Game Summary
Washington went to the locker room with a 10-7 lead, similar to the halftime score two weeks earlier when the Eagles and Commander played in Landover.
Game Preview
The Eagles are going to the playoffs; the Commanders
are not. Philly is resting starters. Washington will also be fielding a load of 2nd & 3rd string players in this game, but for a different reason — the Commanders’ season has been marred by injury on offense, defenses and special teams.
The game that schedule-makers back in the Spring had hoped to be crucial in determining the NFC East Champion, instead features QB Josh Johnson making his 2nd (and final) start of the ‘25 season with Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota — the team’s top two quarterbacks — out with injury, while Philadelphia will start backup QB Tanner McKee.
Philly will either end up with the 2nd or 3rd seed in the NFC playoffs. Washington, with a win, is locked in at the #7 pick in April’s draft; with a loss, the Commanders could end up picking earlier if one of the 3-win teams ahead of them in the draft order were to win today. Little else hangs in the balance for either team.
Eagles fans are keen to reach the first round of the playoffs with a healthy roster while Commanders fans are mostly just relieved to reach the end of an unexpectedly trying season.
First Quarter
The game started with the Commanders kicking off to Philly, who started the opening drive at the 32-yard line.
Eagles
Tanner McKee opened up with a 17-yard pass completion on the first play of the drive. No Saquon Barkley on the field; Tank Bigsby is the running back.
Daron Payne picked up his 3rd sack of the season on the next play, coming off the left side of the defense unblocked.
Davonta Smith is on the field as he tries to achieve 1,000 receiving yards on the season. He is targeted 3 times on the opening drive, but McKee can’t find him on 3rd & 9, and Philly punts.
Commanders
The punt was downed at the 15-yard line, where the Josh Johnson-led Commanders offense will start its first drive of the game. Announcer Kevin Harlan actually laughs when he mentions that Johnson is starting — a bit disrespectful despite talk about how impressive Johnson’s story is.
Deebo opens the drive with a 16-yard catch & run.
Johnson dodged interior pressure on 2nd down for a short gain. On 3rd & 5, he finds Trey Burks on the right sideline for 6 yards and a first down.
Bill Croskey-Merritt gets the start at running back and opens his ledger with 2 runs for 4 yards early in the drive.
One of the lowlights of the drive was a busted flea-flicker play on which Josh Johnson dropped the lateral from Bill, but managed to pick the ball up, roll out of the pocket and dirt the ball. On 3rd & 6, Deebo comes up short. On 4th & 3 at the PHI 44-yard line, Johnson made an easy completion for 5 yards to Terry McLaurin on a crosser on the left side of the field. Eagles 2nd string defense does not look good.
Terry gets another 13-yard gain to the PHI 25-yard line on 2nd & 9.
Johnson scrambles up the middle for 13 yards on the next play.
After two runs by Bill (the 2nd for a 1-yard loss), on 3rd & 5 at the 6-yard line, Johnson missed Trey Burks a yard deep in the end zone.
Jake Moody came out for the 24-yard field goal attempt, which he bounced off the right upright! His first miss in a Commanders uniform. The 17-play drive comes up empty.
Eagles
Philly gets the ball at their own 14-yard line with about 2 1/2 minutes on the clock.
They get a quick first down on a Bigsby run, then Davonta Smith moves closer to his 1,000 yard goal with an 8-yard gain. On 3rd & 1, Smith reached his season goal with a 26-yard catch over Jonathan Jones with Reavo over the top as the 1st quarter comes to an end.
Second Quarter
The quarter opens with the ball at the Commanders 33-yard line.
McKee hits Jahan Dotson at the 20 yard line for another 1st down.
Two plays later, on 3rd & 7, the tight end Calcaterra caught a TD pass at the goal line to put Philly on the scoreboard.
After the PAT, the score was 7-0 with 13:37 left in the half.
Commanders
Washington’s first drive moved down the field but stalled in the red zone. This time, they need to not only get to the red zone, but finish in the end zone.
This drive started at the 35-yard line following the touchback with McNichols in the game at RB and Johnson under center.
Two plays later, after a short completion to Sinnott, on 3rd & 7, Johnson found a wide-open Terry McLaurin downfield on the numbers vs zone defense. Terry turns and runs for a 25-yard gain.
Chris Rodriguez gets his turn, and rumbles for 12 yards and another 1st down on the following play.
On 2nd down, Johnson’s pass is deflected and looks very much like an interception in the making, but the ball ends up finding the grass. A dangerous play ends up being logged as an incomplete pass. Safety Brandon Johnson was shaken up on the play.
On 3rd & 9 from the 24-yard line, Johnson threw into the end zone for Trey Burks, who drew the defensive pass interference flag — 1st & goal at the 1-yard line.
Chris Rodriguez is stopped about 12 inches short on the 1st down run. On 2nd down, CRod finished the job with a power run straight up the middle — his 6th rushing TD of the season.
After the PAT, the score is tied at 7-7 with 9 minutes left in the half.
Eagles
Philly started the drive at the 35-yard line after the touchback.
Jordan Magee makes a nice tackle on Bigsby on 1st down, but Darius Cooper gets 10 yards at the right sideline on 2nd down to move the chains.
Jonathan Jones makes the next good tackle on Bigsby on the following 1st down. An offsides penalty against Drake Jackson on the next play gives the Eagles a free 5 yards. On 2nd & 1, Bigsby catches a checkdown at the line of scrimmage and then runs 32 yards to the Commanders 14-yard line! D’oh!!
Two plays later, on 3rd & 1 at the 6-yard line, McKee, under pressure working from a 2-back set, throws the ball out of the back of the end zone. On 4th & 1, the same thing happens.
Washington’s defense holds in the end zone. The Washington offense will get the ball back with 94-yards of green grass in front of them and 4:43 on the clock.
Commanders
Washington will hope to run a successful 4-minute offense on their 3rd possession of the game and end the half with a score to take a lead to the locker room. Their first possession lasted 9:48 and the second lasted 4:34, so they appear to have a chance to do it.
CRod stays in the game at running back. Washington opens the drive with just one time out.
After a short run & a pass, on 3rd & 2 at the 14-yard line, Rodriguez went 7 tough yards to keep the drive alive.
At the 2-minute warning, it’s 2nd & 7 at the 24-yard line.
On the 2nd down play, Josh Johnson tries to do a bit too much and throws an interception attempting to hit Deebo at the line of scrimmage. Really bad decision by the QB.
McKee wastes no time, finding Cooper near the 5-yard line. At the end of the play, flags fly — Cooper penalized for taunting Jonathan Jones. The ball moves back to the 20-yard line. This penalty turns out to be a huge mistake.
Two plays later, after Wagner gets his first tackle of the game, on 3rd & 10, Jeremy Reaves steps in front of Jahan Dotson at the goal line, picks the ball out of the air, and returns it to the 29-yard line. Washington ball with 48 seconds on the clock!
Commanders
Running a hurry-up offense, the Commanders get across midfield in 2 plays (passes to Mcnichols & McLaurin – the McDrive) and then take their final time out of the half. 23 seconds on the clock.
After an 11-yard scramble by Johnson, he spikes the ball with 5 seconds on the clock. Moody comes out for a 56-yard attempt — his longest as a Commander.
Moody nails the kick — the 2nd longest of his career — as the clock hits 00:00 to send Washington to the locker room leading 10-7.
The Commanders also get the ball first to open the second half.
Halftime Stats
Statistics via ESPN
Third Quarter
Commanders
Trey Burks returned the kickoff to the 26-yard line. Bill is back in at RB.
After a pair of busted plays, on 3rd & 8, Johnson threw the ball as far as he could, which turned out to be too far on his target for Trey Burks. Tress Way comes out for his first punt of the game.
The hustling coverage team saved the ball from going into the end zone and downed it at the 9-yard line.
Eagles
Philly starts 91 yards from the end zone, trailing by 3 with an opportunity to swing the momentum. Washington led the Time of Possession contest in the first half, 18 mins to 12 minutes.
Bigsby gets a big run for 11 yards to create some field position for Philly.
Reaves, who made the interception in the 2nd quarter, makes a great PBU on 2nd & 1.
On 3rd & 1, Jacob Martin stops Bigsby to force 4th & 1. Sirianni sends out his punter to scattered desultory boos from the Philly crowd.
Commanders
After a 44-yard punt and no return by Cracraft, who was tackled the moment he caught the ball, the Commanders start their second possession of the half at their own 33-yard line.
Chris Paul opens the drive with a false start. Chris Rodriguez erases a lot of that mistake with a 9-yard run.
A defensive holding call on 2nd down when the Eagle defender takes McLaurin to the ground gives the Commanders a 1st down at their own 42-yard line.
On the next play, the snap goes over Johnson’s shoulder. He can’t corral the ball, and the Eagles defense gets the turnover at the Commanders 28-yard line. Ugly football right there.
Eagles
Noah Igbinoghene gets on the stat sheet with a sack when he tackles a scrambling Tanner McKee to forces 3rd & 9, but Britain Covey gets the 9 yards to extend the drive.
Bigsby ran for 3 yards & 1 yard to bring up 3rd & goal at the 2-yard line.
On the 3rd down play, Bigsby ran through the tackle by Jordan Magee, who hit him at the 2-yard line, to score the go-ahead touchdown.
After the PAT, the Eagles lead 14-10 with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The turnover was a huge play in the game.
Commanders
Washington opens up the next offensive drive at the 35-yard line after the touchback.
The Eagles force a 3 & out. Punt.
Eagles
Covey has a good 7-yard return to the PHI 27-yard line.
On 1st down, Calcaterra was hurt on a tackle by Jeremy Reaves, who didn’t execute a hip-drop tackle since he didn’t land on the tight end’s legs, but was certainly close to it. The announcers, clearly biased in favor of the Eagles the entire game, try to say it was a hip drop tackle despite the fact that Raves didn’t land on Calcaterra’s legs. Reaves correctly swings his body to the ball carriers side, as required by NFL rules. Later in the game, the rules analyst confirms that this is correct — not a hip drop tackle by Reaves. Ross Tucker still tries to say that Reavo will get fined for this legal tackle. Like most fans, he doesn’t understand the hip drop tackle rule.
On 3rd & 3, Cooper gained 6 yards on a quick pass for the 1st down.
The next three plays went for 12, 12 & 13 yards before McKee threw an incompletion under pressure. Three flags were thrown on the next play, one on Wagner for a facemask, but they were offsetting, so the down simply didn’t count.
On 3rd & 8 at the 21 yard line, Sainristil broke up the pass intended for Covey to force 4th down and a 39-yard field goal attempt.
Elliott makes the kick to give Philly a 17-10 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter.
Commanders
Washington starts with the ball on the 35-yard line.
TE John Bates ends the quarter with a catch & run for 10 yards on his first target of the game.
Fourth Quarter
Croskey-Merritt gets several carries as the Commanders move the ball deep into Eagles territory.
For the second time in the game, the Eagles are called for defensive pass interference in the end zone. First & goal at the 1-yard line.
Bill gets the call. Like CRod before him, JCM is stopped at the 12-inch line. On 2nd down, Sinnott is called for a false start to push the ball back to the 5-yard line.
With 3 tight ends in the game, Johnson throws for McLaurin, who draws another end zone DPI call when he is knocked to the ground.
It’s now 1st & goal at the 1-yard line again.
This time, Bill is tackled for a 2-yard loss; it’s time to try a different play call.
CRod comes back in. Before the ball is snapped, the Commanders burn their last time out of the game.
CRod gets the carry on 2nd down, but it stopped cold at the 2 yard line.
On 3rd & goal, with Trent Scott in as the 6th lineman, Johnson finds John Bates for his 2nd catch in the back of the end zone for a much-needed score on a good play call by Kliff Kingsbury, who abandons the run at the right time.
After the PAT, the scored is tied at 17-17 with about 9 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Eagles
After a good return by Will Shipley, Philly starts its next offensive drive at the 35-yard line.
Two plays later, on 3rd & 4, McKee can’t find Jahan Dotson, who was double covered. Punt.
Commanders
The out of bounds punt was marked at the Washington 23 yard line with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the game. Washington has the chance to re-take the lead.
Rodriguez is back in the game.
McLaurin gets tackled 32-yards downfield for another bad pass interference by Keelee Ringo to move the ball deep into Philly territory.
CRod added 11 yards on a run on the subsequent play, and then adds 20 yards with a run & a reception on the two plays after that to earn 1st & 10 at the 14-yard line.
Two plays later, on 3rd & 7 at the 11-yard line, Johnson scrambled for the 7 yards needed to make it 1st & goal at the 4-yard line.
CRod lines up in the backfield with Johnson under 7 and again runs the ball inside the 1-yard line. On the next play, Sinnott again flinched, drawing a false start penalty pushing the ball back to the 6-yard line.
CRod runs the ball to the 2-yard line. The clock runs below 3 minutes as the Commanders line up for 3rd & goal. Josh Johnson fakes the handoff to Rodriguez and rolls left; there’s no one there for the Eagles, and JJ trots across the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown. Another great play call by Kingsbury and great execution by the 3rd string quarterback.
After the PAT, the Commanders led 24-17 with 2:32 on the clock.
Eagles
Philly gets the ball at the 35-yard line after the touchback with a chance to score a touchdown in an effort to win the game.
Washington’s defense has a pair of good plays to force 3rd & 11 as the two-minute warning arrives and the Eagles clearly in a 4-down situation.
Following the time out, Jahan Dotson makes the play on the right sideline for a 16-yard gain to extend the drive.
Reaves makes another good tackle on 2nd down to force 3rd & 3; on third down, McKee misses Cooper at the goal line, with the ball landing a yard or two out of bounds.
On 4th & 3, McKee throws the ball too high for Granson to turn the ball over on downs with 77 seconds on the clock.
Commanders
Washington can put the game away here if they can make a first down; Philly has all three time outs.
Rodriguez does his part on 1st down with a tough 6-yard run with half the Philly defense trying to tackle him.
2nd & 4 – CRod stuffed near the line of scrimmage. Time out with 66 seconds on the clock.
3rd & 4 – CRod stopped after 1-yard gain. Time out with 64 seconds on the clock.
Washington punts.
Eagles
Philly has 53 seconds to try to win the game and secure the 2nd seed in the NFC playoffs.
They start their final drive of the game at their own 28-yard line.
Covey drops a pass that was behind him on the first play.
Frankie Luvu was all over Mckee on 2nd down, but McKee managed to throw the ball away under severe pressure.
On 3rd & 10, Von Miller earned a big bonus by sacking McKee. With no time outs, the Eagles have to run a play on 4th & 18.
McKee can’t find Dotson downfield.
Washington wins!
Full Game Stats
Statistics via ESPN
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