Five Takeaways From Eagles Week 11 Win Over Commanders
It wasn’t pretty, but the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Washington Commanders 26-18 on Thursday Night Football in Week 11. The Eagles took hold of first place in the NFC East with a 3-0 division record and a 1.5-game lead over the second-place Commanders. The Eagles are 8-2 and extended their win streak to six games with seven left to play. Here are five takeaways from the Eagles big divisional win on a short week:
Saquon Barkley Started Slow But Finished Strong In Week 11
Saquon Barkley is on pace to have the best season of his career. The superstar running back was held in check by the Commanders’ defense through the first three quarters. Other than a 43-yard catch and run to set up a field goal midway through the third quarter, Barkley had 20 carries for 70 yards heading into the fourth quarter. He was averaging only 3.5 yards per carry.
There’s a reason football is played for four quarters. Barkley turned it up a notch and helped give the Eagles their first lead of the game in the fourth quarter which led to the win. The 27-year-old carried the ball six times for 76 yards, including 23-yard and 39-yard touchdown runs. He finished the game with 198 scrimmage yards on 28 touches.
Barkley surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the fourth time in his seven-year career. He passed Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry as the NFL’s leading rusher in 2024. Henry hasn’t played yet in Week 11, but both running backs each played 10 games this season. The Eagles already had their bye week while the Ravens haven’t yet. Barkley leads the league in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing yards per game, touches and scrimmage yards.
Quinyon Mitchell And The Defense Shined Again
Quinyon Mitchell has proven to be an elite cornerback in this league only 10 games into his professional career. He’s lined up against some of the game’s best wide receivers and has locked them all down. Commanders No. 1 receiver Terry McLaurin was lined up against Mitchell for most of the game in Week 11. He had just one catch for 10 yards on two targets. His lone reception came against rookie Cooper DeJean.
The Eagles’ defense is one of the top units in the NFL. Eagles fans would’ve called anyone crazy if they said that earlier in the season. Vic Fangio’s defense struggled through the first four weeks of the season, and the city was worried about what would come as the season progressed.
The defense held Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels to 191 yards on 22/32 passing. Daniels is a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year and has even been in MVP talks through the first half of his rookie season. The Eagles sacked him three times, Zack Baun stopped him short on a huge fourth-down attempt in the fourth quarter and Reed Blankenship intercepted him to set up a touchdown to give the Eagles a 16-point lead with under five minutes to play in the game.
The Commanders rushed for just 93 yards as a team on 28 attempts. The Eagles held them to only 3.3 yards per carry with the longest run being 18 yards.
Not only did Mitchell lock down McLaurin, but the entire secondary took the Commanders’ wide receivers out of the game. Their leading receiver was running back Austin Ekeler who had eight catches for 89 yards. Their second-leading receiver was tight end Zach Ertz who had six catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a two-point conversion to make it a 26-18 game late in the fourth quarter. Washington’s wide receivers combined for four catches for 28 yards on 10 targets.
Jake Elliott’s Missed Kicks Didn’t Hurt The Eagles In The End
Jake Elliott has been one of the best and most consistent kickers in the NFL since joining the Eagles in 2017. He struggled in Week 11.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone until the fourth quarter. The offense did make it into field goal range a few times before that. Elliott, the usually reliable kicker, missed two field goals and one extra point. All three misses were wide left. He missed a 44-yard field goal on the game’s opening possession and a 51-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Elliott made a 21-yard field goal to give his team their first points of the game just before halftime. The Eagles trailed the Commanders 7-3 going into the locker rooms. After Washington made a field goal to open up the second half, Elliott made a 31-yard field goal right after to make it a 10-6 game. The Eagles’ defense forced the Commanders to punt and then successfully executed a tush push with Hurts for their first touchdown and lead of the game. Elliott missed the extra point, making it a two-point lead instead of three.
It was an odd night for one of the game’s best kickers. Elliott’s not the first kicker to have a game like that, and he won’t be the last. He finished the game 2/4 on field goals and 2/3 on extra points. He left seven points out there with his misses. Elliott is lucky the misses didn’t prove to be costly.
It Was A Nail-Biting, Heart-Stopping Fourth Quarter
The Eagles entered the fourth quarter down 10-6. The offense was struggling and so was their kicker. The defense kept them in the game. The Eagles took the lead on a tush push touchdown early in the quarter, but Elliott missed the extra point. It was a two-point game.
The Commanders got into Eagles territory at the 26-yard line and decided to go for it on 4th & 2 instead of attempting a go-ahead field goal. Daniels didn’t receive the snap cleanly and decided to rush to the outside to try to pick up the first down. Baun and Blankenship were there for the Eagles to stop him short and give the ball back to the offense.
Barkley scored his first touchdown of the game on the next drive to give the Eagles a 19-10 lead. On the first play after the kickoff, Blankenship intercepted Daniels to give the ball right back to Hurts and the Eagles offense. Barkley rushed for his second touchdown two plays later to increase the lead to 26-10 and seal the win.
The Eagles Are Legit
The Eagles started the season 2-2 heading into the bye week. The team was performing well below expectations. They came out and won five games in a row to turn their season around. The NFL world wanted to see what the Eagles could do against a winning team because the previous wins during the streak were against struggling teams. It was sloppy for most of the game, but the Eagles took care of business against a good Washington team to keep the win streak alive.
The Eagles have one of the top offenses and defenses in the league. Nick Sirianni’s team is the second-best in the NFC, behind only the Detroit Lions. The Eagles are back to being Super Bowl contenders.
Looking Ahead
The Eagles get to enjoy a mini-bye week before heading across the country to take on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football in Week 12. They’ll then head to Baltimore in Week 13 before playing four of their last five games of the regular season at home.
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