One would only be able to tell they were at the Washington Commanders home stadium this Sunday, Sept. 25 by the red and yellow painted field and the red seats, as a majority of those seats were filled with Philadelphia Eagles fans dressed in green.
About a two and a half hour journey from Philadelphia, the notoriously committed Eagles fans made the trip to FedEx Field primarily to ridicule Carson Wentz, former Eagles quarterback and current Commanders quarterback.
The Commanders started the game with the ball, with Wentz receiving a warm welcome of “boos” from the huge turnout of Eagles fans. The stadium erupted in cheers when, on their first 3rd down attempt, Wentz was sacked by defensive ends Josh Sweat and Fletcher Cox.
Overall, the game started very defensively, with both teams getting shut down before making it past half field. The Commanders were the first to break this pattern on their third drive, making it to their own 42-yard line before Wentz was sacked again, which forced them to punt the ball.
With 1:20 left in the first quarter, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a 45-yard deep pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith, making the Eagles the first to reach the red zone. Despite making it to the red zone, the Commanders' defense was able to hold the Eagles back and force them to kick a field goal, making the score 3-0, Eagles. By the end of the first quarter, Wentz had been sacked by the Eagles' defense a total of four times.
The start of the second quarter did not bear any better news for the Commanders, with Wentz getting sacked by defensive end Brandon Graham, forcing him to fumble the ball which was recovered by Eagles nose tackle Javon Hargrave.
Hurts, now in a good position at the 24-yard line, threw the ball to tight end Dallas Goedert, who ran the ball into the end zone. After the extra point, the score with 13:18 left in the second quarter was 10-0, Eagles.
A few drives later, Wentz is sacked again by outside linebacker Haason Reddick and fumbles the ball but recovers it himself. Despite recovering the fumble, the Commanders are stopped at 3rd down and forced to punt the ball away yet again. On the returning drive, Hurts made a short pass to Smith who gained 31 yards, putting the Eagles in the red zone yet again. With 8 yards to the goal, Hurts passed to wide receiver A.J. Brown, who ran it into the end zone for their second touchdown. After a successful extra point, the Eagles upped their lead to 17-0.
After another drive by the Commanders was shut down by the Eagles' defense, Hurts threw a 44-yard pass to Smith into the red zone. Both teams were charged timeouts due to injured players; the Eagles were left with no timeouts and 20 seconds left in the first half. On 4th and goal Hurts threw a short pass to Smith in the end zone and, with the extra point, made the score 24-0 at the half.
The second half started as defensive as the first with both teams being forced to punt the ball on 4th down in the starting five drives. The Commanders finally get their break with Wentz throwing a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Terry McLaurin, getting them to the 28-yard line. The Eagles' defense seemingly stops the Commanders there, but a last minute foul for unnecessary roughness against the Eagles' defense puts the Commanders into the red zone for the first time all game.
After a 13-yard run by Wentz, the fourth quarter was seemingly looking up for the Commanders, putting them just one yard short of the end zone on 4th down. The Eagles' defense managed to keep tight end Logan Thomas out of the end zone, keeping the score 24-0 and giving the Eagles the ball at their own 1-yard line. The Commanders were not willing to give up any amount of points, and Eagles running back Boston Scott was tackled in the end zone by defensive tackle Daron Payne, making the score 24-2.
After another failed drive by the Eagles, the Commanders got the ball again with five minutes left to make any last-ditch efforts. Though Wentz was sacked again, he was able to make a series of passes to McLaurin and wide receiver Dax Milne in order to make it back to the red zone. After the two-minute warning, running back Antonio Gibson was able to secure the first Commanders touchdown of the game. With no hope to win the game, the Commanders tried to secure a 2-point conversion, but Wentz’s pass to running back J.D. McKissic fell incomplete. The Eagles got the ball back and ran the clock, ending the game with a final score 24-8.
Commanders fans began clearing out of the stadium with five minutes left in the game, many missing the final touchdown by McKissic. By the end of the game, Wentz was sacked a total of 9 times by the Eagles' defense, the most by any team in one game so far this season.
The Washington Commanders look to break their two-game losing streak against another NFC East division rival, the Dallas Cowboys, on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. EST.
