December 23, 2024
Peter Casey/Imagn Images
Kenny Pickett and the Eagles couldn't hold their lead over the Commanders on Sunday.
The Eagles wanted Sunday. They wanted the NFC East closed out.
They had it at points, too, even with Jalen Hurts lost to a concussion and C.J. Gardner-Johnson ejected down in Landover.
They just couldn't get that one last play to close the Commanders out.
Rookie QB Jayden Daniels led a fourth-quarter surge for Washington, somehow finding an out whenever the Eagles' defense had him cornered, while backup Kenny Pickett and the Philly offense, try as they might, couldn't swing just that one extra first down to burn the clock with what has long been a notorious signature. They fell a drop short of it.
The Eagles lost to the Commanders at the last second, 36-33, snapping their 10-game winning streak, dropping them to 12-3, and keeping the division title out of their reach for at least another week, while putting any hopes of keeping up with the Lions and Vikings in the race for the NFC's No. 1 seed to bed.
But they had a chance. As sloppy as they were on Sunday at Northwest Stadium, and as banged up and thrown off script as they were, the Eagles had a chance.
So from the perspective of the players postgame, the glass seemed much more half-full than it did half-empty.
"You lose all the time," defensive tackle Jalen Carter said. "The NFL, it's hard to win in. We got an L today. They played their ass off. They did what they needed to do to win, and what we gotta do is just move on to next week and focus on the Cowboys."
They'll be all right.
They do have the plays they want back of course, but they'll be all right.
Pickett, for sure, had his.
Needing to take over for Hurts for the bulk of the first quarter onward, the Eagles' QB2 went 14-for-24 passing for 143 yards, a touchdown that he connected right away on to A.J. Brown, and then a pick a series later when he went looking for Brown again.
Washington's defense stacked the box after Hurts's exit with the priority on trying to contain star running back Saquon Barkley, so that put the stress on Pickett needing to make throws along with quick decisions.
He had his good moments, and then his bad, including the three sacks on him that stunted the Eagles' offensive flow in the second half.
Pickett said during the game that there was a constant back and forth in between series with Brown and the Eagles' other top wideout DeVonta Smith. Part of it was thinking on the fly accounting for a different type of quarterback under center, Pickett explained afterward, and another was trying to catch up on details that were made seamless between the two receivers and Hurts that he never knew about.
The game was just different without Hurts, manageable for the majority still, but the Eagles just couldn't get that one last play.
"Missed some, always wish you had those back," Pickett said. "But I think if we learn from it as a team, we'll move on next week."
Smith had it on his fingertips though.
Washington receiver Jamison Crowder catches the winning touchdown at the last second on Sunday.
Reed Blankenship made a pivotal interception late, and with the Eagles up two, 30-28, Pickett and the offense's mission was to take their time pushing the ball forward, trying to drain out the last few minutes of clock while within Washington territory.
On a 3rd and 5 from the Commanders' 22, with 2:07 left, Smith broke on a slant that left him open over the middle of the field. Pickett put a pass right on his hands that nine times out of 10, Smith catches. But this time, it bounced right off and fell to the ground for a drop.
Had Smith gotten it, the Eagles would've had a fresh set of downs within the two-minute warning. That could've been game. Instead, they took the fourth-down field goal from Jake Elliott to go up five with a 1:58 remaining, forced to place the bet that their defense could come up with one more stop.
It couldn't.
DEVONTA SMITH OH NO pic.twitter.com/Zt05o9KafX
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 22, 2024
"I just dropped the ball," Smith said afterward, knowing exactly how it looked and shrugging it off. "I ain't gonna beat myself up over it. It's life, part of the game. I mean, s***, I made all the tough catches today and then the easy one I had, I dropped.
"It is what it is. Trust the game. Ain't nobody else's fault but mine."
He'll be all right.
And so will the Eagles, even for as sloppy as Sunday got.
Yeah, they lost, crushingly so, and had all their misses and could've been that could've played out just a bit differently, yet they still had a chance on Sunday in spite of all that, and they're still in a good spot. Granted, they're probably looking at no Hurts for at least a week if recent concussion protocol history can offer any insight.
But they're in the playoffs, and still need only a win to clinch the division. Their shot at the conference's top seed might be gone, but that might not be the worst scenario for them either. It could make their call to rest starters if they have the option to by the end that much clearer.
And they left Sunday knowing they can be better, that they need to be better, and with a pretty good history this season of responding.
"We look at this as an opportunity to get better from," head coach Nick Sirianni said at the press conference podium postgame. "We know we need to. We know we need to get better from the things we messed up today."
The Eagles will be all right.
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