Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders

September 25, 2022

By Noonefromtampa

First Half

The Eagles won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. Washington picked up a first down on their first play via  a 15 yard run by Curtis Samuel out to Washington’s 40 yard line. However, they were only able to pick up 5 more yards on the next two plays before Carson Wentz was sacked by Fletcher Cox and Josh Sweat, forcing a Tress Way punt.

William Jackson III was out with a back injury, so Benjamin St-Juste moved from nickel cornerback to the outside and Rachad Wildgoose started at nickel. After stopping Miles Sanders for no gain, Widlgoose was called for defensive pass interference for 23 yards. The Eagles picked up another first down behind two Sanders runs but the drive stalled out after that forcing a Arryn Siposs punt which went for a touchback.

The Eagles then sacked Wentz on successive plays, by one Cox and another by Javon Hargrave, which backed Washington up deep in their own territory. J.D. McKissic then picked up 6 yards on a draw on third down, leading to another Way punt.

The Commanders defense stepped up on the Eagles next possession, despite Philadelphia having good field position at their own 44 yard line. Jamin Davis sacked Jalen Hurts on first down. Kendall Fuller and St-Juste both broke up pass attempts on the next two downs to force a punt.

Washington then had its best drive of the first quarter, in which Antonio Gibson picked up 10 yards on two rushes and Samuel made a 16 yard reception. After two short runs, Wentz lost 8 yards on another sack by Brandon Graham and Haason Reddick, this time on third down.

On the next Eagles series, A.J. Brown picked up 13 yards on third down to give them a fresh set of downs. Then, DeVonta Smith apparently caught a 45 yard reception; however, the replay showed that Smith was juggling the ball when he went out of bounds, but Washington head coach Ron Rivera failed to challenge the play in time before the next snap. The Commander’s defense was able to shut the Eagles down at that point and hold them to a 32 yard Jake Elliot field goal.

On the next Washington series, Wentz was strip-sacked by Graham, and the fumble was recovered by Hargrave. Dallas Goedert scored a touchdown on a tight end screen two plays later.

Washington was able to pick up a first down on the next series, but then the drive petered out, forcing another punt. Britain Covey muffed the punt which backed the Eagles up to their own 6 yard line. Philadelphia was able to pick up four straight plays that gained 10 or more yards, the biggest of which being a 38 yard completion from Hurts to Brown. Washington’s defense then stiffened and was able to force a turnover on downs when the Eagles elected to go for it on fourth down.

On Washington’s next possession, Gibson earned an 11 yard run, but the Washington offense could do nothing else of note.  Wentz was strip-sacked again but recovered his own fumble.  After the punt, the Eagles were able to drive for another touchdown behind a 17 yard defensive pass interference penalty on Wildgoose again and a 31 yard catch and run by Smith. That set up an eventual 9 yard touchdown pass to Brown on third and eight from the Washington 9 yard line.

Washington’s offense went three and out on the series and gave the Eagles the ball back with just under 2 minutes left in the half. An illegal blindside block was called on the Way punt to back the Eagles up to their own 12 yard line. Washington’s defense could not capitalize on the field position, however, and the Eagles drove the field. After a couple of short plays, Brown caught a 15 yard pass, and Smith caught subsequent passes of 16 and 44 yards to move Philadelphia to Washington’s 1 yard line. After two incompletions and stuffing a quarterback run for a 1 yard loss on third down, Hurts threw touchdown pass to Smith on fourth down as time expired in the half.

Eagles 24, Commanders 0

Second Half

Grant Calcaterra started the second half with a 40 yard reception to movie the ball to Washington’s 35 yard line. After a Sanders run for no gain, Hurts was sacked by Efe Obada for a 9 yard loss. St-Juste then broke up a deep pass to Smith on third down. After the Eagles punt, Washington went three and out on their first possession of the second half.

Philadelphia was able to pick up a first down on their next series behind a 13 yard catch by Smith. The Washington defense was able to stop the next three running plays to force an Eagles punt. The two teams the traded three and outs on the next two series.

With the Eagles playing essentially a prevent defense, Washington had its best drive of the game. The key play was a 45 yard pass to Terry McLaurin when the safety failed to get over to cover him after Darius Slay dropped off. The drive was then stopped, however, and Washington decided to kick the field goal.  At that point, things got strange. Joey Slye kicked a successful field goal, but Jordan Davis trucked the long snapper, which resulted ina personal foul and a first down for Washington. McLaurin caught a 10 yard pass for a first and goal. On the next play, however, Gibson lost 10 yards when he made an ill-timed decision to reverse his field on a run. A Wentz scramble on third down gave Washington a fourth and goal on the 1 yard line. Philadelphia was able to stop Logan Thomas just shy of the goal line on a shovel pass underneath.  After the turnover over on downs, Daron Payne tackled Boston Scott in the end zone for a safety. So, after all that, the Commanders ended up with 2 points after taking 3 points off the board.

After Dax Milne returned the free kick 29 yards, Washington burned off over 5 minutes off clock and moved the ball down the Eagles 14 yard line. McKissic, McLaurin and Samuel all caught passes on the drive. However, sacks on Wentz on both second and fourth down ended that drive without a Washington . At that point in time, the game was over for all practical purposes.

The Eagles made one first down on their next series before having to punt the ball back to Washington. The Commanders were able to drive down the field despite another sack on Wentz. McLaurin had catches of 18 yards and 15 yards. McKissic caught a pass and picked up a facemask penalty on the play, which gained fifteen additional yards and an automatic first down. Milne also caught a 12 yard pass and Gibson was able to stretch the ball across the goal line for a touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed.

After a failed onside kick-off attempt, the Eagles were able to pick up a first down to run out the clock.

Eagles 24, Commanders 8

Game Thoughts

The team was again out coached this week with the offense coaching staff unable to counter the relentless pass rush of the Eagles. Wentz was sacked 9 times in the game.

Game management was also suspect with the mishandled challenge and ineffective use of the clock in the second half.

The offensive line, which is banged up, played poorly the entire game. They failed in both the run game and pass protection.

The defense played better in this game, but the defensive line still got out of position to create rush lanes for Hurts.

I thought St-Juste played a better game on the outside than has Jackson. St-Juste was at least in position most of the time but had difficulty defended against the jumping ability of Brown and Smith. The problem was that Wildgoose did not fare well as the nickel back and committed several penalties.