Roob’s Obs: the Eagles produce a monumental defensive performance towards a 6th consecutive victory originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
In a showdown to determine the best team in the NFC East, the Eagles left no doubt about that.
After a slow start and three missed shots from Jake Elliott, the Eagles pulled away in the second half and put together a monumental defensive performance against rookie phenom Jayden Daniels and the Commanders for a 26-18 victory over their only division challenger at the Lincoln. The Eagles scored three points in the first half, 23 in the second.
Eagles 8-2.
Commanders 7-4.
Washington needed a Zach Ertz touchdown run with half a minute remaining to make the score look respectable. But it was an explosion.
That’s six straight wins since a 2-2 start. This team is HOT.
They will meet again on December 22 in Landover, Maryland. It won’t matter.
1. For me, this game came down to three plays midway through the fourth quarter. Washington, trailing 12-10, got a 2nd-and-1 at the Eagles’ 25-yard line. Second down, Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean stuffed Brian Robinson for no gain. Georgia combo tackle. Third down, BG and Zack Baun stopped Robinson again for a one-point loss. Dan Quinn decides to go for it on 4th and 2 and once again Baun makes the stop, with Reed Blankenship running across the field to back him up. Eagles Ball. It’s one thing to play that kind of defense against the Browns, Giants, Jaguars or Cowboys. But doing it against Washington and their 4th attack? Just huge.
2. This was such an effective sequence for Jalen Hurts that it was certainly discouraging to watch him struggle for much of the match. He had just left. Especially in big moments, big thirds, key plays. The Commanders have a good secondary, but Hurts has struggled to find a rhythm. And then… again… he woke up. Hurts was 10 of 19 for 101 yards in the first half, then 8 of 9 for 120 yards in the second half. This is the kind of rebound we’ve come to expect from Hurts. It wasn’t always pretty Thursday night, but when he had to play, Hurts made plays. We see it again and again. No matter what happens early on, Hurts fights and plays when he has to. Hurts’ final numbers weren’t special, but in the end he finds a way. And that’s all that matters.
3. I’ll tell you that holding the Commanders to 18 points and 264 yards is more impressive than anything this defense has done over the last five weeks against second-tier teams and low-octane offenses. They are the #4 offense in the NFL, averaging 29 points per game, and the defense has been huge. Gave up a touchdown on a 58-yard drive on Washington’s second possession, then held the Commanders to three scores and 151 yards on their next eight drives. Once again the coverage was next level. The pressure was exceptional – the Eagles were sacked by Nolan Smith, Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat. Other than a few big plays made by Austin Ekeler in the passing game, they tackled well. The incredible Quinyon Mitchell held Terry McLaurin to a harmless catch. And Jalen Carter, my God, he’s a monster. I don’t care if it shows up in the stats, but his ability to disrupt the offensive line is scary. This defense has no obvious weakness, and they simply held one of the NFL’s best offenses to 209 yards and pushed Jayden Daniels into his worst game as a pro — 13 of 21 for 146 yards, a grade passer rating of 62.8. and just his third interception of the season – an exclamation point from Reed Blankenship with five minutes remaining. This defense is scary.
4. Saquon Barkley is a beast. My God. After three quarters, I scribbled down Barkley’s stats – 20 for 69. That’s a modest 3.5 yards per carry. It just wasn’t his day. I was surprised the Eagles couldn’t get him going against a fairly weak Washington run defense – ranked 28th coming into the game. So what’s going on? Barkley is the best late-game running back I have ever seen. He gets stronger and stronger as the game goes on, and the Eagles offensive line only wears down the defensive lines. Fourth quarter, Barkley runs six times for 77 yards and two long touchdowns – 23 and 39 yards within 20 seconds of each other after Blankenship’s interception. He finished 26 out of 146 and another monster game. Not to mention 52 receiving yards for 198 yards from scrimmage. A beast in its own right. Here’s what I like: Even when the running game isn’t working, Kellen Moore sticks with it. He continues to pound him. We’ve seen our share of coaches in these areas who simply gave up on the running game if it didn’t pay immediate dividends. Ultimately, with this comeback and this o-line, it’s only a matter of time. As a team, the Eagles finished with 39 carries for another 229 yards and three touchdowns. You can’t stop them.
5. I also thought it was a great job by Kellen Moore switching and giving Kenny Gainwell a bunch of carries on that 3rd quarter touchdown. Barkley hadn’t started and was averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, but from a 1st and 10 at the Washington 38, Gainwell gained 14, 13 and 7 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown, a Hurts keeper. Gainwell is a talented back and he’s backed up three Pro Bowl running backs in his four-year career, and he knows how to stay ready, and he’s given the offense a dimension of speed and elusiveness that Washington was not prepared. As a signal-caller, you have to have that kind of flexibility that no matter how big a star is or how much his salary is, if a little change will help, you do it. Gainwell finished with 43 yards on just four carries, but they were four huge carries. And after Gainwell’s little run, Barkley came back and took over.
6. One of my favorite plays was Nakobe Dean’s tackle on Jayden Daniels on a 3rd-and-5 at the Washington 12-yard line late in the first quarter. Daniels is a big, fast, strong runner and difficult to take down alone, but Dean didn’t let himself be fooled by a few jukes from Daniels and made a sure solo tackle, stopping Daniels three yards from the sticks. This was a situation where Washington was already leading 7-0 and if they converted there after the Eagles pushed them back to their own 4-yard line, who knows what happens next? But Dean made sure no one found out. It’s easy to overlook Dean’s play because the other linebacker, Zach Baun, has been so good. And he was incredible again on Thursday. But Dean is paying off thanks to the Eagles’ patience when he was a rookie and was injured last year. In third grade, Dean was great.
7. Jayden Daniels is having a great rookie season and will be a great quarterback. But it was a welcome game to the NFL for the 23-year-old. The final stats were inflated by that late drive, but the Eagles gave him nothing. Their coverage was impeccable. Again. Austin Ekeler turned a few short passes into big gains, but Daniels didn’t complete a pass to a wide receiver more than 10 yards, averaged an anemic 5.9 yards per pass attempt, only completed 18 rushing yards on seven carries and just never got anything done. while going. This Eagles secondary is playing at such a high level right now – all of them – that there simply aren’t any open receivers on the field. Mitchell has completely shut down McLaurin and he is Daniels’ favorite target. When Daniels took his time in the pocket, they sacked him. And Blankenship became only the third player to eliminate him this year. The scary thing about this secondary is that they have only played six games together. Cooper DeJean replaced Avonte Maddox before the Browns game, so this is a young group that just keeps getting better, and it’s not going to stop.
8. Are you tired of me writing about Zack Baun? I don’t care, I’m not going to stop. The guy is playing at a crazy level right now. I met Malcolm Jenkins before the game, and Jenkins and Baun were teammates in 2020 and 2021 with the Saints, and Jenkins said he could see Baun’s athleticism right away. “Demario Davis is one of the most athletic linebackers I’ve ever been around, and Baun reminded me a little bit of him with his athleticism. For Zack, it was just about getting into the right system and being with coaches who know how to use it, and he definitely has it figured out now, and it’s fun to watch. What this guy is doing right now is mind-blowing. Play after play after play. He’s working his way into the NFL Defensive MVP conversation.
9. One game at a time and all that nonsense, but I don’t care – let’s look at the rest of the season. The Eagles are 8-2 and if they take care of business against the Panthers, Cowboys and Giants, that takes them to 11 wins. Their other opponents: the Rams Sunday night in Inglewood, the Ravens, the Steelers and Washington again. Go 2-2 in these four and you’re at 13-4. Would that be enough for the No. 1 seed? The Lions are 8-1 and they have some tough games coming up – Packers, Bills, 49ers, Vikings – with the Jaguars, Colts and Bears back to back. The Lions are very good and have won seven in a row since losing to the Bucs. But I really think the No. 1 seed is within our reach. I know we’re not supposed to get that far ahead of ourselves, but if the Eagles can beat the teams they’re supposed to beat and the Lions drop somewhere along the line, the Eagles can definitely claim first place. The Lions are currently the favorites, but not by much. The 7-2 Vikings are also in the mix, but I think the Lions are the team the Eagles should be stacked against.
10. No idea what’s going on with Jake Elliott, but he certainly hasn’t looked like himself lately. Entering this season, he was the 9th most accurate kicker in NFL history at 87% (minimum 100 attempts), and he had made 16 of his last 18 50-yard field goals in 2020. But he has just been bad this year. With Thursday night misses of 44 and 51 yards and a missed PAT – as well as completions of 21 and 33 – he is now 14 of 19 this year and 0 of 4 from 50 yards and out after making 71 percent of his 50 -yarders in his first seven seasons. His five misses this year equal his total number of misses in 2022 and 2023. combinedwhen he was 50 for 55. He now has as many misses in the last six games as in his previous 43 games. And at 73.7 percent, he’s 29th out of 31 kickers who have attempted at least 10 field goals this year. This is the last place you’d expect to see him. He is one of the best in NFL history. But he’s human and it happens. This has never happened to him before. My hunch is that he will be fine. But it was ugly.
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