Everyone who was waiting for the other shoe to drop when it came to the Philadelphia Eagles witnessed that occur on Monday Night Football to wrap up Week 10. The Eagles were hosting the Washington Commanders with their undefeated record on the line and they exited the game with their first loss of the season.
Washington defeated their NFC East rivals 32-21, picking up a very impressive road victory under Taylor Heinicke, who has galvanized the team since taking over for the injured Carson Wentz. It was a sloppy game played by Philadelphia, who turned the ball over four times; they had only three turnovers in the first eight games of the season.
A lot of blame will be placed on the referees for the Eagles’ loss, and they deserve ridicule for some of the calls that they called and that were missed, but Philadelphia was thoroughly outplayed by the Commanders. Washington entered the game with a clear game plan and they executed it to perfection.
The time of possession edge that Washington held was substantial as they had the ball for over 40 minutes in the game, attempting 49 rushes to chew up the clock. That tired out the Eagles’ defense and kept their explosive offense on the sidelines as much as possible.
One NFL Scout that spoke to NFL Analysis Network did not believe the Eagles to be true contenders through eight games. The loss to the Commanders only cements that in their opinion.
“This is what we’ve all been waiting for. The Eagles have had an easy schedule with a couple of small tests. I still do not think they have any chance at being a Super Bowl contender.”
The test against Washington was the first that Philadelphia downright failed this season. That is far from their last one as they do have some holes to plug on their roster, such as the run defense. Washington and the Houston Texans the week before found plenty of success on the ground, an area they need to shore up.
Those teams have provided the blueprint on how to slow the Eagles down. Now it is up to Nick Sirianni and his staff to make adjustments and develop a new game plan to combat the changes that opponents have made against them.
