Rodney McLeod's End-Zone Interception Seals Nail-Biting Win over Washington

The Eagles' fourth straight victory helped secure a playoff berth after a one-year absence

Whew, the Eagles fan base was able to release a collective sigh of relief and nerves just before 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Their team’s playoff dreams are alive and well following a 20-16 nail-biting win over the Washington Football team at FedEx Field on Sunday, one that required a Rodney McLeod interception in the end zone interception with just 24 seconds to seal

“I knew I caught it once I secured it, really,” said the veteran safety. “I let one slip away the first time we played them. I wanted to make sure I closed this game out the right way. It felt good to be able to finish the game, make a big catch, make a big play for this team.”

After Jake Elliott made a 41-yard field goal with 2:21 to play, Washington drove 55 yards to Philadelphia’s 20 with 30 seconds left. That’s when McLeod ended it.

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With safety Anthony Harris playing tight coverage on Terry McLaurin, quarterback Taylor Heinicke sailed his throw. McLeod stretched his body as far as it would go to make the interception going to the ground.

The turnover survived replay and it was over, as the Eagles offense took the field for one final kneel down.

“He won the game for us,” said RT Lane Johnson. “It wasn’t looking too good for us…My first thought was the ball hit the ground. Then I saw the replay and saw he caught it.”

It was the second straight week McLeod notched an interception. He also had five tackles.

The Eagles are suddenly one of the hottest teams in the league, winners of four straight and seven of nine.

They have turned a 2-5 record into 9-7 and into a playoff spot because the 49ers beat the Texans later in the day and in the night game, the Packers beat the Vikings. That formula enabled the Eagles to reach the postseason for the fourth time in five years and the first time since 2019.

Jalen Hurts walks past fans who are tumbling to the ground when a railing collapsed after the Eagles 20-16 win over Washington / USA Today

“It’s not who’s the toughest, it’s who’s the toughest the longest,” said tight end Dallas Goedert, who had six catches for a game-high 71 yards.

The Eagles haven’t had many close wins this season, other than a 21-18 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 5, yet head coach Nick Sirianni, who became the fourth rookie head coach in NFL history to go from 2-5 to a winning record, said he detected a sense of calm on the sideline.

“I’m obviously pleased with the situation where we are right now, controlling our destiny,” he said. “I’m really pleased the way we responded in this game…what you saw (Sunday), what I felt on the sideline was a calmness. There was a calmness throughout the entire game.

“We only had one game that was not a double-digit win, and that was Carolina, but that whole game (against Washington), there was just a calmness from our leaders on the team that reflected to everyone else, Fletch (Cox), Rodney McLeod, Jason Kelce, Jalen Hurts. Jalen was so calm throughout the entire game.”

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Really, the entire Eagles defense deserves credit in this one, at least in the second half, along with some gutsy fourth-and-goal calls from Sirianni.

After allowing the WFT to score on all four of its first-half possessions to take a 16-7 lead, the defense rose to the occasion, led by defensive end Josh Sweat. Sweat forced Washington to punt for the first all game when he sacked Taylor Heinicke on third down.

Sweat was a force throughout. He notched 1.5 sacks with five tackles, o QB hits, and two passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. His 7.5 sacks are a career-high, breaking last year’s mark of six.

“We had a rough start,” said Sweat, “but we’ve pretty much been building up to be able to handle these moments…we had a rough start and got it taken care of, that’s all that matter.”

The Eagles' defense allowed 230 total yards in the first half, but just 81 in the second half.

DE Genard Avery also forced another punt with his first sack of the season.

Cornerback Avonte Maddox overcame a questionable pass interference call midway through the final quarter to make a stop to make a key tackle on third down then a pass breakup on fourth down as WFT coach Ron Rivera opted to go for a first down on fourth-and-five at midfield.

From there, the Eagles ran the ball eight straight times, including a fourth-and-one sneak by Hurts, to get into field goal range to allow Elliott to put them up four.

Earlier, Elliott's 42-yard field goal gave the Eagles their first lead at 17-16 with 11:41 to play in the fourth.

Boston Scott scores a fourth-and-goal TD in second quarter of Week 17 / USA Today

The offense got two Boston Scott rushing touchdowns on fourth-and-goal calls, one in the second quarter, the other to cap a game-changing 75-yard drive that spanned 14 plays and 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Scott’s 2-yard sweep right that ended with him soaring through the air into the end zone cut the Eagles’ deficit to 16-14 with 7:21 to play in the third quarter.

His first fourth-and-goal run, also from two yards out, was a burst up the middle, following what looked like a nice lane cleared by center Jason Kelce. That made the game 10-7 in Washington’s favor with 11:49 to go in the second quarter.

Scott saw extended snaps with Miles Sanders out and finished 47 yards on 14 carries and 39 yards on four catches. His two touchdowns give him seven rushing on the season and the team 24, just two away from tying the team record of 26 set by the 1945 team.

The Eagles’ NFL-leading running game started slowly but managed to finish with 118 yards on 34 runs, with Hurts adding 44 on seven carries and Jordan Howard 26 on 11 runs.

Hurts completed 17-of-26 throws for 214 yards and a 90.9 passer rating.

Heinicke completed his first 11 throws but was a nonfactor in the second half. He was 27-for-36 with 247 yards and McLeod’s interception.

“This game is so emotional,” said Sirianni, when asked about McLeod’s game-winning INT. “In tight games like this, you have to fight back tears of joy. It’s just such an emotional game and why we love this game so much. There ‘s so many ups and downs, it’s so lifelike. 

"There are so many ups and downs throughout the game then excitement and joy when you can win with what you would say a walk-off interception, it’s pretty special to be a part of.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.