And then there were none.
After the Philadelphia Eagles were defeated 32-21 by the Washington Commanders on Monday night, no undefeated teams remain in the NFL.
It was the first defeat of the season for the unusually sloppy Eagles as they slipped to 8-1 on an evening when they were continuously hampered by turnovers.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw an interception – as well as two touchdowns – and the Eagles lost three fumbles as Philly’s self-inflicted mistakes stunted potential scoring drives.
Afterwards, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said his team “played like crap.”
“I think when you play the way we did tonight, and you play the way we did on all three phases – offense, defense, special teams, coaching – when you play like that,” Sirianni said, “it does seem like everything’s going against you, you create your own luck, and we played like crap.”
And it all came after such a strong start.
The Eagles twice led by a touchdown during the first half, but – thanks to Hurts’ interception and the gumption of the Commanders’ offense – Washington held a 20-14 lead at halftime.
Both of the Commanders’ running backs – Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson – had first half touchdowns as a widely expected Eagles victory turned sour.
The second half was one of frustration for Philly as they attempted to claw their way back into the game.
Despite reducing Washington’s lead to just two early in the fourth quarter with an 11-yard touchdown toss to DeVonta Smith, Hurts and the Eagles were never able to produce consistent offense.
Having been provided plenty of opportunities – Washington were only able to muster two field goals, two punts and an interception in their five second-half drives – the Eagles looked out of sorts themselves and never capitalized.
And, on the final play of the game needing a miracle touchdown to rescue a victory from the jaws of defeat, the Washington defense was able to recover a fumble from Smith after a failed lateral for a touchdown which put some gloss on an impressive victory for the now 5-5 Commanders.
Wide receiver Terry McLaurin was the star of the evening for the Commanders, as he finished with eight receptions for 128 yards.
Although Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke didn’t dazzle in the start – he finished with 211 passing yards, no touchdowns and an interception – the win continues his run of plucky results as he stands in for starter Carson Wentz.
Although Wentz was ruled out of a start against his former team due to a finger injury, Heinicke wasn’t sure if his performances in Wentz’s absence were enough to earn himself the starting job when he does return.
“I don’t know,” Heinicke told the media. “There’s a lot of mistakes I’ve made throughout the games, but again, it’s one thing where if my number’s called and I have to play, let’s go out there and play, and I’m going to try to do the best of my abilities, so we’ll see what happens.”