At least in the end results, the Philadelphia Eagles were perfect for eight games.
In a 32-21 loss rife with Philadelphia flubs that were largely uncharacteristic of their winning efforts prior, the Eagles lost to NFC East rival Washington Commanders. As members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins popped champagne bottles, head coach Nick Sirianni and his Eagles held themselves accountable rather than drowning in their sorrows.
I think when you play the way we did tonight, and you play the way we did in all three phases — offense, defense, special teams, coaching — when you play like that, it does seem like everything is going against you. You create your own luck, and we played like crap.”
The game was not without controversy as the Eagles fell to 8-1.
Despite replays showing he was clearly the victim of a face mask, Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert fumbled the ball away at 23-21 after finally rekindling their offense on the previous drive. On the Commanders’ final offensive possession of the game, quarterback Taylor Heinicke gave himself up and was hit by Brandon Graham, who drew a controversial unnecessary roughness call and granted Washington additional time to kill.
The calls — nor any others — weren’t to blame for the loss; Sirianni and his team were.
The turnovers cost us the game, the time of possession cost us the game, and we lost it together — offense, defense, special teams, coaching — that’s what cost us the game.”
The Eagles’ first loss came along with other unfortunate firsts. They trailed for the first time in the second half. They lost the turnover battle for the first time.
On Philadelphia’s second possession, Jalen Hurts ran for a touchdown and then threw a jump-pass for another on the Eagles’ second possession. It all unraveled thereafter, though.
Philadelphia had just three turnovers on the season entering Monday’s game.
As the Commanders led 17-14 in the second quarter after a Hurts interception, the Eagles emerged with their first deficit in the second half, revealing a long-running problem. Per NFL Research, the Eagles’ 7.9 points per game during the second half are seventh-worst in the NFL, and their 142.8 yards per game during the last two quarters are third-worst. In the event of a comeback, Philadelphia would struggle with its lack of offense in the second half. Even though the Eagles cut the deficit to 23-21 with a fourth-quarter score on Monday, those problems persisted.
They ran just 47 plays in comparison to the Commanders’ 81, as Washington possessed the ball for 40 minutes and 24 seconds, more than twice Philadelphia’s 19:36.
There was no hint of what was to come for Philadelphia as their next ten offensive plays resulted in an interception and two three-and-outs. As the Eagles offense sputtered, the Philadelphia defense got tired as Washington marched and grinded out the game.
Every compliment for Washington’s efforts came with the caveat that it was more an Eagles’ loss than a Commanders’ victory.
It’s on us,” Hurts said. I think with the uncharacteristic mistakes we’ve made, it’s on us. That’s a great football team. They’re well-coached. These are things we’ve not really done all year in terms of winning football games. We need to do a better job as a team when we turn the ball over like that. You know, when you do that, not so good things happen.
It was the first time all season that the Eagles weren’t the best team. Sirianni’s message was about moving on.
“We started 8-0 together,” he said, “we lost this game together, and we’ll move on and get better.”