The Washington Commanders fell to 7-4 on the season and remain in second place in the NFC East following a 26-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night to open up Week 11.
One of the pivotal moments in the losing effort by the Washington Commanders came with eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter with the Eagles up 12-10. It was at that juncture where the Commanders faced a fourth-and-2 situation at the Philadelphia 26-yard line. Instead of opting for the field goal to take the lead, head coach Dan Quinn left his offense on the field.
The fourth-down play was botched right from the snap as the ball was bobbled, with Jayden Daniels barely getting a grip on it before needing to roll out to his right. The rookie quarterback didn’t travel far, as he was rather swiftly taken down by the Eagles defense to turn the ball over on downs.
After that, the floodgates opened in favor of Philadelphia. The offense traveled 74 yards in five plays before Saquon Barkley ripped off a 23-yard touchdown to extend the lead. Following an interception by Daniels on the first snap of Washington’s next possession, Barkley again ripped off a large run, bursting 39 yards for his second score of the night, which also put the Commanders away.
When asked after the game why he elected to keep his offense on the field rather than take the lead at that juncture, Quinn admitted it was a “bold” decision, but illustrated that the team was prepared to take some shots on the critical down being on the road against a divisional opponent.
“Bold call, but I would also say we were prepared for that moment,” Quinn said. “Don’t love the execution, but we’ve been an excellent fourth-down team, so going into it, we knew we’d have to take our shots against a tough division team on the road. We thought that was an appropriate one. Certainly don’t like the execution and the result, but we were prepared for that and being bold in those moments, knowing that we’d have some fourth downs. That’s one we can fix.”
Wideout Terry McLaurin echoed that sentiment, telling reporters postgame, “We’ve been doing it all season. We’re aggressive.”
At 7-4, the Commanders are still in a strong position to make a playoff run and still in the thick of the NFC East race. While they’ve dropped the head-to-head matchup with Philly, they will see them again in Week 16. In the immediate, Washington will enter its mini-bye week and gear up for a Week 12 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys at home.
