BY DAN GELSTON
Updated 12:25 AM CST, November 15, 2024
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts rolled over, face down, and grabbed his helmet.
The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback’s head was spiked into the turf by Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu in the second quarter and bounced off the ground. Hurts was evaluated for a concussion — “I guess I beat the protocol,” he quipped — and stayed in the game.
Hurts ran for the go-ahead score, Saquon Barkley rushed for 146 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns, and the Eagles stretched their lead in the NFC East with a 26-18 win Thursday night over Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.
“Really,” coach Nick Sirianni said, “what we talked about at halftime was this was going to be a grimy, gritty game.”
After three quarters of uninspired offense by the Eagles, Barkley and Hurts led them to 20 points in the fourth.
The Eagles (8-2) won their sixth straight since their bye. Fans cheered when Hurts ran out of the tunnel for the second half, and he finished with 221 yards passing.
“When you see grass coming out of his helmet, yeah man, he got rocked a few times,” offensive lineman Lane Johnson said. “I thought he did a good job coming in the second half, and really putting it behind him.”
After the game, Hurts laughed when he failed to recall details of a specific play.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Probably not the right thing to say right now,” he said.
The Eagles’ defense pitched in with a decisive stop.
With the Eagles leading 12-10 in the fourth quarter, Washington was in range for a go-ahead field goal and coach Dan Quinn elected to go for it on fourth down. Daniels scrambled and was stopped for no gain, and less than three minutes later, Barkley scored on a 23-yard run.
“I trust my teammates. I trust the unit,” Daniels said of the fourth-down gamble. “I always trust the coaches. I never question them.”
Jake Elliott made the extra point to give the Eagles a two-score lead after missing his previous try — along with two of his four field goal attempts.
Daniels, who finished 22 of 32 for 191 yards and a late touchdown pass, was intercepted by safety Reed Blankenship on Washington’s next play. A dozen seconds later, Barkley finished off the Commanders (7-4) with a 39-yard touchdown run.
With 1,137 rushing yards through 10 games, Barkley moved ahead of Baltimore’s Derrick Henry for the NFL lead. Both veteran running backs were signed as free agents in the offseason.
“You can’t be great without the greatness of others,” Sirianni said. “Saquon was great tonight but the offensive line was really good.”
Washington entered with a chance to take over first place in the division but left with its second straight loss.
Elliott, who missed field goals of 44 and 51 yards, was wide left on the extra point after Hurts’ 1-yard tush-push touchdown in the fourth quarter. He made field goals of 21 and 31 yards.
Elliott holds the franchise record with seven field goals of 50 yards or more in a season but has missed all four attempts from 50-plus in 2024.
The matchup was hyped as the biggest game in this NFC East rivalry in nearly 30 years, but the first 30 minutes had all the excitement of a preseason game.
Hurts had an ineffective first half. He underthrew receivers — notably a pair of times to DeVonta Smith — and hung his head when a pass attempt with no nearby open receiver sailed out of bounds.
Washington’s Brian Robinson Jr. ripped off an 18-yard run to the 1-yard line and punched in a touchdown on the next play for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Zane Gonzalez kicked a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter for a 10-3 lead.
But Gonzalez, promoted off the practice squad with Austin Seibert dealing with a hip injury, didn’t get another opportunity late in the fourth. The Commanders were stopped on second- and third-and-1, and Daniels, the No. 2 overall draft pick, was stuffed on Philadelphia’s 26.
The Eagles took over and Hurts instantly connected with Dallas Goedert for a 31-yard gain. Goedert fumbled but the ball was scooped up by fellow tight end Grant Calcaterra.
Barkley scored three plays later.
Zach Ertz, who played for the Eagles from 2013-21, had a touchdown catch in the final minute and then got both feet down in the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion that got the Commanders within eight. Washington tried an onside kick but Philadelphia recovered.
“We’ll get there,” Quinn said. “But over the last two weeks, we weren’t able to demonstrate that and express that to the fullest level.”
