Eagles Postgame Report: Eagles Fall To Commanders’ Dirty Hits

The Eagles defense came to play in their final road game of the regular season, forcing a turnover on downs on the first four plays of the game to setup a short field. Their next drive they forced a fumble on the first play from scrimmage and Nolan Smith recovered it. The concern early was special teams, with two straight kicks giving Washington good position, but the defense picked up their special teams unit and negated both of those.

Meanwhile, the offense didn’t complete a pass on their first drive, but still managed a 49-yard touchdown drive. Then next turnover had Hurts come in but get knocked out by a defender spearing him (which wasn’t a penalty, but the refs were sure to remove him from the game for the uncalled illegal hit). Pickett came in and powered the Eagles offense through the red zone for a second touchdown.

The defense forced a three and out and that’s where things changed. Kenny Pickett had three completions for 20 yards, all to AJ Brown and the Commanders took notice as they stepped in front of Brown as Pickett stared him down for an INT and an easy 25-yard drive for a touchdown. The offense responded quickly with 69 yards on two rushing plays by Barkley to score their third touchdown of the first quarter.

The refs tried their best to make this an outright brawl by ignoring that helmet-to-helmet hit and then calling 3 ticky-tack personal fouls on the Eagles, including one during the break where a Commanders player assaulted CJGJ, who didn’t even have a helmet on, but it was the Eagles fault they did that. The Eagles were not allowed to touch Commanders players but the Commanders could spear guys without issue. Anyway, the defense stood up again and forced a fumble to stop the score. Pickett connected with Brown on just an awful throw that ended up going for 45 yards, but the coaches decided to stop with the run game and put the burden on the backup, which did not work to literally no one else’s surprise. 

The defense gave up a touchdown with 82/96 yards coming on a 50-yard pass to Slay’s coverage and a 32-yard touchdown to Mitchell’s to put the Commanders back in the game. Had the Eagles run the ball, they’d have a first down to drive the end of the half, but a Pickett incompletion made the Eagles one yard short for a punt. CJGJ was in place for the interception to get the ball back, but Elliott missed another 50+ yard kick to end the half.

The Eagles finally got a call to go their way and were able to push the ball on pass interference calls before putting up a field goal to extend the lead. Baun then got in on the turnovers to force a fumble that Nolan Smith recovered for an ailing defense. CJGJ was ejected for his second unsportsmanlike penalty, neither of which is on video anywhere for the horrid things he did, and that hurt the offense as they were able to drive 36 yards in eight minutes, but stalled out in the red zone where Pickett just assumed the free defender wouldn’t hit him, I guess, for an 11-yard sack and the team settled for another field goal.

On 4th and 11, the Eagles defense allowed a 30-yard scramble that should have been a play where the defense could have put the game away. Instead McCollum followed up his whif on the scramble with not covering his zone/man in the end zone for an easy touchdown that dropped the lead to just six. Barkley started off the next drive with an 11-yard rush before Becton botched the next protection and then the ball was put back in Kenny’s hands for him to fail miserably again. Washington got the ball at their own 13, but it didn’t really matter where they started. “Veteran” Darius Slay forced the big play there by entering the field as the 12th man, taking the penalty, then leaving the field after the play was in motion, leaving the guy the rest of the defense thought he was covering free as a bird for an easy touchdown and the lead.

The Eagles had a personal foul that would have went their way for the first time in the game picked up, so they had to settle for a field goal and Elliott was able to connect from 50 to get the lead back but it gave Washington the ball with over 3:30 minutes and two timeouts down just two. The defense stood up once again with a tipped ball by Slay that Reed Blankenship came down with and returned to the red zone for the offense to take over.

DeVonta Smith dropped an easy ball that should have been a first down and probably ended the game. Instead, his error forced the Eagles to go for a field goal attempt and put the Eagles up just five with 1:58 left on the clock and Washington still having a timeout. Sydney Brown came in hot to give them an extra five yards after the kick return.

The defense couldn’t tackle cleanly and let up too much yardage too quickly and allowed the Commanders to get to the 9-yard line with 10 seconds left before not covering anyone for an easy touchdown.

In spectacular fashion, Kenny Pickett, DeVonta Smith, Tristin McCollum, Grant Calcaterra, Darius Slay and, yes, the refs found a way to keep Washington in a game that they had no right to be in off of nothing more than a dirty, cheap shot at the beginning of a game that would have otherwise been a blowout had Washington not been allowed to headhunt without any repercussions whatsoever.

They all came together to lose any real chance at the one seed, as the Vikings and Lions would both need to lose twice with the two teams playing each other in the final week. That means a lose-out for the Lions and only one win for the Vikings (over the Lions).

Offensive MVP: AJ Brown

There was at least one ball that Brown should have had but didn’t otherwise, he was the best offense for a team without one following Kenny Pickett’s entrance. He recorded 97 yards and a touchdown, but they weren’t easy with him needing to come way back or jump too high to try and make those catches. He even took a head shot in the end zone trying to make a grab in double coverage. He had about 80 additional yards on pass interference penalties.

Defensive MVP: Nolan Smith

Smith was maybe the only player in this game that didn’t screw up in obvious fashion with missed tackles and broken coverage. He did recover two fumbles and a sack to go with his three tackles.

Game Notes

• Saquon Barkley had 109 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone. It certainly seemed by then to be a day that could launch him back into MVP consideration and put him back on track to break the NFL’s rushing record (he needed 309 more following the first quarter). Unfortunately, the Commanders were able to sell out on the run following their illegal hit on Hurts and Grant Calcaterra was straight trash blocking, so he managed just 41 yards the rest of the game with players meeting him in the backfield regularly.
• Darius Slay had two big pass breakups and a tackle for loss in the first quarter that helped keep the Commanders in check until Kenny Pickett game them all the momentum back and made the defense regroup. Then he was an absolute liability by the fourth quarter.
• There were at least four rush plays that were blown up by the Washington defense that would have been solid gains if they had used real blockers. Instead, they used the turnstyle Grant Calcaterra, who can’t block as well as DeVonta Smith.  He barely even touched his defender on each play and Saquon was left in the backfield with a defender already hitting him as he gets the ball. Maybe the Eagles could consider using a real tight end or even just a receiver in that scenario because Calcaterra showed the worst blocking we’ve seen from the team in years through multiple plays and drives.
• That missed Mekhi Becton block looms just as large. They Eagles finally seemed ready to commit to the run and chew clock. Then Becton couldn’t even block the correct direction and lost four yards and put the ball back in Pickett’s hands. If he uses his brain there, the Eagles might just reach the end zone and certainly chew more clock (the Commanders won with under 10 seconds) keeping the ball on the ground.
• The refs were absolute trash in this game and I’m not sure why the Eagles weren’t taking their cheap shots. The Eagles watched Jordan Davis and Jalen Hurts get knocked out of the game on illegal hits and neither were called. What was called – CJGJ was called for being punched in the face (he made not contact with the person touching him, but his fault). They also called the Eagles DL for two soft pushes the Commanders sold. And they let the Commanders return a fair catch, too. All in the first half alone.
• It took me one drive to figure out that Pickett was really only looking at AJ Brown. That’s what opened the game up because it only took the Commanders that long before setting up an easy pick as a result, too.
• Double whammy for Smith, who drops the pass that should have been a first down. Stopped the clock before the two minute warning AND forced a fourth-down field goal attempt. It wasn’t even a bad pass – perhaps Pickett’s most on-target pass of the game – and he screwed it up royally.
• Barkley also had a key drop in the fourth quarter that, if he had just reeled it in, probably burns a minute more of clock and potentially sets up for a touchdown instead of a 50-yard kick. That was a poor pass, however, unlike Smith’s. Saquon had to fall trying to reach backward to make the catch.
• I wish only the worst for Greg Olson. That PoS was rallying for every call to go in the Commanders’ direction and they showed the spearing on Hurts about 20 times while Olson blamed the concussion on “the ground” failing to even once mention that Washington had two dirty plays intended to and successfully injuring Eagles players with no call made on either of them, both of them being the only reason that poverty franchise remained in the game at all.
• The point, in theory, that keeps Pickett as the backup over McKee is that he could run a more similar offense. Except he can’t tush push and didn’t run – so what exactly is he doing? If he’s in there to handoff and make throws, McKee has certainly shown far better play in that aspect during the last two preseasons. It’s a wonder what, then, is keeping Pickett as the primary backup.

Injury Notes

• Jalen Hurts was speared by what was, apparently, one of those legal spearing/helmet-to-helmet hits and exited the game. Kenny Pickett came in for him and Hurts was ruled out.
• Nakobe Dean came off the field in the second quarter. He did return on the next drive.
• Josh Sweat went to the locker room in the second quarter (ankle injury). He returned in the fourth quarter with a seemingly visible limp.
• Jordan Davis went down in the second quarter and was helped off the field appearing to put no weight on his leg. Like Hurts, the injury was due to a dirty hit on a low block that was, apparently, legal because Washington did it.
• CJGJ was ejected for a second unsportsmanlike call in the third. There was no video of the second instance and the first was him getting punched in the face. Tristin McCollum came in as the replacement.
• Darius Slay exited in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Isaiah Rodgers. He returned later (specifically on the play where he took the 12-men on the field penalty) on the same drive.
• DeVonta Smith was shaken up on a fourth-quarter, fourth-down conversion but it didn’t seem too serious and he returned.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Commanders – December 22, 2024