The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.
Philadelphia defeated the Washington Commanders 26-18 on Thursday night. The Eagles’ win increased their NFC East lead and improved their win streak to six in a row. They are currently 3-0 in the division after winning their third consecutive game against the Commanders.
The Commanders have now dropped two straight games but are still firmly in the NFC playoff hunt.
USA TODAY Sports examines the winners and losers from Thursday night’s NFC East battle:
Winners
Saquon Barkley, Eagles’ rushing attack
The Eagles have topped 100 rushing yards in every game this season. The trend continued in Week 11.
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Philadelphia’s rushing attack produced 228 yards and three touchdowns.
Barkley was Philadelphia’s best offensive player. His 23-yard touchdown run effectively put the game away in the fourth quarter. On the Eagles’ next series, Barkley found a hole up the middle and raced to a 39-yard touchdown that sealed the deal for good.
Barkley came into Week 11 ranking second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage and rushing yards. The Eagles star running back logged 198 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns Thursday night. He had 146 yards on the ground and now has six 100-plus yard rushing games this season.
Barkley crossed the 1,000-yard rushing mark in the win. He joins the Ravens’ Derrick Henry as the only running backs with over 1,000 rushing yards thus far this year.
Eagles’ defense
Philadelphia’s defense deserves a lot of credit for containing Washington’s offense. The Eagles’ defense allowed a touchdown in the first quarter and then kept Washington out of the end zone until the game’s final moments.
The Eagles’ pass rush and coverage in the secondary made Jayden Daniels uncomfortable.
Philadelphia gave up 264 yards versus the Commanders. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit entered Week 11 the top defense in the NFC, allowing 274 yards per game.
Eagles rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell aligned across from Terry McLaurin on 20 of 25 routes, per Next Gen Stats. He was not targeted in coverage against McLaurin.
Mitchell didn’t allow a reception all game. He deserves to be in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation.
Linebacker Zack Baun tallied a game-high 15 tackles.
Brotherly Shove/Tush Push
The Eagles ran a variation of the “Brotherly Shove,’ aka the “Tush Push,” in the game. They snapped the football in the formation, but Hurts pitched to Barkley for a first-down run.
Philadelphia dialed up the traditional version of the play in the fourth quarter and it resulted in Hurts’ 1-yard, go-ahead touchdown.
The different play out of the same formation might keep opposing defenses on their heels going forward.
Losers
Jayden Daniels, Commanders’ pass offense
Daniels is in the midst of the first losing streak of his NFL career.
Daniels and Washington’s pass offense never got into a rhythm Thursday night. The rookie quarterback threw an interception with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that sealed the Commanders’ fate.
Daniels finished with 191 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He had a 81.6 passer rating.
Commanders’ wide receivers
Daniels didn’t look comfortable, but Washington’s pass catchers didn’t help him, either.
The Commanders had two drops in the first half and their wide receivers were quiet the whole game — not a single Commanders wide receiver had more than one catch.
McLaurin had just one catch for 10 yards.
Running back Austin Ekeler and tight end Zach Ertz were the only Commanders with more than three catches. Ekeler had a team-high eight catches for 89 yards.
Jake Elliott
The Eagles kicker missed a 44-yard field goal wide left on Philly’s opening drive. Elliott followed up his opening miss by sailing a 51-yard field goal wide left in the second quarter.
Elliott also missed an extra point in the fourth quarter. He was erratic kicking the football.
The last kicker to miss two field goals and one extra point was Ove Johansson in Week 11 of the 1977 season, per NFL Research.
Cowboys, Giants
The Eagles and Commanders are the only two teams in the NFC East above .500. It’ll likely stay that way for the remainder of the regular season. Both teams are clearly better than the Cowboys (3-6) and the Giants (2-8). Dallas is 1-1 in the division, while New York is a disastrous 0-4.
