PHILADELPHIA – Zack Baun laid down the law to Jayden Daniels on a key fourth-down stop and Saquon Barkley proved to be the hammer on the upstart Washington Commanders’ hopes with two rushing touchdowns over 20 seconds of game time to lift the Eagles over the Washington Commanders 26-18.
Philadelphia moved to 8-2 on the season with its sixth consecutive win and created some space from the second-place Commanders, who dropped their second consecutive game to fall back to 7-4.
Here’s the weekly stock market from the standalone prime time kickoff to Week 11 in the NFL:
THE BULLS
SAQUON – Saquon Barkley had 20 carries for 69 yards with a long run on nine yards through three quarters. The Eagles were trailing 10-6.
By the time it was over, the Eagles’ superstar had carried it 26 times for 146 yards with touchdowns of 23 and 39 yards over 20 seconds to put the punctuation of a brilliant fourth-quarter performance.
It was a breathtaking example of how Barkley wears down a defense with the Commanders essentially tapping out and figuratively crying No Mas.
THIRD-DOWN DEFENSE – The entire defense could be lauded other than a first-half drive in which Baun had an uncharacteristic tackling hiccup.
The most impressive part of a group that hasn’t allowed more than 280 total yards during its 6-0 run was third downs where the Eagles’ defense was lights out turning Jayden Daniels from rookie superstar to freshman novice.
Washington started 1-for-9 on football’s most important down until concerting a couple of opportunities in garbage time with the score 26-10.
BAUN’S BIG HIT – The play of the game came with Washington down 12-10 and facing a 4th-and-2 from the Eagles’ 26-yard line with 8:01 left in the game. Daniels bobbled the snap but recovered and seemed to still have the angle to convert when Baun raced over to stop the QB in his tracks.
“Let’s start off with the biggest play. Obviously to go for it, 4th-and-2 at the 26 – bold call. But, I would also say we were prepared for that moment,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said. “Didn’t love the execution, but we’ve been an excellent fourth down team. So going into it, we knew we would have to take our shots against a tough division team on the road.
“We thought that was an appropriate one..”
GRANT’S HELPING HAND – Two plays after Baun stopped Daniels, Jalen Hurts found a wide-open Dallas Goedert for a 32-yard gash play but Goedert was loose with the football and fumbled in the open field. Typically in that situation, it’s all defenders circling for the football but Calcaterra was Johnny on the spot and jumped on it.
Three plays later Barkley ran it in from 23 yards out and Washington was cooked while facing a two-score deficit.
THE BEARS
FALSE START – Slow starts have been a theme for the Eagles and that continued on Thursday night. Philadelphia started well with two first downs before a Mekhi Becton holding call derailed the drive and Jake Elliott ended up missing a 44-yard field goal.
The Commanders came in No. 2 in the NFL, averaging 16.2 points per game in the first half and the Eagles were No. 18 at 10.6. Both were down from that with the Commanders leading 7-3 at intermission.
Philadelphia persevered but the slow starts have generally remained a season-long problem.
JAKE THE MAKE? – It wasn’t Jake Elliott’s night. The typically reliable Elliott missed three kicks, two field goals, and a PAT. After a season in which he missed only two field goals, Elliott got that in the first half tonight and he’s now 0-for-4 on 50-plus attempts this season.
“It’s frustrating. Adjectives are kind of almost pathetic, uncharacteristic,” Elliott said. “It was a tough night. I felt pretty good hitting the ball, which I think is the most frustrating part … Even the couple that didn’t go in, I felt pretty good about. I’ll watch the tape, figure it out, try to bounce back.”
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