PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles were in for a struggle, even after getting a key turnover that gave them an early lead.
But Washington kept to its game plan of running the ball, and Taylor Heinicke, in his fourth game replacing injured and former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, found open receivers.
And then the Eagles got sloppy, fumbling the ball away three times in the fourth quarter, the second time after Quez Watkins caught a pass for 51 yards.
There was also an unnecessary roughness call on Brandon Graham after Heinicke was sacked on third down with 1:30 left. That gave Washington an automatic first down. The Commanders scored a final touchdown on another Eagles’ fumble on the last play of the game, sending the Eagles to a 32-21 loss Monday night.
That put an end to the Eagles’ undefeated season. They fell to 8-1 and missed on tying a franchise record of nine straight wins.
They’ll only have themselves to blame.
On defense, they couldn’t stop the Commanders, who at one point had a time of possession advantage of 32:12 to 7:35.
On offense, the Eagles turned the ball over three times as Jalen Hurts also threw an interception. This marked the first time this season the Eagles turned the ball over more than they took it away.
Still, the Eagles had a chance. They scored on Jalen Hurts’ 11-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, to get within 2 to start the fourth quarter.
Then Chauncey Gardner-Johnson intercepted Taylor Heinicke as he went deep for Terry McLaurin.
But Dallas Goedert then 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. 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’ 25 or so. Watkins got up, but lost the ball as he was tackled from behind.
It was too much for the Eagles to overcome.
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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. Hurts scored right away.
But the Eagles couldn’t stop Washington. McLaurin had a big first half, with 6 catches for 76 yards, as did Brian Robinson, who ran 16 times for 60 yards.
In all, Washington rushed for 152 yards.
The Eagles, meanwhile, only had 4 rushes on offense in the first half. Still, they took the early lead after Sweat’s strip-sack. The Eagles needed just three plays to score as Hurts snuck the ball in from the 1.
But Washington came right back with a 13-play drive that used up 7 minutes, 21 seconds, culminating in Antonio Gibson’s 1-yard run.
The Eagles then quickly marched down the field, with Hurts’ 6-yard jump pass to Dallas Goedert giving the Eagles a 14-7 lead.
But the Eagles couldn’t stop the Commanders, clearly missing defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The Commanders moved closer with a field goal after holding the ball for 6:30. Then Hurts was intercepted when throwing deep to A.J. Brown with 8:43 left in the half.
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.
The Eagles were in good shape to take over the game after Gardner-Johnson’s interception.
Then they got sloppy and their undefeated season went by the wayside.
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.
That pushed the Commanders back to the 14 yard line and they settled for a 32-yard field goal for a 23-14 lead.
That culminated another long drive. Washington held the ball for 8:23. Up to that point, the Commanders had the ball for 32:12, the Eagles 7:35.
But the Eagles marched down the field and scored to pull within 2 points.
Josh Sweat gets Eagles going
Sweat helped the Eagles get on the board first with his strip sack of Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke.
But really, Sweat’s play made up for a roughing the kicker call when Washington was punting from near its goal line. Reed Blankenship was called for the penalty, giving the Commanders a first down at their 28. On the next play, Sweat sacked Heinicke, forcing a fumble recovered by Marlon Tuipulotu at Washington’s 19.
Sweat had a tackle for loss before leaving the game early in the second quarter with a leg injury. Sweat returned late in the second half.
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 on a Houston Texans 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 against Washington.
The Eagles also have defensive tackle Jordan Davis on IR recently. He’s eligible to return Dec. 4.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
