How’ bout them Eagles! The Philadelphia Eagles (6-1) also beat the Washington Redskins (3-3) with an impressive performance, 34:24 in the end. Carson Wentz stands out against a strong Redskins defense – although Philly has to accept a serious, possibly long break-down: Left tackle Jason Peters was driven out of place in the third quarter with a knee injury.
The game was marked by numerous penalties, the first Eagles drive was symptomatic: four plays and four penalties led to First Down and 33 (!) yards. This theme continued in the first half, with some ugly and late hits, face mask punishments and the like also dominating the divisional duel at an early stage. Sometimes it rained flags, that changed only in the third quarter. Carson Wentz’s first pass (17/25,268 YDS, 4 TD, INT) after the penalty debacle was promptly a downfield exception.
Both defenses presented themselves very well at first, especially for the defensive lines. So it took far into the second quarter before the fans in Philly saw the first touchdown – but for the guests, after a coverage bus Chris Thompson marched from seven yards undisturbed into the end zone. But the Eagles were able to answer before the break: When Wentz finally had a clean pocket, he fired a 64-yard touchdown to Rookie Mack Hollins and on the last drive of the first half Wentz got some more Big Plays with the short touchdown-pass to Zach Ertz.
It got even better: Philly opened the second half with an impressive touchdown drive, but had to swallow a heavy loss – Left tackle Jason Peters had to get out with a knee injury when a defender had fallen on his leg at the block. Washington, for its part, came back with a very good touchdown drive, but the Redskins had no answers to the brilliant Wentz – Philly promptly restored the old distance with an Agholor touchdown.
In return, the Eagles-Rush caught Kirk Cousins (30/40,303 YDS, 3 TD, INT) at the throw and thus provided for the interception, Philadelphia was able to pull away with a field goal on three scores. Jordan Reed’s second touchdown three minutes before the end was more like cosmetics.
Philadelphia Eagles (6-1) – Washington Redskins (3-3)34:24 (0:3,17:7,7:7,10:7) BOXSCORE
Over the first quarter and a half, Washington’s defensive line seemed to be the decisive factor in Philadelphia’s attack. But the Eagles had some answers: Right before and after the half-time break Wentz conducted two great drives – the second one without Jason Peters – and used the No-Huddle-Offense. Philly took the lead and then made a 2-possession game out of the game, giving the defense more leeway.
The Redskins-Line did a very good job in Pass-Protection at least in the first half, but the run-blocking was a problem early on. Then the team from the capital was just unlucky: Washington suffered center and right-tackle injuries in the course of the game, and then Guard Brandon Scherff was also injured. The own lead and the decimated Redskins-Line was then an invitation for Philadelphia’s D-Line, Cousins got some hard hits in the final phase, like the Interception, which made for a 3-score lead and so finally nipped another catch-up chase in the bud.
Absolutely spectacular game by Wentz, despite the early interception. Stand against pressure in the pocket, precise downfield as well as in narrow windows and very good before the snap. The touchdown pass to Clement at the beginning of the third quarter was a feast for the eyes – just like his crazy scramble at the beginning of the final quarter. Against a very good defense Wentz played a great match and was the main reason for the victory.
Washington’s safety was overrun by Hollins at the 64 yard touchdown and at the Ertz touchdown just before the halftime break, he was not in position for coverage at first, then his tackling attempt was completely void and the tight end walked into the final zone. Had several problems with coverage during the rest of the game.