NFC East Week 8 Recap
Philadelphia Eagles 38, Washington Commanders 31
Photo Credit: The Inquirer
The Philadelphia Eagles will stay atop the NFC East after a thrilling 38-31 win over the Washington Commanders. This was the first road division game for the Eagles this season. A.J. Brown hauled in 8 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns. With this performance, A.J. Brown passes Calvin Johnson’s record for 125+ yards in consecutive games. Brown has been such a focal point week in and week out in the Eagles offense. He has consistently beat the double team and allows his quarterback to feel comfortable throwing the ball up to him.
Photo Credit: NBC Sports Philadelphia
For the Eagles, this game was expected to have this game put to bed by the start of the fourth quarter. Instead, they found themselves tied at 17. Then, the Eagles passing attack really took over and Hurts would hook up with DeVonta Smith for a long touchdown pass and then Julio Jones for his first touchdown reception this season, and finally D’Andre Swift ran in a 7-yard touchdown out of the “brotherly shove” formation.
The Eagles defense struggled as they were unable to register a single sack until the final minutes of the game. The defense has had issues against the Commanders this season as they have given up a total of 687 passing yards in two games against Washington. Washington’s offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been the Achilles heel for this Eagles team as he was the offensive coordinator last year with the Kansas City Chiefs and has figured out the formula to stop this Eagles pass defense.
Photo Credit: ESPN
“It’s been seven f*****g years of the same s**t” Jonathan Allen last week may have been talking about the disappointing 14-7 loss to the New York Giants. However, little did he know those words would have a double meaning after the Washington Commanders lost their 11th game against the Philadelphia Eagles in 14 games over the past seven seasons by a final of 38-31.
The Commanders yet again played the Eagles hard however, they gave the Eagles defense fits all game long. Sam Howell proved yet again that he can bounce back after a poor showing the week before. In two games against the Eagles Howell has had to shrug off a dismal performance the week before and have an exceptional one the following week. He had 290 passing yards in the week 5 loss to the Eagles with just one touchdown that came at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime where the Eagles would eventually win 34-31. This week he had 304 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes and his lone mistake came when he could not execute a fourth down play and was sacked.
The Commanders defense could not hold down the Eagles power offense long enough in this one as they gave up 28 points in the second half. The two takeaways inside the 10 were not enough to hurt the Eagles confidence as the offense moved confidently up and down the field on Washington. The Commanders inconsistent defense has shown itself throughout the season this is Ron Rivera’s forte if things don’t start to change soon Washington could be looking to make a change at the head coaching position at season’s end or before. The Commanders will look to jump back into the wild card race against the 2-6 New England Patriots in Massachusetts.
Dallas Cowboys 43, Los Angeles Rams 20
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
The most dominating win the Cowboys have had since week one against the New York Giants. If the Cowboys had not gotten over their embarrassing 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers with a 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers last week the 43-20 stomping against Los Angeles’s other team the Rams may have given them the confidence they needed. Dak Prescott got plenty of support from his defense as they accounted for 9 of the 43 points with an early pick-six in the first quarter by Da’Ron Bland which seemed to kill any kind of momentum that the Rams offense was trying to build. The Dallas defense would then register a safety one Rams possession later courtesy of Sean Williams. The Dallas defense was only able to muster one sack but the story of this game was how they were able to shut down Cooper Kupp and rookie sensation Puka Nacua combined for 64 receiving yards.
Photo Credit: Blogging the Boys
Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense had four touchdowns all passing and half of them were to Ceedee Lamb who put together a 12 catch 158-yard performance. Prescott threw for 304 passing yards and his lone blemish was a pick. The Cowboys will look to take on their rival the Philadelphia Eagles this upcoming weekend as they try and build their way back up into the NFC East division race.
New York Jets 13, New York Giants 10, Overtime
Photo Credit: Big Blue View
Like the weather, yesterday was an ugly loss to the New York Jets in the Big Apple rivalry game 13-10 in overtime. Tyrod Taylor was injured early on and taken to the hospital with a rib injury. Backup quarterback Tommy DeVito took the reins and led the Giants on a touchdown drive to give them a 10-7 lead which appeared to be the final score when the Jets took the ball with 24 seconds left. Somehow the Jets offense which had been lifeless throughout the game went down the field starting at their 25-yard line and tied it up with no seconds left in regulation. The Giants would start overtime with the ball and promptly go down the field but unfortunately could not convert a first down and would punt the ball to the Jets. Zach Wilson from the Giants 45 launched a ball down to the 15 and pass interference would be called and that would set up a chip shot field goal for Greg Zuerlein.
Fans have been frustrated with this Giants team throughout the season after a 9-7-1 playoff run and head coach Brian Daboll named coach of the year. This year things have taken a turn for the worse and could be looking at a “fire sale” at the trade deadline.
The defense for the Giants has been carrying this team throughout the past few weeks. By not turning the ball over and giving the opposition a short field the Giants have had a chance. The Giants will try to show some more life in a road game this upcoming week against the Las Vegas Raiders.
NFC East Standings:
Philadelphia Eagles (7-1)
Dallas Cowboys (5-2)
Washington Commanders (3-5)
New York Giants (2-6)
