Eagles-Commanders: Birds lose to Washington after Jalen Hurts leaves game with injury

The Eagles’ playoff math was pretty straightforward heading into Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders (10-5) — a win and the Birds would’ve clinched both the NFC East and the NFC’s No. 2 playoff seed.

That didn’t happen.

The Eagles (12-3) can still clinch the NFC East with a win next week against the Dallas Cowboys (6-8), but the loss puts them one game behind the Detroit Lions (13-2), who easily defeated the Chicago Bears (4-11) Sunday at Soldier Field.

alen Hurts left the game with a concussion. His replacement, Kenny Pickett, threw a touchdown and an interception. Saquon Barkley topped 100 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns.

Eagles players had to be separated from their Washington Commanders counterparts multiple times by the game’s officials.

All of that happened in one quarter of football.

At the end of the third quarter, Jayden Daniels used his legs to thrust the Commanders into the red zone.

The quarterback scrambled for 30 yards on fourth-and-11 from the Eagles’ 41-yard line, forcing a couple of missed tackles on his path. The Eagles enter the fourth quarter leading, 27-14.

Before the Commanders possession, the Eagles ate up the clock on a drive that began thanks to a Zack Baun forced fumble and a Nolan Smith fumble recovery. Their 14-play, 36 yard drive took eight minutes, and 13 seconds off the clock.

Well, that was an eventful 30 minutes of football.It took 1 hour, 40 minutes, but the Eagles lead the Commanders, 21-14, at halftime.

A lot has happened. Jalen Hurts left the game with a concussion in the first quarter. Kenny Pickett has a touchdown and an interception. Saquon Barkley is already over 100 yards and has two touchdowns.

Hurts isn't the only Eagles player injured, either. Edge rusher Josh Sweat is questionable to return to the game with an ankle injury. Jordan Davis has left the game with an injury and has not yet returned. Running back and specialist Will Shipley is also out of the game with a concussion.

Jalen Hurts will not return to Sunday's Eagles-Commanders game due to a concussion.

Hurts left the game after appearing to hit his head on the ground after scrambling five minutes into the first quarter.

Kenny Pickett is in the game for the Eagles. The backup has already thrown a touchdown and an interception as part of the Eagles-21-7 first-half lead over the Commanders.

The MVP chants are loud at Northwest Stadium from the Eagles contingent here in Landover.

Saquon Barkley's 68-yard touchdown run has bumped the Eagles' lead back to two scores, 21-7.

The Eagles needed just two plays to answer Washington's score with a touchdown of their own.

A Kenny Pickett interception gave the Commanders a short field, and Washington took advantage.

A Jayden Daniels pass to Jamison Crowder finished off a four-play, 25-yard drive to cut the Eagles' lead to 14-7. Cornerback Cooper DeJean was in coverage on Crowder, but appeared to pass him off to C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

The Eagles helped the Commanders down the field with a pair of penalties.

The Eagles added to their lead, but Jalen Hurts was taken off the field and went to the locker room after Kenny Pickett hit A.J. Brown for a four-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead over Washington.

Hurts was removed from the game after appearing to hit his head on the field following a designed quarterback run. He went into the medical tent and then came out. It looked like he wanted to come back into the game before the Eagles' third-down play but he did not.

After the score, Hurts trotted off the field and into the locker room.

A fourth-down stop near midfield gave the Eagles a short field, and they used it to take an early lead at Northwest Stadium.

An eight-play, 49-yard drive was capped off by a two-yard Saquon Barkley rushing touchdown.

Barkley rushed for times for 37 yards on the Eagles' first series. He needs to average 139 yards over the final three games to beat Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record.

Eagles fans listening to Sunday’s Commanders game on the radio won’t hear Howard Eskin's voice during the broadcast.

Eskin, 94.1 WIP’s longtime sideline reporter, announced his abrupt departure from the station on Friday. Eskin simply said he was “moving on” after 38 years, but didn’t give any further explanation for his sudden exit.

Instead of replacing Eskin, WIP decided to go without a sideline reporter during Sunday's broadcast of Eagles-Commanders, which features longtime announcers Merrill Reese and Mike Quick.

Vic Fangio’s film review sessions often feature a mixture of dry humor, exacting detail, and the occasional imitation of his players’ signature celebrations.

During Monday film sessions with the entire defense, Fangio often highlights mistakes by drawing a frowning face or writing “blind” next to a player’s misdiagnosis. At the same time, he also mimics Josh Sweat’s trademark sack celebration and the team-wide gesture initiated by Cooper DeJean last month to celebrate big plays.

“When he sees we made a big hit on film, he’ll do it,” Eagles linebacker Zack Baun said. “He’s doing all the celebrations. ... He’s a tough egg to crack, but once you crack the shell, you see he likes to have fun.”

A.J. Brown didn’t want to go into much detail regarding the knee injury that likely happened during practice and popped up on Thursday’s Eagles injury report and made him a limited participant Thursday and Friday.

He did, however, leave no doubt about his status for Sunday: “I’m playing,” he said.

The Eagles will face Washington for their final road game on Sunday with a chance to wrap up the NFC East. It comes a week after the passing attack got back in rhythm during a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and five weeks after the Eagles used a fourth-quarter Saquon Barkley surge to beat a Commanders team they’re trying to topple again on Sunday.

After an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Eagles turn their attention back to their own division as they prepare to take on the Washington Commanders and look to extend their 10-game win streak.

In their last meeting, the teams were battling for first place in the NFC East. Now, after the Commanders fell behind in the division race, the stakes are different. With an Eagles win, the Birds would clinch the NFC East. With a Commanders win — and some help from around the league — Washington could clinch a playoff berth, the team’s first since 2020 — and stay alive in the division race.

The Birds are currently 3.5-point favorites over the Commanders. Washington is coming off their ninth win of the season after squeaking out a victory over the New Orleans Saints. Will nine-time Rookie of the Week Jayden Daniels lead his team to a win at home? Or will the Eagles’ franchise-record winning streak continue?

The Philadelphia Eagles (12-2) face the Washington Commanders (9-5) Sunday afternoon at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.

The game will air on Fox at 1 p.m. and is one of the network's marquee matchup for the early window.

Joe Davis and Greg Olsen will be in the booth for Fox, with Pam Oliver also joining in from the sidelines.

The Eagles’ playoff math is pretty straightforward heading into Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders (9-5) — a win and the Birds clinch both the NFC East and the NFC’s No. 2 playoff seed.

It’s the No. 1 playoff seed where things remain tricky.

The Eagles (12-2) enter Week 16 in a three-way tie with the Detroit Lions (12-2) and Minnesota Vikings (12-2), but both would likely win tiebreakers against the Birds if they end the season with the same record — the Lions would have a better conference record, while the Vikings would likely edge out Philly with a better strength of victory.