Even after losing star quarterback Jalen Hurts to a concussion in the first quarter, the Philadelphia Eagles had Sunday’s huge NFC East matchup against the Washington Commanders playing out on their terms.
Suddenly pressed into action off the bench mid-drive, QB Kenny Pickett hit wide receiver A.J. Brown for a 4-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up 14-0.
As you might expect with Pickett under center, it wasn’t exactly smooth-sailing for Philly from there.
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Star rookie QB Jayden Daniels rallied the Commanders back from a pair of deficits in the fourth quarter, the dagger coming on a nine-play, 57-yard touchdown drive in the final minute that netted Washington an improbable, 36-33 win at Northwest Stadium.
Washington finished the game with five turnovers, but it didn’t matter. Daniels shredded Philly’s NFL-leading defense with five TD passes to steal a win that stopped the Eagles from clinching the NFC East title.
Philly likely lost more than that, as at 12-3, its chances for the NFC’s No. 1 overall playoff seed and first-round bye took a major blow. Elsewhere on Sunday, Detroit took care of business at Chicago, improving to 13-2 atop the conference standings. The Lions already owned a tiebreaker over Philly thanks to its 9-1 record against conference opponents. That means Detroit is effectively 1.5 games ahead of the Eagles with two games remaining in the season.
The Eagles will now need wins over both the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and the New York Giants in Week 18, and a bunch of outside help, to unseat Detroit for the top seed. Both of those division games will be played at the Linc in Philadelphia.
Detroit closes with a road game at San Francisco in Week 17 before wrapping up at home with a Week 18 showdown against Minnesota. The Lions, Eagles and Vikings all entered Week 16 with 12-2 records.
As for the NFC East race, the Commanders stayed alive, but barely. They remain two games behind Philly, so they’ll need to both win out and have the Eagles lose to the Cowboys and Giants to claim a tiebreaker based on record vs. division opponents. Washington closes at Miami in Week 17 and at home against New England in Week 18.
