It felt like a playoff environment Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field with first place in the NFC East on the line and the Washington Commanders in town. On a Salute to Service game, the Eagles played that kind of gritty, physical, pounding, and efficient football in beating Washington, 26-18, and winning their sixth straight game.
The Eagles are now 8-2, two games ahead of Washington (7-4) in the loss column. It was a great football game, a knock-down, drag-’em-out NFC East Division game, and the Eagles played their kind of football: No giveaways, a suffocating defense, and a fourth quarter to cherish.
Here are some observations after the thrilling win in prime time on Thursday night …
1. This Eagles defense had its best game of the season
We’ve seen the Eagles take huge leaps forward defensively this season, and what they did against a Washington offense averaging 29 points per game was beyond impressive. It was dominating. The Eagles, in their first look at quarterback Jayden Daniels, were physical, tackled well, had great discipline, and played with incredible intensity. The stop on fourth-and-2 midway through the fourth quarter, when Daniels bobbled a snap and then tried to run around the right edge, only to be stopped by linebacker Zack Baun – with help from Reed Blankenship and others – was the highlight. But the defense was just dominating all night – Daniels had only 18 rushing yards on 7 carries, Washington gained just 93 yards on 28 carries, and wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who has had big games in the past against Philadelphia, had 1 catch for 10 yards on 2 targets. Washington managed only 264 total net yards, 70 of them on the final scoring drive when the score was 26-10.
“Great team defense,” said safety Reed Blankenship, who had his third fourth-quarter interception of the season. “We were well prepared, we played as a team, and we were sound on our assignments. Much respect to that offense, but we just played as a unit tonight.”
2. The fourth quarter belonged to the Eagles – as it has much of the season
It took some time, but once the Eagles got things rolling, they didn’t stop. Philadelphia outscored Washington 20-8 in the fourth quarter, with touchdown drives of 11 plays, 76 yards, then 5 plays and 74 yards, and then 2 plays and 46 yards, and the defense came up with a stop on downs and then the Blankenship interception. Want a great number? The Eagles have outscored opponents 88 to 43 this season in the fourth quarter of games. Talk about finishing strong …
3. Wash, rinse, repeat – Saquon Barkley is a special, special player
We see it every week and it becomes more and more amazing to witness: Saquon Barkley is as good as they come. More numbers: Barkley had 26 carries for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the 39-yarder that was just a cut and a sprint to the end zone to put the Eagles ahead 25-10, and a 23-yarder around the right corner that came earlier in the fourth quarter. Barkley now has 1,137 rushing yards this season, a wowwowow number and he’s averaging 5.8 yards per carry with eight rushing touchdowns. Oh, and Barkley had 2 receptions for 52 yards giving him a whopping 198 yards from scrimmage tonight. Barkley has 23 receptions for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a receiver.
“Having those guys (the offensive line) up front, it’s easy to get stronger because they’re doing a lot of the load and leaning on those guys and again just keep trusting them, keep trusting the scheme, and try and make the right read because they’re doing a hell of a job,” Barkley said.
