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Cliches tend to be cliches for a reason and another NFL one was battle-tested on Sunday in Philadelphia when the Washington Commanders gave the heavily-favored Philadelphia Eagles all they could handle before succumbing in overtime on a 54-yard field goal from Jake Elliott.
The Eagles improved to 4-0 with the 34-31 win and have started 4-0 for the second consecutive season and for just the seventh time in franchise history.
Here's what we noticed:
'YOU'VE THINK YOU GOT IT'
The Eagles went to Outkast's 'Hey Ya' after A.J. Brown's brilliant 59-yard catch and run put the Eagles on top for the first time with 7:11 left in the third quarter.
Whether by design or not, Andre 3000 belting out "you've think you got it" was a testament to the relentlessness of the Eagles. Washington was playing the kind of game it needed to in order to shock Philadelphia when lightning struck.
The Commanders didn't give up from there and tied the game on the final play of regulation plus the PAT but the margin for error is so small against the Eagles that it often wears on the opposition.
"It is a tough loss for us," Commanders quarterback Sam Howell said. "It was definitely a game I think we should have won and we were capable of winning but I am proud of the guys on how we fought until the end.
Moral victories seem to be a theme against this Eagles team, which is 21-1 over Jalen Hurts' last 22 starts.
CLUTCH PLAY
Hurts' play through the first four games continues to be pedestrian on the stat sheet but this was his best passing game by far after completing 25 of 37 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns to A.J. Brown, who finished six yards off his career-high with nine receptions for 175 yards.
Tight end Dallas Goedert continues to struggle to get involved, however,
The bigger picture with Hurts is that he's clutch, something head coach Nick Sirianni mentioned afterward.
"I thought he played clutch. Just clutch. I think that’s the best way to say it," said Sirianni. "Whether it was the overtime drive, whether it was the drive where we scored with about a minute plus left. We didn’t have a lot of possessions in the first half, and we needed that end-of-half drive to get going. Clutch. I think that is the best way to say it."
REED-ING OVERTIME
The Commanders won the toss and got the football first in overtime but second-year safety Reed Blankenship made sure Washington could do nothing with it.
After a run for no gain by Brian Robinson, the play-making safety raced up to halt Jahan Dotson on a crossing pattern after just five yards. On third down, Howell threw a dome to star receiver Terry McLaurin but Blankenship raced over to force "Scary Terry" out of bounds and force the punt.
: Terry McLaurin caught this ball in bounds. pic.twitter.com/74mwydDTas
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 1, 2023
NO. 4 FOR THE WIN
You can call kicker Elliott the Eagles' metronome.
The veteran finished the first half for the third consecutive week with a field goal to give the Eagles some momentum heading to the locker room and was four-for-four overall in the game, including the 54-yard game-winner in overtime. Elliott is now 13 of 14 on the season.
This was an eerie calm in Lincoln Financial Field when Elliott stepped up to win it.
"Man, Jake Elliott — I talked about Jalen being clutch, Jake Elliott is so clutch. I don’t watch field goals. I don’t know why. I don’t watch it.
"I look at Coach Clay [Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay], he points at me or gives me one of these [looks] if we miss. I was looking at him and he hit me with that [thumbs up]. And I don’t know if I was really even that surprised."
SACK SPECIALIST
Pick your poison.
If you were told that an Eagles player recorded three sacks, you might go with Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, or rookie Jalen Carter but Nicholas Morrow?
The veteran linebacker, who didn't even make the initial 53-man roster, matched his career high with 11 tackles and had a career-best three sacks, and a forced fumble becoming the first Eagles player ever to have 10-plus tackles, three sacks, and a forced fumble in a game.
That's no small sample size as the Eagles have been around since 1933.
Morrow, meanwhile, had played in over 3,600 NFL snaps coming in with four total sacks.
FLAG FEST
Ronald Torbert's crew has a reputation for throwing a flag or two and that held true on Sunday with 18 total penalties, 11 of which were on the Eagles.
The biggest issues were an offside call on Landon Dickerson that scuttled a potential conversion on a "Brotherly Shove" play into a punt and a taunting penalty on A.J. Brown after the receiver's fourth-quarter touchdown.
Brown took responsibility on the sideline and his miscue gave Washington good field position en route to tying things in regulation on the last play.
"We’re still putting it together," Brown said. "Nobody wants to be playing their best
ball right now. But we’re still striving every day to fix the little things and head in the right direction. These are moments that we’re learning from."
CAM'S FOOT
Starting right guard Cam Jurgens did not return to the game after halftime with a foot injury and was spotted leaving teh locker room in a walking boot. Sua Opeta finished up in the second half at right guard for the Eagles and played well.
More must-reads:
- Fantasy expert offers blunt take on Eagles RB Will Shipley
- ESPN analyst offers incredibly bold Jets prediction for 2024 season
- The 'Super Bowl starting QBs' quiz
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