The Philadelphia Eagles suffered their first defeat of the season in Week 10 on Monday Night Football against their NFC East rivals, the Washington Commanders. While a lot of people are focusing on the referees as to why the Eagles lost, and there were some egregious missed calls, Philadelphia did not play a great game.
Defensively, a normally stout unit struggled to get stops when they needed them most. The Commanders were able to grind the game out on the ground, gaining 152 yards on an absurd 49 rushing attempts.
That helped Washington control the tempo and time of possession, as they had the ball for 40:24 of the 60-minute game. The 49 rushing attempts were only one short of the total number of plays that the Eagles had in the game, as they ran only 50 plays compared to 83 for the Commanders.
Keeping the Eagles’ offense off the field was a big part of the Commanders’ game plan and it worked. But, when Philadelphia’s offense was out there, they were sloppy with the ball, something that they have avoided throughout the season.
The Eagles’ offense turned the ball over four times against the Commanders, which is more than they had coming into the game all season. In the first eight games, the Eagles had only three turnovers.
Jalen Hurts did everything he could to keep his team in the game, scoring all three touchdowns in the game. The first score came on the opening drive, which Hurts ran in from one yard out. The other two touchdowns that the Eagles scored came through the air as Hurts hit tight end Dallas Goedert and wide receiver DeVonta Smith for scores.
Despite the slip-up, Hurts is still having a very strong season overall. Many would have assumed that his standing in the MVP race would have changed because of the loss, but in fact, he remains one of the favorites for the award.
According to ClutchPoints Betting, Hurts is tied with Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills for second-best odds in the MVP race at +500. The only player with shorter odds is Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs at +120.
Leading the NFC leading Eagles certainly puts Hurts in the thick of the award races as he is producing some strong numbers as well. But, if he wants to keep pace with the other players on that ballot, he will have to do everything in his power to help the Eagles avoid letdown games such as the one they had Monday night.
