November 11, 2024
Tim Heitman/Imagn Images
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are returning home looking to make it six wins in a row.
No sooner after pummeling the Cowboys, the Eagles are turning their attention straight to the Commanders.
Week 11 is short. The Eagles will be right back in action Thursday night, right back home at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philly, with a clear hold over the NFC East on the line against what has been an upstart Washington team led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Sunday in Dallas was a huge win for the Birds – coupled with a Commanders loss earlier in the day that brought the two teams to even footing in the division race – but the schedule is leaving little time to savor it.
They have to keep moving.
"I'll watch the [Dallas tape] on the plane and meet with the coaches briefly on the plane and dive through and process it," quarterback Jalen Hurts said after Sunday's win of how quickly he is shifting focus to Washington. "As soon as we lay foot back in Philadelphia, it's over, we're moving on.
"Usually, you put a 24-hour rule on it – I do – but it's obviously something that would be lessened and brief. So we'll get going."
But on a run of five straight wins, the sportsbooks have set the Eagles with the edge (quicky) approaching Week 11. Here's a look:
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | PHI -3 | WSH +145 PHI -175 | 49 |
| FanDuel | PHI -3.5 | WSH +150 PHI -178 | 49.5 |
| BetRivers | PHI -3.5 | WSH +140 PHI -175 | 49 |
| BetMGM | PHI -3 | WSH +140 PHI -165 | 49.5 |
| bet365 | PHI -3.5 | WSH +150 PHI -180 | 49 |
Since returning from their bye week in early October, the Eagles have rallied themselves into one of the NFL's better teams, taking down the Browns, Giants, Bengals, and then Jaguars before dismantling the banged-up and fading Cowboys on Sunday.
Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, Cooper DeJean, and Quinyon Mitchell have become the focal points of a constricting defense now more defined by its linebackers and cornerbacks rather than its pass rush, and standing as a unit that just held Dallas to a minuscule 146 yards of total offense on Sunday.
Meanwhile, offensively, Saquon Barkley is making fools out of would-be tacklers left and right (exhibits A and B), A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are threats to shift a game at any minute as maybe the most formidable receiving duo in football, and Hurts has turned around into taking much better care of the football despite two turnovers setting him back for a bit on Sunday, all as the team rebounded from an uneven 2-2 start to a plus-72 point differential that is the fourth-best in the league as of Monday morning.
Washington, an organization trying to rebuild itself under Sixers owner Josh Harris, capitalized on some of its budding potential early, taking the NFC East lead through the season's first half with some promising play from Daniels under center, a bit of good fortune, and some divisional chaos out of the gate. But the Commanders have also been the beneficiaries of an easy schedule to this point, up until taking a losing effort against the AFC North-leading Steelers down to the wire on Sunday – a tough break for a short week coming up.
The Eagles, on the other hand, had their game wrapped up by the fourth quarter, getting the reserves in, the starters rested, and the ball rolling toward Thursday night back at home.
"Yeah, that's always big," head coach Nick Sirianni said postgame of getting his starters off the field with plenty of time. "Anytime we can do that – it's been three times in the past four weeks. We were able to do that against the Giants. We're able to do that against Cincinnati. That adds up. I mean, that's three quarters now, and we were able to do that tonight. So that adds up, and that's huge going into this game.
"We know we got a tough game coming up. We had fun in there for a little bit, but we know that we play on a short week against a really good opponent. We got to get our minds right and we have to get our bodies right."
MORE: Nobody's better than A.J. Brown, other Eagles thoughts
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
