Eagles Miss Chance To Clinch NFC East, Lose Jalen Hurts Early, Fall To Commanders

The 36-33 loss snapped the Philadelphia Eagles' 10-game winning streak.

Dec 22, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Jamison Crowder (80) celebrates after catching the game winning touchdown pass against the Philadelphia Eagles in the final seconds during the fourth quarter at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Eagles defense forced five turnovers. They also gave up five touchdown passes.

That added up to a 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders in a thrilling game on Sunday. The loss snapped the Eagles' franchise-record winning streak at 10 games, prevented them from clinching the NFC East title, and probably cost them the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. It was their first loss since Sept. 29.

That means there is a good chance that the Eagles could end up hosting the Commanders (10-5) in the opening-round of the playoffs.

It was all right there for the Eagles to eke out a win, even after they lost quarterback Jalen Hurts to a concussion on a questionable helmet-to-helmet hit from Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu. The injury happened on just the 11th play of the game and sent Kenny Pickett into the fray.

Hurts left after just 11 plays and wll need to pass the NFL's concussion protocol to play in next week's home game against the Dallas Cowboys.

As much blame as there is to go around for this loss, Pickett should not be one of them. Granted, the Eagles offense changed drastically when Hurts went out. It took away their RPO game and the tush push. Still, Pickett completed 14-of-24 throws for 143 yards.

Here are two to blame:

-DeVonta Smith’s dropped pass on third down with just over two minutes left deep in Washington territory would have iced it. Instead, the Eagles had to kick a 40-yard field goal to go up 33-28.

It was reminiscent of an earlier loss this year when Saquon Barkley dropped an easy one that would have iced a win over the Atlanta Falcons.

"I made some tough catches today and dropped the easy one, it's nobody else's fault but mine," said Smith, who had six catches for 51 yards. "The game's over with. Aint' nothing I can do about it now. I was calling for it and when they put it in my hands, I gotta make the goddamn play."

-Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson picked up two personal fouls and was ejected. That let his teammates down in a big way. Tristin McCollum entered but he gave up one of the five touchdown throws Jayden Daniels had on the day.

Daniels was unstoppable. He completed 24-of-39 passes for 258 yards. He ran nine times for 81 yards, picking up two first downs on fourth down runs that kept alive drives that ended in touchdowns.

-The defense gave up 22 points in the fourth quarter after entering that final frame ahead 27-14. It hadn't allowed more than 21 points in a game since the bye week. It also surrendered 368 yards of total offense after entering the game as the NFL’s top-ranked defense, allowing just 275 per game coming in, and recorded only one sack of Daniels, who had been getting sacked an average of five times per game in the last six.

-The offense converted just three of 16 third downs and had 338 yards of offense.

The loss overshadowed Saquon Barkley, who ran for a 68-yard touchdown to give Philly a 21-7 lead. It was Barkley’s fourth touchdown run of more than 60 yards, something only two other running backs in league history have done – Adrian Peterson in his MVP-season back in 2012, and the great Jim Brown.

Barkley ran 29 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 13 rushing scores this season.

TURNING POINT

DeVonta Smith’s drop. Rarely does the receiver drop a wide-open throw, but that’s what happened on a critical third-down pass as the clock neared the two-minute warning. The Commanders had only one timeout remaining. A catch, and the game is over.

Dec 22, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) scores a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the first quarter at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

STUDS

Saquon Barkley. Obviously.

A.J. Brown. He went over 1,000 yards receiving for the third straight year and the fifth time in his six NFL seasons. More importantly, he drew three PI calls against Marshawn Lattimore for 69 yards in the third quarter. The penalties kept two drives alive that led to Jake Elliott field goals.

Zack Baun. The linebacker forced his fifth fumble of the season, this one early in the third quarter. Only Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt has more. He had 11 tackles, one fewer than fellow linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Nolan Smith. The outside linebacker had two fumble recoveries. They were the first two of his career.

DUDS

Special teams. This is a recording. Every week it’s something with Michael Clay’s units. This time, Braden Mann’s opening kickoff never made it into the landing zone, which gave the ball to Washington at the 40. Then, after going up 7-0, the Eagles allowed a 47-yard return from Luke McCaffrey into Philly territory. That’s not all. Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. was flagged for a personal foul during a punt return. All this mess happened in the first quarter. Sydney Brown was also offsides on the final kickoff, a 5-yard penalty that gave the Commanders at the 43.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The safety had his fourth interception, but his undisciplined play led to two personal foul penalties in the game, which is an automatic ejection.

Penalties. The Eagles committed 10 for 91 yards.

INJURIES

-Jalen Hurts; concussion was obviously a big loss.

-Will Shipley left with a concussion in the first half.

More NFL: Eagles Jalen Hurts Ruled Out With Concussion After Questionable Hit