That certainly wasn’t as easy as it should have been — but getting to the playoffs shouldn’t be easy.
And now, the Eagles are on the verge of going to the postseason.
The Eagles beat Washington on Sunday 20-16, an ugly win, but a win that moved them to 9-7 and almost certainly going to the playoffs.
Now, all the Eagles need is a loss by Minnesota on Sunday night, combined with either a San Francisco or Carolina win, and they are in.
The Eagles defense certainly struggled to start, giving up 16 points to Washington in the first half and not forcing a punt on any of the four Washington possessions. His unit looked outreached by the Washington offensive coaching staff, with receivers wide open repeatedly. To their credit, however, they didn’t allow a single point in the second half and came up with a game-sealing interception in the end zone with just 30 seconds to play.
There will be plenty to talk about from this one, but for now, here is a report card for Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni:
Jalen Hurts: The Eagles needed Jalen Hurts to be special on Sunday.
He delivered — especially on big downs.
Hurts showed what makes him such a special quarterback prospect on a critical 3rd down with just over three minutes to play in the 2nd quarter. Facing 3rd-and-8, Hurts dropped back and read the field, but left the pocket once he saw it was man coverage and gained 22 yards up the middle. Making the play even better was Hurts slid at the end of the run, avoiding contact.
Hurts made multiple big plays on the third down on the Eagles’ opening drive of the second half.
On 3rd-and-4 on the first drive of the 3rd quarter Hurts hit Goedert for 13 yards, moving the Eagles down to the Washington 27. Then, on 3rd-and-14 , he scrambled around and avoided multiple defenders to find Greg Ward for a 27-yard completion. The throw and ability to make people miss made it one of Hurts best plays of the season. Hurts capped the drive off with one more special play when on 4th-and-Goal he was tripped after the snap, but kept his composure and flipped the ball back to Boston Scott, who ran it in for a touchdown.
In addition to making big plays on big downs, Hurts looked as good as he has at any point this season throwing the ball. So much so Sirianni probably didn’t pass it enough.
Hurts started off the game strong, completing his first 7 passes for 103 yards, and 9 of his first 11 passes overall. Hurts made smart decisions with the ball while also showing off his arm strength, making a number of quick, impressive throws to the sidelines into small windows. One of his better throws came in the fourth quarter when he threw it across his body while being pulled down to Goedert for a 13-yard gain. The gain proved to be huge as the Eagles eventually kicked a 42-yard field goal to take a 17-16 lead.
All season there has been discussion about whether Hurts would be able to throw the team to a win on a day where they couldn’t run the ball.
On Sunday, the running game was not dominant. It did not carry the offense.
Hurts did — and the Eagles might be going to the playoffs because of it.
Grade: A
Nick Sirianni: Sirianni has to figure out a way to get his team to get off to better starts, something that has started to plague the team the last few weeks.
The Eagles fell behind 10-0 on Sunday, the third-straight game they have played poorly to start the game. They were able to rebound and win, but in the playoffs they likely won’t be able to recover from a double-digit deficit.
Sirianni made a number of interesting decisions on fourth down against Washington.
Sirianni went for it on first drive of the game on 4th-and-2 at the Washington 24-yard line. The play was a run right up the middle and it was stopped short, giving Washington back the ball. It wasn’t a terrible decision to go for it in that situation, but considering Washington had all the momentum coming off of an opening-drive touchdown, getting points seemed important.
Sirianni was presented with another tough decision on the second drive of the game with the Eagles facing 4th-and-Goal on the two-yard line. Sirianni once again went for it, and this time the Eagles converted on a Boston Scott run, cutting the Washington lead to 10-7. The decision was a risky one considering how the game was going, but credit to Sirianni for making it.
Sirianni made another gutsy 4th down call in the fourth quarter, with his team up 17-16, just under six minutes to play in the game and the ball on the Washington 43-yard line. While going for it was probably the easy call, Sirianni did risk giving the ball back to Washington only a few first downs from being in field goal range. Sirianni put faith in his offensive line and went for it, with the offense converting it easily.
Sirianni probably got a little too run happy, as the running game was not nearly as productive as the pass game on Sunday. A good example is a red zone series in the third quarter, when Sirianni called four-straight running plays. It is understandable why he would stick with the run. It is what has been working and they did ultimately get in the end zone. It seemed obvious, however, that good things were happening with the ball in Hurts’ hands.
Sirianni certainly holds some blame for the defense, since he is the head coach. So it is hard to be too impressed with the job Sirianni did on Sunday. The offense scoring 20 points also isn’t ideal.
Winning a divisional game on the road is not easy. Especially with the playoffs on the line.
Sirianni’s team didn’t bring his best — and they still won. That is the sign of a good team with a good head coach.
Grade: C
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!