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Trailing 12-10 halfway through the 4th quarter, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn rolled the dice.
With the ball on the Eagles 26-yard line, and after Brian Robinson was stopped on two straight running plays, Quinn decided to go for it on 4th and two. Get a first down and the drive would continue towards a go-ahead touchdown. Get stopped short, and the game might tip toward Philadelphia permanently.
It was never close.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels didn’t get a clean snap from under center and never had a chance to outrun the Eagles defense, he was stopped short and the ball went over on downs.
The game ended there.
It took Philadelphia just five plays to break the game open when Saquon Barkley scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to make the score 19-10.
Daniels’s next play was even worse.
On first down from their 30-yard line, Daniels dropped back looking to complete a 16-yard pass to Noah Brown. He started the receiver down the entire route which let Reed Blankenship intercept the ball on the Washington 46. Two plays later, Barkley scored again, on a 39-yard run.
The final score; 26-18 Eagles.
The Commanders offense was stymied most of the night. The Eagles defense, particularly the front seven, stayed in Daniels face, seldom giving him time to make a play. Daniels finished the night 22 of 32 for 171 yards, one touchdown, and one interception by far his worst performance of the season.
Terry McLaurin was held to one catch for 10 yards on two targets. Daniels was rushed in the pocket all night and seemed to be throwing off his back foot often, causing several passes to fall short or behind receivers.
Washington took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter as an Austin Eckler 34-yard catch and run keyed a 5-play scoring drive that ended with a Brian Robinson 1-yard touchdown. Washington would stretch the lead to 10-6 in the third quarter before the Philadelphia comeback. Daniels threw a five yard touchdown pass to tight end Zac Ertz in the closing seconds to make the score respectable even if most of the fourth quarter was not.
The loss drops the Commanders to 7-4 one and a half games in back of Philadelphia in the division. For the first time this season, Washington has lost two straight games.
Despite that, Washington remains in an position when it comes to post-season play.
The Commanders have a two-game lead over San Francisco for the final wildcard spot and have a favorable schedule for the next few weeks with home games against Dallas (3-6) and the Tennessee Titans (2-7) before the team’s bye week. The defense will most likely get a boost next Sunday when newly acquired defensive back Marshon Lattimore should be healthy enough to play.
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