Commanders Stun Eagles On Monday Night Football

The Philadelphia Eagles entered their Monday Night Football matchup against the Washington Commanders with a record of 8-0 and left the game 8-1. The Commanders stunned the Eagles on their home field in front of thousands of fans ready to witness their team plummet another division rival.

Instead, the Commanders spoiled the fun after bouncing back from some crucial mistakes that started with a bizarre set-up circumstance to begin the game.

Washington’s opening drive resulted in a Taylor Heinicke fumble that the Eagles converted into a touchdown. The Commanders responded with a one-yard rushing touchdown from Antonio Gibson.

A questionable 30-yard pass interference penalty on the Commanders defensive back, Benjamin St. Juste, set the Eagles up for another touchdown on the following possession.

After the back-and-forth in the first quarter, the Commanders began to pull away and gain control. They went into halftime leading 20-14.

A huge part of the Commanders game plan was to keep the ball out of Jalen Hurts’ hands, and for the most part that worked. The Commanders controlled the clock to the point that they kept the Eagles at bay until Hurts connected with DeVonta Smith for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 23-21.

The Commanders put a halt to the Eagles when St. Juste forced a fumble after a 50-yard catch by Eagles’ wide receiver Quez Watkins who fell down, got back up and tried to run. Darrick Forrest recovered the fumble that pretty much secured the win.

To add to the Eagles misfortune, with five seconds left on the clock, they completed a hook-and-lateral, which Smith attempted a second lateral, which was recovered for a touchdown by Casey Toohill.

The Commanders finished with a 32-21 victory, 330 total yards, four turnovers and 40:24 in time of possession compared to the Eagles 19:36.

After the game, Commanders coach Ron Rivera was overcome with emotion in the locker room, telling his team ‘my mother would have been proud’ and immediately walking out in tears. Rivera lost his mother Delores a couple of weeks ago.

“You can see how much that means to him,” Terry McLaurin said to his teammates after Rivera exited. “It means a lot to everybody in this locker room. We set the damn tone. We took it to them.”

The emotional win brings the Commanders record to 5-5. It also opens up questions surrounding the fate of Carson Wentz.

The team is 3-1 since Heinicke took over and with the momentum the Commanders are experiencing, it will be interesting to see if Rivera will interrupt the flow.

Carita Parks

Washington D.C.

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