The Washington Commanders took the Philadelphia Eagles to the limit on Sunday but fell just short as Eagles kicker Jake Elliott hit a 54-yard field goal in overtime to keep Philadelphia undefeated.
Washington led at halftime, but the Eagles dominated the third quarter as quarterback Jalen Hurts picked on Commanders rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. Philadelphia wide receiver A.J. Brown caught nine passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, working against Forbes for much of the day.
The Eagles appeared to have scored the decisive touchdown with under two minutes remaining in the game when Hurts found Brown again, giving Philadelphia a 31-24 lead. However, Washington quarterback Sam Howell had 1:43 remaining to give the Commanders a chance to send it into overtime.
Howell delivered, completing six of nine passes before finding wide receiver Jahan Dotson with no time remaining for a touchdown. Head coach Ron Rivera had a decision to make: Go for the win or play for overtime. Rivera chose overtime, and Washington won the toss.
On third down, Howell lobbed a beautiful throw to McLaurin on the sideline that looked close to a catch, but officials ruled him out of bounds. The officials stuck with the call on the field, and the Commanders were forced to punt.
Punter Tress Way let loose his worst punt of the season, giving the Eagles the ball at their 41-yard line. A few plays later, Elliott would connect on the long field goal.
The Commanders fall to 2-2 on the season, but Howell bounced back in a big way after struggling so badly in last week’s loss to the Bills. He completed 29 of 41 passes for 290 yards with one touchdown. He took five sacks, but none were egregious where he held the ball too long.
Hurts completed 25 of 37 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns. The Commanders did a good job of not allowing Hurts to burn them on the ground outside of one play late.
Washington has a short turnaround as it hosts the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football this week.
