This is how you know when bad things are happening to the Philadelphia Eagles: from underneath the stadium, as they did when Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, with one second remaining in regulation, found Jahan Dotson in the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.
This is how you know Eagles fans are not really all that concerned about their team's early season perceived struggles: hundreds of them, most wearing their new Kelly green throwback jerseys, left minutes before the game was even decided by a 54-yard Jake Elliott field goal, heading to their cars or a post-game bar, when the Eagles were still gutting out an overtime victory to remain undefeated with a 34-31 win on Sunday.
The offense stalled in the third quarter, though, and it was the minor details that ended up costing them. An example, on third-and-4, Jahan Dotson had an uncharacteristic drop as the ball slipped through his hands. It forced the Commanders to punt the ball back to the Eagles, who had already cut into the Commanders' lead with a 47-yard field goal to open the second half.
Philadelphia scored 10 points on their next two drives, which saw heavy doses of AJ Brown, who finished the day with nine catches for 175 yards and two scores. It was a tough lesson for rookie Emmanuel Forbes Jr., who was lined up on Brown for most of the game. Forbes had his moments, but they were far too infrequent as Brown managed to get behind him.
A week after Howell threw four interceptions and was sacked nine times, he went 13 of 17 for 161 yards in the first half behind an offensive line that gave him plenty of time to throw and take a 17-10 lead into the break.
Yes, the Commanders used ball control — they had the ball for 17 minutes in the first half — to get a 1-yard TD run from Curtis Samuel and Terry McLaurin's fumble recovery in the end zone for a 14-7 lead.
But the Eagles did their best to give away the game. They were penalized six times in the half and two were especially critical. On the game’s opening drive, linebacker Zach Cunningham was whistled for a holding penalty on third-and-11. Washington got new life and Samuel scored.
It is telling that after the game, Brown acknowledged he can't make mistakes like the taunting penalty. It was Hurts who told him on the sideline that he can't do it. That refining of the details is a form of progress that the Eagles are working on, too. They are far from a finished product, but the finish line for one of the league's most talented teams is far off.
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