Let’s see it through midnight green glasses: The Eagles won. Jalen Hurts took snaps under center. He threw down the middle of the field. The Eagles just happened to be playing against two new coordinators and a Wahington Commanders team that had to do more learning on the job than the Eagles did.
The Eagles survived a 24-22 scare over Washington on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field to keep Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni a perfect 6-0 in season opening games and 35-14 overall.
Under new offensive
coordinator Sean Mannion, Hurts completed 14 of 25 for 203 yards and three touchdowns—two TDs down the middle of the field on third down. Hurts rushed for 46 yards and made some strong throws. His 22-yard scramble in the fourth quarter saved the game. He made sure nine different Eagles touched the ball.
Hurts prides himself on finding ways to win—and it is what he did.
Washington’s Jayden Daniels looked a lot like the player he was two years ago. He completed 18 of 34 for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and he made Cooper DeJean look foolish.
Hurts answered the offseason criticism by winning this game. He cannot do it alone moving forward.
There was a lot of good, some bad and a pile of ugly in the Eagles’ 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders.
The Good
Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo clamping down on Commanders’ back-up tight end John Bates on the two-point conversion to tie the game with 1:01 to play.
Hurts saving the day on a 22-yard scramble on a third-and-18 with 8:03 to play. If Hurts does not go off script and make the play, the season may have started with a highly unlikely loss. Three plays later, Hurts hit Dallas Goedert down the middle of the field for a 43-yard touchdown and a 24-16 Eagles’ lead with 6:06 to play.
Tight end Dallas Goedert is still a viable option, catching a team-high four passes on five targets for 77 yards and two touchdowns—both on third down, and both down the middle of the field.
The Eagles’ third quarter defense. They gave up only 48 yards and kept Daniels in check, completing three of seven for 22 yards.
DeVonta Smith’s 31-yard reception on a third-and-five in the last two minutes of the third quarter. It kept alive the Eagles’ fourth drive of the second half, made possible by Smith tip-toeing the sideline in a perfect pass from Hurts to beat the Commanders’—and former Eagle—Rasul Douglas. It led to a Jake Elliott 35-yard field goal and a 17-9 Eagles’ lead with 44 seconds left in the third quarter. Smith later secured the win by securing the on-side kick.
The Eagles’ second quarter. It turned over a dismal first quarter. It was a good glimpse of what this new revamped Eagles’ offense is supposed to look like, scoring touchdowns on two of four drives, with eight different players getting touches in the first half. The Eagles churned up 102 yards of offense on 15 plays, averaging 6.8 yards a play, and converting two of four third downs. The big difference was 63 yards rushing on six carries, averaging 10.5 yards a carry—and the bulk of which came next.
Saquon Barkley’s 42-yard second-quarter run, when Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen and Lane Johnson flushed the Commanders’ defensive line right, opening a massive hole for Barkley to take off down the middle. The long run set up the Eagles’ second touchdown, a nine-yard completion from Hurts to Dontayvion Wicks in the corner of the end zone for a 14-3 lead with 6:27 left in the first half. Hurts recognized the man coverage and Wicks’ cut to the corner.
A.J. Who? Wicks had two catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, outperforming the player he replaced, A.J. Brown, who caught a grand total of three passes for 26 yards, before suffering a high ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of New England’s season-opening 13-10 loss to Seattle.
Linebacker Zack Baun making a team-leading 12 tackles, seven solo, including several key plays, like taking down Rachaad White in the open field with an ankle tackle from behind for two yards on a third-and-six at the Washington 47 on the Commanders’ first second half drive. Baun looked like his 2024 All-Pro version, pretty all over the field breaking up passes, making open field tackles, and pressuring the quarter. He later tipped away a Daniels’ pass on a third-and-two at the Eagles’ 10 with 2:08 to play.
Baun on the Commanders’ fifth drive, diving to defend a pass down the middle intended to Stefon Diggs on a first-and-20 play, and smashing through the center to come up with a seven-yard sack om Jayden Daniels with 10:15 left in the first half, forcing a third-and-27.
Hurts’ 17-yard touchdown pass “down the middle of the field” to Goedert for the Eagles’ first touchdown of the season on a third-and-goal play with 14:11 left in the first half. The Commanders’ safeties sagged, Hurts saw the opening and hit Goedert in the back of the end zone for a 7-3 lead.
Receiver Dontayvion Wicks making a career-best 64-yard reception on the Eagles’ third drive, Hurts dropped a perfect arc hitting Wicks on the run. It was the first big play of the season, setting up the Eagles’ score. It also tore away what had been a stagnant start for the Eagles, who had 12 total yards over their two drives. Wicks did not catch a pass in the second half in the second half.
Hurts pass down the middle of the field to DeVonta Smith for 12 yards on a second-and-24 on the Eagles’ second drive.
Things were so bad for the Eagles over the first quarter that punter Braden Mann was about the only thing positive going, booming his first two punts for a total of 110 yards, one inside the 20. He had a 64-yarder and hit a 62-yarder on his third punt. Two of his first three punts were inside the 20-yard line. He changed the tilt of the field. Mann punted the ball four times in the first half, putting three of the four inside the 20. The exclamation point was Mann’s 51-yard punt that was downed at the Commanders’ two with 33 seconds left in the half.
Defensive tackle Jalen Carter’s blocked extra point with 1:53 left in the first half after Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s one-yard score to give Washington its first touchdown of the season.
Defensive tackle Jordan Davis eating up the middle of the field, making eight tackles, three solo.
Riq Woolen and Quinyon Mitchell locking down Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs for much of the game, causing Daniels to extend plays by rolling right and running for his life.
Jihaad Campbell’s fourth-quarter one-yard sack, later erased one play later with a major blunder.
The Bad
The Eagles third quarter offense. The Eagles picked up a mere 59 yards of offense and one first down. They went three-and-out on their first three drives, and could not do anything until Smith’s 31-yard reception with two minutes left in the quarter.
Left guard Landon Dickerson getting nailed for holding—the Eagles’ third holding call to that point—on a first-and-10 at the Eagles’ 40 on their fourth drive of the second half.
Right tackle Lane Johnson getting beat inside by Commanders’ first-round draft pick middle linebacker Sonny Styles in taking down Barkley for a three-yard loss on a second-and-seven at the Eagles’ 44 on the Eagles’ third drive of the second half.
Safety Andrew Mukuba losing the middle of the field on Daniels’ 15-yard completion to tight end Chig Okonkwo at the Eagles’ 43 on Washington’s second drive of the second half, on a second-and-12.
The Eagles’ defense on the Commanders’ first drive. They allowed a third-down conversion, an 11-yard run to open the season and a 13-yard pass on a third-and-10.
The Eagles special teams allowing Jaylin Lane’s 33-yard kickoff return to open the season.
The Ugly
The Eagles’ offensive line just did not look right—healthy or not. Hurts was forced to scramble and take chances because the offensive line was in discord and allowed Hurts to get sacked three times for 21 yards. Four of the five Eagles’ penalties were on the offensive line, three holding calls and one offsides flag. The Eagles simply got beat up front, and did not reach the spots that they should have in the zone running scheme. They allowed linebackers to crack the front for sacks and force Hurts to scramble.
Campbell completely losing Antonio Williams for a 33-yard reception on a third-and-14 at the Eagles’ 47 with 12:12 left to play. It led to a Washington touchdown with 9:59 to play. How Campbell lost Williams is baffling. It was a third-and-long and the second-year pro managed to do it.
Barkley getting rolled by Styles on a six-yard sack on the Eagles’ second drive of the second half. Styles came through on a blitz and ran right through Barkley, taking down Hurts at the Eagles’ 14, forcing a second-and-16. It ignited the Eagles’ second-straight three-and-out in the second half. The Eagles had only 12 yards of offense over their first two drives in the second half.
Cooper DeJean beaten badly by rookie Antonio Williams on an inside move for a 16-yard reception on a second-and-10 with 1:56 left in the first half. DeJean overplayed Williams, who stopped and shrugged off DeJean, cutting to the middle where Daniels hit him in stride at the Eagles’ one. It led to Washington’s first touchdown on Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s one-yard score, bulling over Eagles’ defensive tackle Moro Ojomo. DeJean was later called for illegal contact down field in the third quarter. DeJean was later roasted again when Diggs cut inside and Daniels hit him for a 10-yard touchdown pass. DeJean was not within five yards of Diggs when Daniels found him open down the middle. This game may have been DeJean’s worst as a pro.
The Eagles first two offensive drives. They amounted to 12 yards over 10 plays, averaging 1.2 yards a play. The 2026 “healthy” Eagles’ offensive line looked an awful lot like the limping 2025 Eagles’ offensive line, allowing a sack for minus-9 yards, rushing for 11 yards on four plays, averaging 2.8 yards a carry. Yes, Hurts was under center. Yes, Hurts even completed a pass down the middle of the field. Over the first two drives, it was the same result as the inept offense under Kevin Patullo.
Center Cam Jurgens getting nailed for two holding calls, one on the Eagles’ second drive, leading to a four-play drive for minus-11 yards, the other during a critical first-and-goal at the Washington six after Hurts’ 64-yard completion to Wicks. Jurgens, and the Eagles, were fortunate, because three plays later, Hurts hit Goedert for the Eagles’ first touchdown of the season.
Daniels completing a 13-yard pass to Stefon Diggs on a third-and-10 on the Commanders’ first drive, which led to a 3-0 Washington lead.
