brown. Jalyn Holmes stopped Barkley for a 2 yard loss and then the Eagles were called for offensive holding backing them up 10 yards. After an incompletion following a strong pass rush, Kenneth Gainwell ran for 10 yards to put the Eagles back in field goal range. However, Jake Elliot missed his 44 yard attempt wide left.

Washington opened with a Jayden Daniels swing pass to Austin Ekeler for 5 yards. Brian Robinson ran for 1 yard. Zack Braun knocked a pass intended for Noah Brown on third down. Tress Way punted the ball 51 yards which was fair caught at the Philadelphia 9 yard line.

Barkley opened the drive with an eight yard run around the left end and followed up with a one yard run. Hurts made the first down on a quarterback sneak. Hurts then hit Dallas Goedert for 2 yards which was stopped by a great tackle by Jeremy Chinn. After an incompletion to Brown on good coverage by Benjamin St-Juste, Frankie Luvu sacked Hurts for a two yard loss.

After the punt which was downed at the Washington 42 yard line, Daniels hit Ekeler on a swing pass which he took down the left side for 34 yards. Daniels ran a quarterback draw for 5 yards and then Robinson ran 18 yards up the middle of the defense to the one yard line. He scored on the next play and Zane Gonzalez converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

After a nice return of 33 yards, the Eagles went three and out with two incompletions and a 6 yard run by Barkley. After the punt, where Noah Igbinoghene was called for a block in the back, the Commanders started at their own four. They lost 1 yard on a short pass on first down but Ekeler ran for 6 yards on second down. On third and five, Daniels tried to scramble but only got two yards.

Cooper DeJean returned the punt 8 yards to the Washington 48 yard line. Barkley picked up 8 yards on first down to end the quarter.

Second Quarter

Barkley picked up 2 yards on second down and 3 yards on third down to get a new set of downs. Luvu sacked Hurts for a 14 yard loss on a flea-flicker play. Gainwell picked up 6 yards on a check down on second and 23 with Goedert having a 10-yard reception on third down. Elliot came in to attempt a 51 yard field goal and again missed wide left.

On Washington’s next drive, Daniels was sacked on consecutive plays for a total loss of 12 yards. Robinson ran for 6 yards on third down, which led to another Way punt which went out of bounds at the Eagles 26 yard line.

Hurts then gained 6 yards on a quarterback draw and Barkley ran for 1 yard. Hurts threw the ball awry under a strong pass rush missed a wide-open Brown. Braden Mann punted the ball 44 yards and Olamide Zaccheaus returned it 3 yards to Washington 27 yard line.

On the subsequent possession, Washington started with a 4 yard bubble screen to Dyami Brown. Robinson gained 7 yards on hard run over the left side on the next play. He then caught a swing pass for 9 yards. Ekeler ran for the first down, but Dyami Brown was called for holding. On second and 10, Ekeler caught a check down and ran for 6 yards. Zack Ertz caught a pass for 9 yards. Daniels ran on an option play for 1 yard. Daniels threw into the dirt at Noah Brown’s feet and then Ekeler dropped a potential first down reception. Way punted it to the Philly 10 yard line where it was fair caught.

Hurts hit Barkley for 9 yards on a swing pass up the left side. Barkley then ran for 7 yards. Brown caught a 10 yard pass for another first down. DeVonta Smith caught short 3 yard pass and Barkley burst out of scrum for 9 yards. Barkley followed that up with a 4 yard run and then Hurts hit Smith for the big play of 21 yards on a slant. Mike Sainristil was called for an illegal contact penalty on the next play. Barkley ran for 2 yards; then, after an incompletion, Hurts scrambled 9 yards for a first down. Hurts ran for 5 yards, Barkley for 1 but on third down Hurts threw a bad incompletion forcing another field goal attempt by Elliot. This short one was good, cutting the lead to 7-3.

Ekeler picked up 18 yards on a short pass over the middle. After two incompletions, Robinson ran for 5 yards to end the half.

Third Quarter

Ekeler returned the second half kickoff out to the Washington 31 yard line, but then fumbled, which was recovered by Mykal Walker. Robinson gained 8 yards on first down but lost 3 yards on second down. A 14 yard defensive pass interference penalty on third down kept the drive alive. Robinson gained 2 yards, and then Ekeler caught a swing pass and ran for 20 yards. Robinson ran for 8 yards around left end, but Daniels lost 2 yards on the next play. Daniels tried to hit Terry McLaurin in traffic on third down, but it was incomplete. After a delay of game penalty, Gonzalez nailed a field goal attempt down the middle from 45 yards out. Washington now led by 10-3.

Hurts, who was checked for a concussion right before halftime, ran for 7 yards on first down and Barkley gained 1 on second down. Hurts threw to Goedert on a delay route, and he gained 15 yards before being tackled by Chinn. Barkley had carries for no gain and 4 yards, before being left uncovered after leaking out of the backfield. He caught the ball and ran 43 yards before being tackled by Chinn. Goedert then had a 2 yard reception and Hurts scrambled for 2 yards. On third down, Hurts could not hit Brown in the corner of the end zone, which forced another Elliot field goal. This one from 31 yards was good, reducing the Washington lead to 10-6.

Wahington’s next drive consisted mainly of runs by Robinson, who gained 15 yards before Daniels was sacked on third down for a loss of 8 yards. Way punted it 51 yards and DeJean returned it 12 yards.

On the Eagles drive, Barkley ran for 9 yards and Smith caught a short 2 yard pass for the first down. Hurts scrambled on the next play but found Brown for 17 yard reception. Smith again caught a short pass for 3 yards and Luvu was called for a facemask but the flag was picked up. Daron Payne stopped Barkley for no gain to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

On third and seven, Hurts scrambled for 7 yards just making the line of gain for the first down. Gainwell had consecutive runs for 14, 13 and 7 yards. Barkley ran for 3 yards down to the 1 and the “tush push” play scored Hurts on the next play. Elliot botched the extra point, which gave the Eagles a 12-10 lead.

After a 28 yard kickoff return by Ekeler, John Bates caught an 8 yard pass and then Robinson ran for 3 yards. After an incompletion, Daniels hit Ertz on a seam route for 16 yards.  Bates then caught a 9 yard pass, but the next three plays had net a loss of 2 yards, forcing a turnover on downs. It was a strange call on fourth down where a field goal would have given Washington the lead.

Then, it took the Eagles only five plays to score a touchdown. The first big play was a 31 yard completion to a wide-open Goedert and three plays later, on third down, Barkley ran 23 yards for the touchdown. Elliot made the extra point just inside the left upright to give the Eagles a 19-10 lead.

Daniels then threw an interception to Reed Blankenship on first down, giving the Eagles the ball at the Washington 46 yard line. Barkley ran for 7 yards and then ran 39 yards for another Eagles touchdown. Elliot made the extra point right down the middle. Eagles 26, Washington 10.

Washington’s last drive, which started with 4:38 on the clock, was pretty much the team going through the motions. The biggest play was a roughing the passer penalty for 15 yards. Ertz scored a touchdown from the 5 yard line with 31 seconds left on the clock. The two-point conversion was ruled incomplete with Ertz being called out of bounds. However, it went under replay review and was overturned, cutting the Eagles lead to 26-18.

Washington was unable to recover the onside kick, and the Eagles ran out the clock.

Thoughts

Kliff Kingsbury did not call for any deep shots in the game. Was that part of the strategy to avoid the Eagles pass rush?

The offensive line struggles against the Eagles defensive line with many short yardage situations being stuffed for no gain or a loss.

Jayden Daniels did not have a good night throwing the ball. His mechanics were off on a lot of throws.

Dan Quinn made his first bonehead call by not electing to kick a field goal and possibly retaking the lead at 13-12.