Eagles hold off Redskins, open season 3-0

The highly-profiled Week 3 game between the Eagles and Redskins featured a little of everything. DeSean Jackson had his moment. The Eagles offense was back on point. And there was even a melee in the fourth quarter.

In between all of that, the Eagles erased another double-digit deficit and delivered a strong offensive performance in a 37-34 win over the Redskins at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

The Redskins opened the scoring, snapping a 14-game streak where the Eagles had held the opponent off the board in the first possession of the game. Darrel Young was on the receiving end of a four-yard touchdown from Kirk Cousins.

The Eagles evened the score seconds later as Chris Polk returned the kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown.

Washington retook the lead late in the first on a four-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Pierre Garcon.

Midway through the second quarter, Kai Forbath added a 49-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10.

With six minutes remaining in the half, Nick Foles connected with Jordan Matthews for an 11-yard touchdown. After another Forbath field goal from 44 yards, Foles and Matthews connected for another 11-yard touchdown to give the Eagles the lead at the half.

Cody Parkey made two field goals from 38 and 33 yards to open the scoring in the third. Washington would tie the game on one play with 2:04 remaining in the third, as Cousins found DeSean Jackson for 81 yards.

Midway through the fourth, the Eagles took the lead again. Following a near interception – replay revealed it was an incomplete pass – which also resulted in a hit on Foles that set off a brawl on the sidelines and led to the ejections of Chris Baker and Jason Peters, the Eagles drove down the field, complete with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Foles to Jeremy Maclin.

On the first play from scrimmage for the Redskins following the touchdown, Cousins pass was intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins. The ensuing drive resulted in a 51-yard field goal for Parkey.

The Redskins quickly drove down the field to score on a one-yard run by Roy Helu. They would also get the ball on the Eagles 41 following a punt from the Eagles, but couldn't make anything happen on the next four plays, turning the ball over on downs.

The Redskins finished with 511 total yards of offense including 427 passing yards by Cousins. Cousins completed 30 of 48 passes and added three touchdowns and one interception.

The Eagles did a nice job containing Alfred Morris, who had 77 yards rushing on 23 attempts. Garcon had 11 catches for 138 yards. Jackson had five catches for 117 yards.

Foles delivered his best game of the season, completing 28 of 42 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns.

The Eagles running game was held at bay, as LeSean McCoy was limited to 22 yards on 20 attempts and Darren Sproles had 20 yards on two rushing attempts.

It was a big day for wide receivers. Matthews and Maclin tied for the team lead with eight catches. Matthews had 59 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Maclins had 154 yards and the go-ahead touchdown.

The Eagles are the first team in NFL history to start a season 3-0 by winning three straight games where they trailed by at least 10 points. 

The Eagles head to San Francisco to face the 49ers in Week 4 next Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.