The Washington Commanders were taught a master class in what it means to be a great football team.
The Philadelphia Eagles did not bring its “A” game Sunday afternoon, the Commanders did. It still wasn’t enough.
Despite quarterback Sam Howell playing one of the best games of his young career, the Eagles took advantage of Commander’s mistakes. Washington couldn’t do the same, however, and Philadelphia prevailed 31-24.
The day started well. Howell gave the Commanders the lead with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin.
Leading 7-3, Howell connected with Jahon Dotson on a beautiful 21-yard strike to increase the advantage to 14-3.
Then, Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown put Philadelphia on his back.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts found Brown for touchdown number one on a 16-yard pass to cut the lead to 14-10. Washington was able to get a late first-half field goal as Joey Sly set a club record with a 61-yard kick as time expired before halftime.
The defense even got a potential game-altering turnover in the third quarter.
Faced with a fourth and goal situation, the Eagles lined up for their “Brotherly Shove” short-yardage play. The defensive line caused Hurts to fumble the ball, leading to a Kendall Fuller recovery.
The Commanders even took a 24-17 fourth-quarter lead on Howell’s third touchdown pass of the day, this time to Logan Thomas from the seven-yard line.
That’s when Philadelphia showed why it is a Super Bowl-contending team.
Hurts found a wide-open D’Andre Swift for a 38-yard touchdown pass, Washington’s secondary appeared to bust a coverage as Swift was completely uncovered to tie the score at 24.
Howell then made the only catastrophic mistake of the game missing Terry McLaurin and enabling Reed Blankenship to grab the interception at the Commanders’ 20, an unnecessary roughness penalty on tight end John Bates gave the Eagles the ball on the Washington 15-yard line. Two plays later, Hurst found Julio Jones for a touchdown to give Philadelphia the lead of 31-24.
Howell would try to tie the score with a late touchdown but the Eagles stopped Washington on downs its next series. Philadelphia scored its final touchdown on a short run by Swift to make the score 38-24. Washington scored a meaningless touchdown with a minute left to play to make the final score 38-31.
The loss drops the Commander’s record to 3-5, 0-3 in the NFC East. Head Coach Ron Rivera’s quixotic vision of a playoff team has become more unrealistic with each passing week. In a week in which the offense managed 31 points and 472 yards of total offense, the defense was torched once again, giving up 38 points.
Co-owner Magic Johnson saw a stadium with more Eagles than Commanders fans on a day Washington couldn’t afford to lose. One wonders what decisions were made watching today’s effort.
The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday and rumors of deals have been swirling. Will ownership allow Rivera to make moves for the future or will it save that decision for a new regime?
A regime that seems almost certain to take over after the new year.