PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles were in for a struggle because they made it difficult for themselves all throughout the game.
They couldn’t stop the Washington Commanders on defense. And then the Eagles got sloppy, fumbling the ball away three times in the fourth quarter, including one where Quez Watkins caught a pass for 51 yards when the Eagles were down by just two points.
There was also an unnecessary roughness call on Brandon Graham after Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke was sacked on third down with 1:30 left. That gave Washington an automatic first down.
The Commanders scored a final touchdown on the final Eagles’ fumble on the last play of the game, sending them to a 32-21 loss Monday night.
That put an end to the Eagles’ undefeated season. They fell to 8-1 and missed tying a franchise record of nine straight wins.
The undefeated season didn’t matter to the Eagles afterwards; the mistakes did.
“I don’t want to make any excuses,” wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “They played better than us. That (stuff) happens sometimes. It’s all about how you respond. I know guys got long faces. Me personally, of course I want to win, but now all this 17-0 (stuff) is over with. Now we going to wake up, and how are you going to respond?”
The Eagles only have themselves to blame.
Midway through the third quarter, the Commanders had a time of possession advantage of 32:12 to 7:35. The Commanders ran for 152 yards, one game after Houston ran for 168 yards. Rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis missed both games with an ankle injury. He’ll miss at least two more games as he’s on injured reserve.
On offense, the Eagles turned the ball over four times − the three fumbles and Jalen Hurts’ interception on a deep ball to Brown.
This marked the first time this season the Eagles turned the ball over more than they took it away. It also marked the first time that the Eagles trailed in the second half.
Still, the Eagles had a chance. They scored on Hurts’ 11-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith to get within 2 points to start the fourth quarter.
Then Chauncey Gardner-Johnson intercepted Heinicke as he went deep for Terry McLaurin.
But the Eagles squandered that opportunity when Dallas Goedert fumbled the ball away after taking a short pass from Hurts, and Washington recovered at the Eagles’ 34. The referees missed a facemask penalty as Goedert’s head was twisted around.
Still, the Eagles held the Commanders to a field goal and trailed by five.
Then Watkins fumbled after diving to catch Hurts’ pass at the Commanders’ 20 yard line. Watkins wasn’t touched, so he got up, but lost the ball as he was tackled from behind.
“Honestly, I was just trying to make a play,” Watkins said. “I just wanted to get up and get some extra yards. Honestly, I didn’t have good ball security. It is always taught, and I didn’t have it, and it cost us.”
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The Eagles’ troubles began shortly after Josh Sweat’s strip-sack gave the Eagles the ball at Washington’s 19 yard line barely a minute into the game. Three plays later, Hurts snuck the ball in from the 1.
But the Eagles couldn’t stop Washington as the Commanders responded with a touchdown drive that took up 7 minutes, 21 seconds.
The Eagles then quickly marched down the field, with Hurts’ 6-yard jump pass to Goedert in the end zone giving the Eagles a 14-7 lead.
The Commanders held the ball for another 6:30 and got a field goal. Then Hurts was intercepted trying to hit Brown on a deep ball into double coverage.
The Commanders took over at their 14, and used up another 7:04 before scoring to go ahead 17-14 with 1:39 left. The Eagles then went 3-and-out before Washington ended the half with Joey Slye’s 58-yard field goal.
Washington made it 23-14 after holding the ball for 8:23 in the third quarter. Finally, the Eagles sustained a drive on offense, driving 80 yards in 5:19 to cut the deficit to 2 points.
Then they got sloppy and their undefeated season went by the wayside.
Not that they cared about that.
“The three turnovers lost us the game,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “The time of possession loses you the game. We lost it together − offense, defense, special teams.”
Referee explains calls
There were two key decisions in the fourth quarter that went against the Eagles. The first was on Goedert’s fumble. Replays showed that Jamin Davis grabbed Goedert’s facemask as the ball came loose. Davis ended up recovering the fumble.
The play was reviewed to see if Davis was touched before he got up and ran the ball back for a TD, and not for a possible penalty. Referees are not allowed to review plays for missed penalties.
“We didn’t see a facemask on the field,” referee Alex Kemp told a pool reporter.
The other was Graham’s late hit on Heinicke on 3rd down with less than 2 minutes left. On the play, Heinicke put his knee down just before Haason Reddick was going to sack him. That would have set up fourth down, giving the Eagles the ball back.
“For me, I was just hustling to the play trying to make sure he was down, and just trying to get off the field,” Graham said.
The penalty gave the Commanders an automatic first down, and enabled them to run the clock down to 11 seconds.
“That was my call,” Kemp told the pool reporter. “I had ruled the quarterback had clearly given himself up. Therefore, he is down and a defenseless player. The contact by (Graham) was not only late but also to the head and neck area.”
Big sack by Hargrave saves Eagles
In the grand scheme of things, Javon Hargrave’s sack in the third quarter won’t get much notice on the highlight shows. But with Washington facing a 3rd-and-goal from the Eagles’ 3, about to go up by two touchdowns, it was a huge play.
Hargrave’s sack, his sixth in the last three games, pushed the Commanders back to the 14 yard line and they settled for a 32-yard field goal for a 23-14 lead.
The Eagles responded with a touchdown to pull within 2 points.
Eagles place starter on IR
Before the game, the Eagles placed nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Maddox suffered the injury against the Houston Texans on Nov. 3 while covering a punt return.
By going on IR, Maddox will have to miss at least four games. That makes him eligible to return Dec. 11 against the Giants. The Eagles didn’t fill his roster spot before the game, but did elevate rookie Mario Goodrich from the practice squad for the game.
Josiah Scott started in Maddox’s place.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
