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NFL: Benjamin St-Juste made a big turnaround and the Eagles lost

A timely reversal of Benjamin St-Juste prevented the Eagles to threaten late in the game and Philadelphia suffered its first loss of the season by a score of 32-21 on Monday night against the Commanders de Washington.

After signing eight straight wins to start the campaign, the Eagles saw their perfect record swept away by the Commanders who were able to impose themselves in attack with ball control and in defense thanks to judicious turnovers.

Au 1is quarterback, St-Juste had been caught out following a contact with DeVonta Smith which brought Philly inside the 10 in the territory of the Commanders. On the next play, the Eagles took advantage when Jalen Hurts joined Dallas Goedert in the end zone.

Although Philly was ahead on the board, the Commanders controlled the action in the first two quarters with over 20 minutes of possession time. Their work paid off, as with less than two minutes to go before retreating to the locker room, Brian Robinson stretched his arm on a run for a touchdown to make Washington 17-14.

Trailing 23-14 in the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ offense came to life when Hurts spotted Smith with a small pass to the Washington side’s 5-yard line. The receiver made a fake to get rid of the coverage of St-Juste and register the touchdown on the day of his 24e anniversary.

A fumble from Goedert set the stage for another field goal for the Commanders who led 26-21 with less than six minutes to go. Hurts thought he had made a splash with a long pass seized by Quez Watkins. The receiver fell to the ground and got up to run again, but that’s when St-Juste came back to register the tackle and make him lose the ball. This was recovered by the Commanders and the Eagles did not threaten again thereafter.

The Eagles defense had a chance to get the ball back to their offensive unit with over a minute left in the game, but Brandon Graham was given an unnecessary roughing penalty on quarterback Taylor Heinicke by making a tackle even though he had already fallen to the ground. The Commanders were thus able to spend most of the time on the clock before driving the Eagles deep into their territory.

On the last play of the game, the Commanders closed the books with panache as they recovered a fumble after the Eagles players tried to trade the ball up the field, but the defensive touchdown was scored.

The Commanders (5-5) finished the game with an impressive advantage in time of possession, 40 minutes and 24 seconds against 19 minutes 36 seconds for Philadelphia. Washington attempted 81 offensive plays compared to only 47 for the Eagles (8-1).

Heinicke was efficient with 211 yards and he mainly turned to his favorite receiver, Terry McLaurin who finished the game with 128 yards. Robinson and Antonio Gibson recorded rushing touchdowns.

For the Eagles, Jalen Hurts threw for just 175 yards. He was the victim of an interception.

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