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The story of the Eagles’ season so far has been the incredible play of Barkley and the surprising performance of Vic Fangio’s defense. That continued in Thursday’s crucial divisional win over the Commanders.
On a night when Hurts struggled to get going, the defense kept rookie quarterback sensation Jayden Daniels in check and came up with a key fourth-quarter interception courtesy of safety Reed Blankenship to help create a snowball effect in Philly’s favor. There were only modest expectations for the defense coming into the season, but the Eagles entered the week ranked second in yards allowed per game and tied for fifth in points allowed per game, figures that stand to hold up after Thursday.
Barkley scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns in a span of 20 seconds to turn what was mostly a nail-biter into a comfortable victory for Philadelphia, which has now won six in a row.
The Eagles’ chances of winning the division shot up from 63% to 81%, according to ESPN Analytics. They’ll enjoy their mini-bye before turning their attention to a Week 12 matchup against the Rams. It will be their last plane ride of the regular season.
The cushion the Eagles just built up could come in handy with some tough battles on the horizon.
The Rams can be dangerous, though they did just lose to the Miami Dolphins at home. The Ravens are obviously imposing with MVP front-runners Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry powering their offense. The Steelers can’t be slept on; they’re undefeated with Russell Wilson starting.
It’ll be pretty interesting to see how things go over the next four weeks before the Eagles’ rematch with the Commanders. The Birds will lock up a head-to-head tiebreaker if they can beat Washington again. And that might come in handy since the Commanders’ remaining schedule isn’t looking super difficult.
The Commanders will likely be favored in at least four of these six games. And they do have the chance to catch their breath with a late bye. Marshon Lattimore getting healthy could be a big boost for their defense.
As noted, the Cowboys are 3-6 on the season and with eight games remaining, it’s not simply about getting back to winning games. Oh no no no, dear friend. This is now about trying to win each and every one of the contests from now through the Week 18 regular season finale which, as fate would have it, is at AT&T Stadium, where they aren’t faring well.
That said, do they need to win all of the final eight?
Mathematically, no, but there is a very clear and definitive Mendoza...
