Hogs Haven
The second disappointing loss in a 2024 mid-season 3-game skid
For the first time since Week 2, the Commanders were not in first place in the NFC East in Week 11, but they had the opportunity to remedy that with a prime time road win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Thursday night games are always a challenge for NFL teams, but Washington, with a Week 14 bye, was probably struggling a bit more than usual with team health.
That included the team’s newest defensive starter, CB Marshon Lattimore, who had already been dealing with a hamstring injury when the Commanders front office acquired him from the Saints at the trade deadline. Against a team as talented as the Eagles, Lattimore’s coverage skills would have been extremely welcome, but he wouldn’t play this week and, in fact, didn’t get onto the field of play until Week 16 when the Commanders traveled to New Orleans.
After stumbling to a 2-2 start and making headlines for the wrong reasons early in the season, the Eagles seemed to have righted the ship by Week 11. They had won five straight games against an admittedly soft lineup of opponents (Browns, Giants, Bengals, Jaguars, and the Dak-less Cowboys) with an overall record of 13-35, but aside from a one-score win against the Jags, the Eagles’ margins of victory had been emphatic.
Washington was aiming to bounce back from a stinging 1-point loss at home against the NFC North leading Steelers, whose defense probably posed the toughest challenge rookie QB Jayden Daniels has yet faced in his young career.
Philly would offer another stern test. The Steelers defense had been 10th in the NFL ranked by DVOA; the Eagles at the time were ranked 7th.
Offensively, Washington ranked 2nd by DVOA behind the Ravens, so it’s probably fair to say that this would be the toughest test the Philadelphia defense had had to face this season (and they still had a road game scheduled against Baltimore in Week 13).
Despite Washington’s loss in this game, the division title race was not decided since the Commanders would still host the Eagles for the 2nd matchup of the ‘24 season in 5 weeks.
Philly opens with an 11-play drive, but no score
Within the first few plays, LG Landon Dickerson was hurt and had to be helped from the field.
The Eagles converted a pair of quick first downs to reach midfield before the first big play of the day — a 25-yard catch and run by WR AJ Brown to get the ball to Washington’s 2-yard line.
After a loss and an offensive holding call, it was 2nd & 22 at the 35-yard line. Under pressure, Jalen Hurts ducked and threw the ball out of bounds to bring up a critical 3rd down. A simple handoff to Gainwell was not popular with the crowd who grumbled as the Eagles kicker came on the field. The dissatisfaction became even more vocal when Jake Elliott missed the...
