Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke was 17 of 29 for 211 yards passing (with one interception), while Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson both rushed for touchdowns; watch Thursday Night Football - Titans @ Packers - live on Sky Sports NFL, 1.15am, Friday
Friday 18 November 2022 07:00, UK
Taylor Heinicke and the Washington Commanders handed the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season as they came away 32-21 winners on Monday Night Football in Philadelphia.
The Commanders (5-5) ran 81 plays and held the ball for more than 40 minutes of the 60-minute contest. The Eagles (8-1) turned the ball over four times, one more than than the three they'd managed through their first eight games total, bringing a stunning halt to their best start to a season in franchise history.
Heinicke was an efficient 17 of 29 for 211 yards passing (with one interception), while Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson both rushed for touchdowns and Joey Slye kicked four field goals.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had won a team-record 11-straight regular-season starts coming into the game, a span that included three wins against Washington - including in Week Three - this season. He passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another, but couldn't get his team over the line.
Hurts' 11-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith on the first play of the fourth quarter brought the Eagles to within two of their visitors, trailing 23-21 - but that would be as close as they'd come to a comeback victory.
After Washington's Jamin Davis forced and recovered a fumble by Dallas Goedert, getting away with a facemask grab on the play, a Slye 55-yard field goal made it 26-21 with seven and a half minutes left.
The Eagles' next drive also ended with a fumble by Quez Watkins after a 50-yard grab. Benjamin St-Juste jarred the ball loose and Darrick Forrest recovered for the Commanders.
Washington then forced a three-and-out on Philadelphia's next possession, before the Eagles got the ball back one last time at their own 10-yard line with five seconds remaining, but an attempt to advance the ball with laterals backfired as Casey Toohill recovered a fumble for a touchdown on the final play.
Earlier, Josh Sweat strip sacked Heinicke on the game's first possession and Hurts punched it in from the goal line to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.
Washington answered with a one-yard touchdown of their own from Gibson to tie things up, before Philadelphia again nudged ahead with a Hurts six-yard TD toss to Goedert late in the first quarter.
But Washington outscored Philly 13-0 in the second quarter - two Slye field goals, including a career-long 58-yarder, separated by a Robinson TD - to put them up at the half, and the Eagles failed to turn things round in the second half to see their unbeaten season go up in smoke.
The loss means that the 1972 Miami Dolphins maintain their record as the NFL's only team to secure a perfect season. The 2007 New England Patriots came close, going 18-0 before losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
Eagles
Commanders head coach, Ron Rivera: "I've always felt that we have got the kind of guys in that locker room that can do things, and we're starting to see it come together. But we've still got a ways to go, and we've still got a lot to learn."
Commanders quarterback, Taylor Heinicke: "It's probably the biggest win of my career. It's a division opponent, undefeated, at their place, Monday night. It can't get much better than that.
"Even just from last year, I feel a lot more comfortable out there. I just understand what I need to do and not to do in order to win games. To get a win like this, it's just a huge confident boost for the team."
Eagles head coach, Nick Sirianni: "I think when you play the way we did tonight, and you play the way we did on all three phases - offense, defense, special teams, coaching - it does seem like everything's going against you.
"You create your own luck, and we played like c**p. The [four] turnovers lost us the game, the time of possession lost us the game.
"We started 8-0 together, we lost this game together, and we'll move on together, and we'll get better from this."
Week 11 in the NFL kicks off with Thursday Night Football, as the Tennessee Titans (6-3) travel to the Green Bay Packers (4-6), who are still in 'must-win' mode despite ending their five-game losing streak with an impressive overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Watch live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 1.15am on Friday morning.
As for the Eagles, they travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts (4-5-1) next, while the Commanders are also on the road, at the Houston Texans (1-7-1) - both games to be played on Sunday, with kick-off at 6pm.
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