Howell's Career Day Not Enough in Loss to Eagles

For the second time in the month of October, the Washington Commanders gave the defending NFC Champions all they could handle, but ultimately lost a hard fought game.

On Sunday, the Commanders fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 38-31 despite taking an early lead into the half and a career day from quarterback Sam Howell. Ultimately, the Philadelphia offense proved to be too much for Washington to handle defensively.

It’s the second straight week the Commanders lost by a touchdown and the second time they lost to the Eagles in a one possession game (lost 34-31 in OT on October 1).

“It’s crazy. We keep having these one score games come down to the wire,” wide receiver Jahan Dotson said after the game. “We look back on it, and there’s a moment in the game when we just flinch, the whole team. And in this league, you can’t do that.”

Dotson had his best game of the season by far on Sunday, recording team-high’s in yards and catches with 108 yards on 8 receptions and a touchdown.

The Commanders jumped on the Eagles, scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions early in the first half to take a 14-3 lead.

To close the half, kicker Joey Slye knocked through a career-long 61 yard field goal to make it 17-10.

In the second half, the Washington defense could not stop the Eagles offense. On the opening drive of the half, Philly drove the ball down to the 1 yard line before turning it over on a fumble by Jalen Hurts.

After the turnover, the Eagles put together three straight touchdown drives to take the lead 31-24 and they never trailed again.

Despite turning the ball over twice inside the Washington 5 yard line, the Eagles still scored 38 points and canceled out the best performance of Sam Howell’s young career.

The Commanders QB finished 39/52 passing for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns, both career highs.

Howell also was only sacked once on Sunday after coming into the day as the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL and going against one of the best defensive lines in the league.

And yet, Washington still could not come away with anything more than a slew of moral victories, a story that is becoming all too common on a week-to-week basis around this team.

It unfortunately doesn’t get a lot easier for Washington, who travels to New England to take on the Patriots next Sunday.