LANDOVER, Md. – The Eagles know they can clinch a playoff spot Sunday, but that has to begin with a win over Washington.
So far, that has been a struggle for the Eagles, who took their first lead of the game, at 17-16, with 11:41 left in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles went into halftime trailing 16-7 as WFT kicker Joey Slye hit a 55-yard field goal with 1 second left.
The Eagles have struggled the most on defense in the first half, allowing Washington to rack up 230 yards in the first half. When the two teams met 12 days ago, WFT had 237 yards total.
Sure, WFT quarterback Taylor Heinicke didn’t play in the first meeting because he was on the COVID-19 list. He was 14 of 17 for169 yards in the first half.
But the defense stiffened in the third quarter, helped by two sacks on third down – the first by Josh Sweat, the second by Genard Avery.
The Eagles were able to move the ball on offense, but they came up short on a 4th-and-1 from the WFT 24 in the first quarter when Jordan Howard was stopped for no gain.
Jalen Hurts was the Eagles’ leading rusher with 35 yards in the first half. He was also 9 of 11 passing for 106 yards.
The Eagles (8-7) need a win, plus a Minnesota loss and either a San Francisco win or New Orleans loss in order to clinch before the final game next Sunday.
WFT (6-9) is technically still alive for a spot as well. But the Football Team will be eliminated with a loss.
NEARING A RECORD:DeVonta Smith nears this Eagles’ legend rookie receiving record; defense ranked in top 10
RUNNING STRONG:Who’s powering Eagles’ best running streak since 1944? Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce have theories
“When I first heard about (clinching a playoff spot), it was every scenario was like, ‘OK, if this happens and this happens and this happens, we’re in,'” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “OK, what else? ‘If this happens and this happens and this happens, we’re also in.’
“But every one of those things requires us winning and that’s all that we can control.”
4th-down TDs
The Eagles could have kicked two chip-shot field goals Sunday. Instead, they went for it on 4th-and-goal and succeeded each time behind running back Boston Scott.
The first time, the Eagles trailed 10-0 early in the second quarter when Scott ran the ball in from the 2. The second time, the Eagles trailed 16-7 in the third quarter when Scott ran the ball in from the 1.
Had the Eagles settled for field goals in both situations, they would have trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter. Instead, they trailed by 2.
Did Jalen Hurts say ‘Delaware’?
On the TV broadcast, Hurts could be heard yelling “Delaware! Delaware!” as he called signals on second down on the last play of the first quarter.
On the play, Hurts completed a 14-yard pass to Dallas Goedert. It’s hard to know what the First State had to do with the play, but the Eagles did travel through Delaware on their way to Washington.
That play put the Eagles into Washington territory. They capped the drive with Boston Scott’s 2-yard TD run on fourth down to cut the deficit to 10
Another poor start by Eagles
For the second time in 12 days, the Eagles fell into a 10-0 hole against Washington.
This time, it was because of a poor defensive performance as opposed to Eagles turnovers. WFT took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, getting a touchdown on Jaret Patterson’s 11-yard run.
The Eagles were then stopped on downs at Washington’s 24 as Howard, playing despite a stinger suffered last week, couldn’t convert on 4th-and-1.
The Football Team once again marched down the field. This time, the Eagles defense held once WFT got into the red zone as Slye kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.
Jordan Howard playing, 2 others not
RB Miles Sanders is the only starter not playing. Sanders broke his hand in the first half last week against the Giants.
But Howard did play, although in a limited capacity. He had 3 carries for zero yards in the first half.
Howard suffered a stinger in the fourth quarter last Sunday and was listed as questionable. The Eagles did not activate any of their two running backs on the practice squad in Jason Huntley and Kerryon Johnson.
That left Howard, Boston Scott and rookie Kenny Gainwell as the Eagles’ running backs.
In addition, LB Shaun Bradley (shoulder) will not play after he was involved in a car accident Saturday morning on his way to the team’s practice facility. The team said in a statement that Bradley is being held out for precautionary reasons.
In addition to Sanders and Bradley, the Eagles’ inactives were QB Reid Sinnett, CB Tay Gowan, T Le’Raven Clark, C/G Jack Anderson and DT Marlon Tuipulotu.
WFT, meanwhile, will be missing RB Antonio Gibson, who’s on the COVID-19 list and DE Montez Sweat (personal reasons). In addition, T Sam Cosmi is also on the COVID list.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
