The Washington Commanders take on the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night. After losing the corresponding game 24-8 in Week 3, the Commanders will want to square the season series.
Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio wants to stop the much-vaunted Eagles rushing attack on Monday as his unit did earlier in the year but knows it will be a difficult task.
"It's a big task," Del Rio said on Friday. "They've got a great big offensive line. I think they're very well-coached. They've got excellent backs, and then the quarterbacks a runner as well. It's a tough ground game to slow down. So, we just dig into the prep of what the things we've got to be able to get done and work at it and understand it's going to be a challenge."
The Commanders managed to keep the Eagles to just 72 yards last time while having 87 rushing yards themselves.
What perhaps got overlooked in the 24-8 loss is that the Commanders conceded all 24 in the second quarter. For the remaining three, Del Rio's defense held Jalen Hurts and the offense scoreless.
"The scary part is we actually played pretty good," Del Rio said. "They've got a really good team. They're rolling, they're red hot. We're gonna go in and compete."
Washington was half a quarter away from winning its fourth consecutive game last Sunday against the now 7-1 Minnesota Vikings.
Ron Rivera wanted to see if his team could 'compete' with the Vikings. They could, and they did. After being 10-points up in the fourth quarter, Washington couldn't hold on as the Vikings scored 13 points to win 20-17.
On Monday night, another opportunity comes the Commanders' way. They pushed Minnesota to breaking point; now can they back it up against the undefeated Eagles? Jack Del Rio and Ron Rivera hope so.
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