In 2014, the Washington Redskins ended the Eagles season in Week 16. The narrative was the same in 2015, as DeSean Jackson’s Redskins marched into Lincoln Financial Field and tore apart Billy Davis’ defensive scheme, while taking advantage of the usual dropped balls by Eagles' receivers.
The end result was a 38-24 loss to Washington on Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
There was promise in the air early on as the Eagles marched downfield on six plays, capping an 80-yard drive with a Ryan Mathews one-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
The Eagles defense forced the Redskins to punt after a three-and-out on their first drive of the game. On the second Redskins possession, however, Kirk Cousins delivered a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Reed to cut the lead to 7-6 as kicker Dustin Hopkins missed the extra point.
The Eagles stalled offensively on their next possession allowing Washington to get the ball back and capitalize on their third possession of the game as Reed crowned a Redskin drive with a 12-yard reception, making it 13-7.
The score remained the same into the second quarter, where the Eagles sputtered once again as Sam Bradford over fired a sure touchdown pass to Zach Ertz down the left sideline. Philadelphia was forced to punt once again.
On the ensuing Eagles’ drive, Nelson Agholor dropped a sure touchdown pass from Bradford and the Eagles settled for a 34-yard Caleb Sturgis field goal making the score 13-10.
The Eagles defense held the Redskins on offense and Washington punted away after a three and out. The Eagles had solid field position and took over at their own 39, but the drive ended as Ertz fumbled the ball enabling the Redskins to take over in Philadelphia territory. Washington settled for a 28-yard field goal, increasing their lead to 16-10.
After the Eagles punted on the ensuing drive, the Redskins marched down the field and were set up for a chip shot field with six seconds remaining, however out of a timeout, Cousins took a knee with no timeouts remaining for Washington leaving everyone, including his head coach Jay Gruden, puzzled. The Redskins came away with no points. 16-10 was the score at halftime.
In the second half, the Redskins were forced to punt on their opening possession. The Eagles however went three and out on their drive and were forced to punt yet again. The Redskins capitalized after getting good field position and capped an 11-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Thompson to extend the lead to 13.
The Eagles wasted little time on the ensuing drive as they answered with a touchdown of their own as DeMarco Murray rushed up the middle for four yards to cap a six-play, 52-yard drive in only 2:11 to cut the lead back to six.
After Washington was forced to punt the Eagles tried to establish a drive to tie the game. But Murray fumbled a pitch pass from Bradford and the ball was recovered and returned 17 yards for a touchdown by DeAngelo Hall. The Redskins increased their lead to 30-17 and left a finally energized crowd stunned.
The Eagles weren’t able to get anything going offensively and watched the Redskins eat up the clock in the fourth quarter as Pierre Garcon capped a 7:51 drive with a 13-yard reception to make it 38-17 after a two-point conversion.
Jordan Matthews recorded an eight-yard touchdown reception late in the fourth from Bradford to cap the scoring.
The Redskins won to clinch the NFC East and improve their record to 8-7. The Eagles were officially eliminated from playoff contention as they fell to 6-9. The Eagles will face the New York Giants next Sunday at the Meadowlands at 1 p.m. to close the season.
Pete Innaurato is a contributing writer for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @PInnaurato.
