4 Takeaways From the Eagles’ Win Over the Commanders

Northwest Stadium (Landover, Md.) – The Philadelphia Eagles are NFC East champions again, but they have not been very convincing of late.

The Eagles won 29-18 on Saturday night on FOX, with Jalen Hurts throwing two touchdowns and Saquon Barkley breaking out with 132 rushing yards. The Commanders fell to 4-11 as a forgettable season continues.

Here are my takeaways:

1. What if the tush push isn’t a gimme?

You remember when the tush push was so effective as a short-yardage gimmick that the NFL nearly banned the play?

That wasn’t the case Saturday night, when the Eagles struggled with what used to be a high-percentage package. Philadelphia tried it from the Washington 1-yard line three times, and those plays resulted in a Hurts run for no gain and a pair of false starts on offensive linemen Fred Johnson and Landon Dickerson.

Both times, Hurts was able to score from further out – a six-yard pass to DeVonta Smith early, a much more important 16-yard score to tight end Dallas Goedert – but it’s a new wrinkle if officials are calling the tush push close enough to back them up regularly on pre-snap penalties.

The tush simply isn’t pushing like it used to. Two years ago, the Eagles converted 76% on third- or fourth-and-1, the third-best rate in the league. Last year, the Eagles converted 63% on the same downs, ranking 12th, and this year, they were at 57%, ranking 19th, before Saturday’s struggles.

So, perhaps another year has given NFL defenses enough time to better scheme the tush push, and the attention given to the play has officials watching it more closely and throwing more flags. Either way, we’re back to a point where fourth-and-1 for the Eagles is a point of intrigue and uncertainty instead of the predictably successful play that it once was.

2. Is there a bigger disappointment than the Commanders?

Yes, Jayden Daniels being limited to seven games is a big part of it, but go back a year and think of how good the Commanders were. It’s hard to imagine them being as much of a non-presence in the NFL as they are in 2025.

Washington is 4-11 and not even threatening as a late-season spoiler, but there’s a lot more missing than just Daniels. They were only 2-5 with him starting this season, and Marcus Mariota isn’t much of a stopgap. 

Notably, the Commanders defense has taken a major step back in Dan Quinn’s second season. A special-teams fumble recovery Saturday was just their ninth takeaway of the season, barely halfway to the 17 they had last season. Washington has dropped from fifth in sacks last year to 16th, and it’s a bottom-two defense in terms of yards and yards per play.

Washington’s over-under for wins entering this season was 9.5 – they’ve gone from 12-5 with two playoff wins to 4-11, and the drop-off feels even worse. Perhaps a healthy Daniels can bring magic back for the Commanders in 2026, but they look like they need more to be a contender again.

3. Special teams is a nightmare for the Eagles

Special teams cost the Eagles at least nine points in the first half, starting on the opening play of the game.

Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff that set Washington up at Philadelphia’s 27, and the Eagles defense did well to limit the host to a field goal. Shipley hesitated to bring out another kickoff he fielded right at the goal line, only returning it to the 19, the bad field position contributing to a long missed field goal at the end of the half.

Speaking of that, Jake Elliott is in a serious funk, going 6-for-11 in his last five games, including two misses in the first half Saturday. He had been 11-for-13 to open the season, but he’s now missed field goals in four of the last five games. 

In Elliott’s first seven years with the Eagles, he never missed more than five field goals in any season. After eight misses last year, he’s already at seven for 2025 and is another concern for Philadelphia in close games.

4. The Eagles’ depth at wide receiver could be a problem

Philadelphia has a great 1-2 punch at receiver in A.J. Brown and Smith, but it’s nearly all they have at the position. Jalen Hurts’ first 17 passes Saturday went to either Brown or Smith – to modest success, including the Eagles’ only touchdown in the first half, which went to Smith.

The Eagles obviously have Goedert at tight end, and he leads the team with 10 touchdown catches. The Eagles’ No. 3 receiver, Jahan Dotson, had 12 catches and one touchdown entering the game. You’d be hard-pressed to name the fourth.

Philadelphia got a spark in the third quarter when it realized it had other players to throw to. Shipley, Dotson and Goedert all got involved, with Goedert hauling in a huge catch on third-and-goal from the 15 for a go-ahead touchdown.

Jalen Hurts finds Dallas Goedert for a 15-yard TD, giving Eagles lead over Commanders | NFL Highlights

But if anything should happen to Smith or Brown down the stretch, there isn’t much to step up at WR2 for the Eagles.

4 ½. What’s next?

Neither side is as good as they were a year ago, but next week’s Eagles-Bills game in Orchard Park, N.Y., on FOX won’t disappoint. Philadelphia hasn’t overwhelmed anyone lately and Buffalo just beat the Patriots, so the momentum is with the Bills as they close out the last month in their stadium. That is “America’s Game of the Week” and will kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET with Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi on the call.

The NFC West will almost assuredly have the top seed in the conference, but the Eagles can still play for the second seed – at 10-5, it’s reasonable to think they could finish ahead of the NFC North as those teams continue to beat each other up. Buffalo is still trying to catch the Patriots and needs the win to keep pressure on the Patriots, who would have to lose to the Jets or Dolphins to make things interesting.

The Commanders, meanwhile, will face the Cowboys on Christmas before taking on the Eagles in Week 18 to end the season.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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