Hogs Haven
Washington prevailed in this late-season, mistake-filled game
For the first time in a while, the Commanders entered a game as the underdog — in this case, the Eagles were favored by 3.5 points as visitors to Northwest Stadium in Landover.
Philadelphia was riding a 10-game winning streak, the longest in the NFL at the time and the longest in Eagles’ franchise history. No other team in the league except the Vikings (7) had more than 5 straight victories at this point in the season.
Washington, meanwhile, had bounced back from a 3-game midseason slump with a huge 42-19 victory over the Titans in Week 13, but following a Week 14 bye, barely survived to win 20-19 against a Saints team that started the 2nd-year backup QB and benched him at halftime in favor of a 5th round rookie.
Against the Saints, the Commanders offense was trying to adjust for the loss of RB Austin Ekeler (concussion) and WR Noah Brown (internal injury), the two leading receivers behind Terry McLaurin. In this game against the Eagles, newly-acquired WR KJ Osborn was inactive, meaning that Kliff Kingsbury would need to find solutions in the passing game from the same players who were available last week.
Arguably, the bigger loss on offense last week in New Orleans was center Tyler Biadasz, who was determined to be too sick to play just 90 minutes before kickoff. “Bad Ass” was healthy for this game against Philly, and his presence made a huge difference to an offensive line that had surrendered 8 sacks the prior week, but which had averaged just 2 sacks across the prior 11 games with Biadasz in the lineup.
While Washington had been playing extremely well early in games, the Commanders defense is one of the worst in the league in terms of giving up 4th quarter points to opposing offenses. The Eagles had the best 4th-quarter point differential in the NFL.
Both teams were fighting for playoff positioning. The Commanders were currently in the NFC’s 7th seed position and fending off several teams that were trying to unseat them, while, at the same time, the Commanders themselves were hoping to unseat the Packers, who are one game ahead of them in overall record, but who would lose the tie-breaker to Washington if the two teams finished with identical records.
Philly was one of three teams with a 12-2 record, but were currently seeded 2nd in the NFC because the Lions had a better conference record. The Eagles hoped to keep winning in order to earn the top-seed and a bye week in the playoffs. As we know, this week’s loss to Washington was instrumental in keeping Philly out of the top seed.
Washington had played the Eagles in Philadelphia in Week 10, losing 26-18 in a game in which the Commanders held the lead at the start of the 4th quarter. Saquon Barkley, the Eagles bell-cow running back, played a key role in that game, scoring two touchdowns in the final...
