Well, the Eagles finally lost. After 10 straight wins, they stumbled down in Washington to fall to 12-3. But the real story of the game was Jalen Hurts being knocked out of it early. he took a hit while diving forward, and came up a bit dazed. the spotter immediately pulled him from the game. Eventually, he went back into the locker room and never returned.

Hurts being out with a concussion flipped the game on its head. Kenny Pickett finished that drive and even threw a TD, but the Eagles scored just 1 more TD the rest of the way, and that was a 68-yard run by Saquon Barkley.

Related: Eagles Stumble After Losing Jalen Hurts Early, 1st Loss Since Bye

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Hurts was not the only player they lost either. CJ Gardner Johnson was ejected after his 2nd Personal Foul. That 2nd foul has yet to be explained clearly though, all the refs said was that he was taunting another player. The first foul came after he had his helmet ripped off. CJ got a penalty for taunting while the player who pushed his helmet off got nothing.

The defense forced 5 turnovers. But they also gave up 36 points, the most this season, and only the 2nd time they allowed 30 or more points. They gave up 22 points in the 4th quarter alone, including the game-winning drive in the final 2 minutes.

It was not a pretty game. But it is also 1 blip on the radar for a team that has otherwise been near perfect, and it came when they did not have their starting QB. So it is hard to read too much into it. Still, there are some things we should learn from the game.

What can we take away from this ugly game? How concerned should we be if Jalen Hurts can’t go vs the Cowboys?

These 5 Numbers Tell The Story of The Eagles Loss To the Commanders:

• 20

  The Eagles started 11 drives with Kenny Pickett as the QB. On one of those drives, Saquon Barkley took it to the house for 68 yards. Can’t really credit Pickett for that. On the other 10, the Eagles gained just 200 yards. 20 yards per drive. 6 of those 10 drives went for less than 20 yards, and 3 went for less than 10 yards. AJ Brown drew DPI penalties to make up for a large portion of the yards they did pick up on two of the drives where they actually moved the ball. They scored only 12 points after that Saquon TD. All on FGs.

  Pickett was a problem. Even the plays that worked were not a great look for him. He connected with AJ brown for 45 yards at one point, but it was a very underthrown ball that Brown had to make a great play on.

  NFL on X (formerly Twitter): "Pickett connects deep with A.J. Brown for 45 yards📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/sRjw9sc1vM / X"

  Pickett connects deep with A.J. Brown for 45 yards📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/sRjw9sc1vM

• 1.9

  Kenny Pickett did not just ruin the Eagles passing attack though, he hurt the run game. In Saquon’s first 7 carries he had 109 yards. Even before that 68-yard run, he had 40 yards on 5 carries. But after that long run, when the Commanders decided they would sell out to stop the run, he had just 41 yards on 22 carries. That is only 1.9 yards per carry.

  We underestimate what Hurts brings to the table. His passing numbers may not be gaudy every week, but his presence keeps teams honest. Before this week, the Eagles had seen barely any teams sell out to stop the run. The Steelers however did do that a week earlier. But Hurts was able to make the Steelers pay for that. Pickett was not.

  Pickett also lacks what hurts provides as a runner. He is no statue and can scramble, but he is not Hurts. Hurts ability to take off keeps defenses honest. They can’t only focus on stopping Barkley. But the Commanders decided they would sell out to stop Barkley and dare Pickett to beat them. he could not do so.

  NFL on X (formerly Twitter): "SAQUON BARKLEY IS GONE. 68-YARD TD.📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/lhBWLZclYZ / X"

  SAQUON BARKLEY IS GONE. 68-YARD TD.📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/lhBWLZclYZ

• 37

  The Eagles kicked off 8 times in the game. 1 of them failed to make it to the “landing zone” and Washington got the ball at the 40 to start. All of the 7 others were returned, as they landed short of the End Zone. On only 1 of those 7 kick returns the Commanders fail to get the ball past the 30-yard line. On average, they started those drives at their own 37-yard line.

  That is 7 extra yards they just handed to the Commanders every drive. Maybe it was the cold, but every single one of Braden Mann’s kicks fell short, and the Eagles kickoff team did not do a great job of getting the return man down. The most egregious instance came on the Commander’s final drive. Not only did the kick fall short of a touchback again, and not only did they let Luke McCaffrey return that kick to the 38-yard line, but Sydney Brown took off early (somehow that head start didn’t help him), and they gave the Commanders an extra 5 yards.

  The kickoff team was bad all day long. Was kicking short part of the gameplan, or was it just the cold? Who knows, but either way, it was a problem. The Commanders were starting with favorable field position on nearly every drive.

  John Kincade on X (formerly Twitter): "Lost in all today's mayhem, the @Eagles kickoff coverage team has been atrocious. / X"

  Lost in all today's mayhem, the @Eagles kickoff coverage team has been atrocious.

   

• 13

  The Eagles forced 5 turnovers, 3 fumbles, and 2 picks, which is obviously great. The first 1 turned into 7 points. But the next 4, netted just 6 points, for a total of 13 points of 5 turnovers.

  The Eagles quite simply did not take advantage of those picks. The interception at the end could have been a game-sealer. it might have been if Devonta Smith caught that pass and got the first down. But he dropped an easy catch, the Eagles kicked a FG, and then the defense let the Commanders march down the field to score the game-winning TD.

  Jeff Kerr on X (formerly Twitter): "The #Eagles are the first team in 14 years to lose a game which the defense had 5+ turnovers and the offense scored 30+ points. / X"

  The #Eagles are the first team in 14 years to lose a game which the defense had 5+ turnovers and the offense scored 30+ points.

• 5

  The Eagles offense had a built-in excuse. They did not have Jalen Hurts. The defense does not get off quite so easy. Yes, they lost CJ Gardner Johnson to a questionable ejection, but losing 1 safety should not derail a team that fast. But after giving up only 15 Passing TDs in the first 14 games, they have up 5 on Sunday. 3 in the 4th quarter alone. Quinyon Mitchell even got beat to give up his 1st TD of the year.

  Think about that, they averaged about 1 per game for most of the year. 2 was the most they had ever given up in a game this season. But a rookie knocked them from number 1 in the league in passing TDs allowed to 12. He alone scored 1/4 of the TDs they have given up through the air in one game.

  NFL on X (formerly Twitter): "JAYDEN DANIELS. COMMANDERS TAKE THE LEAD WITH 6 SECONDS.#PHIvsWAS pic.twitter.com/BcKGpEBIsl / X"

  JAYDEN DANIELS. COMMANDERS TAKE THE LEAD WITH 6 SECONDS.#PHIvsWAS pic.twitter.com/BcKGpEBIsl

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