The Philadelphia Eagles scored 20 points in the fourth quarter as they stretched their lead in the NFC East with a 26-18 win on Thursday night over Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 146 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns while quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for the go-ahead score after being evaluated for a concussion as the Eagles (8-2) won their sixth straight since their bye week.
Hurts’ head was spiked into the turf by linebacker Frankie Luvu in the second quarter, and the $255 million quarterback’s head bounced off the ground. Hurts rolled over, face down, and grabbed his helmet. He was examined in the sideline medical tent but stayed in the game, finishing with 221 yards.
With the Eagles leading 12-10 in the fourth quarter, Washington were in range for a go-ahead field goal and coach Dan Quinn elected to go for it on fourth down. Daniels scrambled and was stopped for no gain, and less than three minutes later, Barkley scored on a 23-yard run.
“It was a bold call,” Quinn said. “I’d also say we were prepared for that moment. I didn’t love the execution. But we’ve been an excellent fourth-down team.
“Going into it, we knew we’d have to take our shots against a tough division team on the road. We didn’t like the execution or the result. But we were prepared for that.
“To be the heavy hitters that we want to be, you’ve got to be able to close. How do you learn the lesson to close? That’s what we’re going to become. You knew this adversity was coming. It just does.”
After three quarters of uninspired offense by the Eagles, Barkley and Hurts led them to victory, pleasing coach Nick Sirianni.
He said: “What we talked about at halftime was this was going to be a grimy, gritty game.
“You can’t be great without the greatness of others. Saquon was great tonight but the offensive line was really good.”
