Eagles Looking To Add Another First To Season Resume When Commanders Visit

The Eagles have arleady won in Cincinnati and piled on a couple of other "firsts" this season, and by beating the Commanders in Week 11, they will accomplish another one.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – There have been many first-time events for the Eagles already this season. Now, comes another shot at doing something that no team before them has done – find a way to beat a defense spearheaded in the middle by Bobby Wagner.

The Eagles are 0-6 against Wagner. All of those losses came when Wagner was an all-world player with the Seattle Seahawks, with the most recent loss coming last December when Wagner made 11 tackles in a 20-17 Seattle win.

At 34, the linebacker is still going strong in his first season as an offseason signing of the Washington Commanders, who visit Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night.

“You can just see he runs the show,” said Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. “It's really, really impressive. You can see him, complete command of the defense, running and operating and playing really like a quarterback for that whole group. Allowing them to get in and out of different looks and different adjustments. He's one of the best linebackers to ever play in this league, and he's still playing at a really high level.”

Beating Wagner would be the latest coup for this year’s team, which already accomplished some milestones, such as:

-Finding a way to win for the first time in franchise history in Cincinnati when they beat the Bengals, 37-17 in Week 8.

-Winning in Dallas for the first time since 2017, and for the first time in the career of running back Saquon Barkley.

-Becoming the first NFL team to ever win a game in South America when they beat the Packers, 34-29, in Brazil.

-Beating the Saints, 15-12, to grab their first win in New Orleans since 2007.

There’s still another first lying in wait, and that is to find a way to win in Baltimore when the Eagles visit the Ravens on Dec. 1. There’s not much history to this game between two cities separated by only about 90 miles of Interstate 95. This trip will only be the Eagles fourth trip to the Inner Harbor, where they are 0-2-1.

For now, though it’s about neutralizing Wagner.

“He’s done it for a very long time,” said quarterback Jalen Hurts. “He’s one of the best to do it. Competitively, that’s a great advantage for him, with his experience and everything that he’s able to lean on.”

Even if the Eagles can build a game plan to work around Wagner, who has 47 tackles and two sacks, there are still plenty of pieces to this Commanders defense that is ranked fifth against the pass, but just 28th against the run, including safety Jeremy Chinn and cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who will likely make his Commanders debut after being acquired from the Saints at the trade deadline.

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