The Philadelphia Eagles remained at the height of the race for a playoff berth with a 27-17 victory over Team Washington on Tuesday.
It’s congestion in the National as the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and Eagles all have 7-7 records and all three teams battle for the last ticket among the drafted teams.
The meeting had been postponed until Tuesday because of the COVID-19 cases for the Washington troop, but the virus still annoyed the starting lineup of this team by many. Quarterbacks Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen remained in COVID-19 protocol, so Team Washington had to hand the ball over to quarterback Garrett Gilbert who was contracted last week.
The start of the game was encouraging for Team Washington, however, thanks to unusual play. Dallas Goedert dropped an easy pass from Jalen Hurts and the ball ricocheted off his foot and ended up in Landon Collins’ hands for interception. Washington followed with a touchdown for Antonio Gibson.
Washington took control of the game 10-0 in the first quarter, but the Eagles’ running game put the Pennsylvania side back into the game. Good runs from Miles Sanders got the Eagles close to goal and Hurts finished the job with a touchdown.
A similar streak in the third quarter led to the second touchdown of the quarterfinal game and Hurts scored his 10th earth major of the season. The Eagles scored 20 unanswered points to lead 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
Gilbert didn’t give up and set the table for Jaret Patterson’s first touchdown of his career to close the gap to three points. Hurts joined Greg Ward to put the game out of the reach of his rivals and the quarterback finished with 296 yards on the air. Sanders was on the ground with 131 yards in just 18 carries.
Gilbert amassed 194 yards in the loss and Washington is down with a 6-8 record this season.
