Week 1 Recap: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Football Team

Entering the day, the Eagles were banged up on offense, especially the offensive line. They were already down Brandon Brooks (torn Achilles) and Andre Dillard (torn biceps). Then, right tackle Lane Johnson (ankle) was ruled out just prior to the start of the game. Rookie Jack Driscoll started in his place. Driscoll ended up leaving the game as well and this very much hurt Carson Wentz and the Eagles. The Eagles were unable to pick up their seventh straight victory against Washington as the Football Team won 27-17 in a come-from-behind Week One victory.

Eagles Fly Early

Philadelphia started out the game clicking on all cylinders. After forcing a Washington three-and-out in the first possession of the game, they drove down the field and scored a touchdown as Wentz found tight end, Zach Ertz, in the end zone. Ertz finished with just three catches for 18 yards and that touchdown. After a 38-yard Jake Elliot field goal late in the first, Wentz found his other tight end, Dallas Goedert, for a 38-yard touchdown halfway through the second. This put the Eagles up 17-0 as they would not score another point. Goedert finished as the most productive pass-catcher for Philadelphia, as he had eight catches for 101 yards and the touchdown.

How The Turn Tables

Washington would then go on a 27-0 run which started with a Wentz interception in the second quarter. Washington picked Wentz off twice on the day. The first one came from Fabian Moreau and the second Jimmy Moreland. They would take advantage, with touchdowns following both interceptions. The first drive finished with a Dwayne Haskins six-yard touchdown pass to Logan Thomas. That was the only receiving touchdown the Football Team had, as the other two came via the ground game. Peyton Barber had both of them with rushes of one and three yards. The pressure on Wentz was huge for Washington as they got eight (EIGHT!) sacks on him and forced two fumbles (one recovered). Ryan Kerrigan got two of the sacks, and his second one made him the franchises’ all-time leader with his 92nd career sack. Chase Young got his first sack of his NFL career after leading the FBS with 16.5 sacks with Ohio State in 2019.

Highlights:

24 unanswered points.@WashingtonNFL has the lead on this Peyton Barber TD!

📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/DTlgEUZamw pic.twitter.com/82eXiAm6f4

— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2020

Peyton Barber giving Washington the lead on a three-yard rushing touchdown.

9⃣3⃣ with the SACK

📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX pic.twitter.com/Usedj9WmjO

— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) September 13, 2020

Jonathan Allen picks up the team’s fifth sack to push Philadelphia out of field goal range.

A thing of beauty.#PHIvsWAS | #FlyEaglesFly

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/J8XPBnjY5G

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 13, 2020

Wentz finds Goedert for a 34-yard touchdown to share the love to both of his tight ends.

Moving Foward

The Eagles continue to get banged up as has been the story for them over the last few years. In addition to the offensive line, Miles Sanders, Alshon Jeffery, Javon Hargrave, and Derek Barnett were out for the game. Brandon Graham (head) and Vinny Curry (hamstring) both suffered injuries that forced them from the game. All the injuries will continue to be evaluated and they will hopefully get healthier going into next week versus the Los Angeles Rams.

Healthy offensive line or not, Wentz is going to have to learn to know when a play is dead and throw it away. He could have avoided many of the eight sacks if he had felt the pocket collapsing and either escaped or thrown it away. He also can’t force the ball into a bad spot and try making something out of nothing.

Washington can definitely build off this one as they get the Ron Rivera-era off to a fiery start. The defensive line will be the leader for them this year as it was the sparkplug for the offense on Sunday.