Eagles-Commanders analysis: Costly fumbles, questionable calls, shaky defense lead to Birds’ first loss

The Eagles played an imperfect game and left with an imperfect record.

Costly turnovers, poor third-down defense, and two controversial calls led to the Eagles suffering their first loss of the season, a 32-21 misstep against the Washington Commanders.

The 8-1 Eagles still lead the NFC East, but just by one game ahead of the New York Giants.

Here’s our analysis of the game:

Two fumbles, one more egregious than the other, killed two promising fourth-quarter drives by the Eagles.

The first came from Dallas Goedert, although his miscue can be excused some. The tight end was grabbed by the face mask after a reception and shaken up afterward. The officials reviewed the fumble, but league rules preclude refs from adding penalties, even ones as obvious as the face mask on Goedert, after the fact.

After the game, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni didn’t use the missed penalty as an excuse for Goedert losing the ball.

“Whether it was a face mask or whether it wasn’t a face mask,” Sirianni said, “we gotta protect the ball better. We didn’t do a good job of that all game. We were loose with that football.”

» READ MORE: Officials cost the Eagles an undefeated season

Washington got three points off the turnover and missed call, putting the Eagles down, 26-21. The following series for the Eagles offense, quarterback Jalen Hurts hit Quez Watkins for a 50-yard gain. One caveat: Washington cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, chasing Watkins from behind, punched the ball loose and fellow defensive back Darrick Forrest recovered.

Washington didn’t get any points out of the Watkins turnover, but it cost the Eagles an opportunity to go ahead midway through the fourth quarter.

“Honestly, I was just trying to make a play,” Watkins said. “I know I didn’t get touched and I knew I had left him behind, so I just wanted to get up and get some extra yards.”

Goedert’s fumble wasn’t the only questionable call that went against the Eagles.

Washington’s offense faced third-and-7 with 1 minute, 45 seconds left when Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke took a knee with no receivers open and a pass rush bearing down on him. Brandon Graham and Haason Reddick barreled into Heinicke a tick after he gave himself up, eliciting a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Graham.

The controversial call gave Washington a new set of downs and essentially ended the game.

After the game, Graham took accountability for the late hit and said he’s eager to make amends next weekend against the Indianapolis Colts.

“I wish I could have that call back,” Graham said. “But, at the end of the day, we wish we could have a bunch of calls back. But, you know what? They won. For me, I’m just trying to make up for it with what I do next week, how I respond. I’m going to take that one on the chin, flush it, and move on. I’m definitely going to take that one and make sure I don’t let the team down in a situation like that.”

Graham said he didn’t get an explanation from the referee on the reasoning of the call, but noted that he was trying to touch Heinicke while he was down to ensure he wouldn’t get up and continue the play. It’s important to mention Graham didn’t hear a whistle blowing the play dead.

Official Alex Kemp told a pool reporter after the game that Graham’s hit was both late and to the head-and-neck area of Heinicke.

“That was my call,” Kemp said. “I had ruled the quarterback had clearly given himself up. Therefore, he is down and a defenseless player. The contact by [Graham] was not only late but also to the head and neck area.”

Said Sirianni: “That’s not what lost us the football game. I’d have to watch it on tape again. I saw it live, kind of looked down the field, but they’ve got a tough job. I’ll look at it, but that’s not at all what lost us the game.”

The Commanders’ apparent strategy to control the ball and shorten the game worked as intended.

Washington ran 51 plays to the Eagles’ 19 in the first half. The final tally was 81 Commanders plays to 47 for the Eagles.

Washington’s prolonged drives were spurred by tough runs from rookie running back Brian Robinson, timely throws from Heinicke, and a bevy of third-down miscues from the Eagles defense.

Washington got a 26-yard completion to Terry McLaurin on a third-and-6 in the first quarter that set up a touchdown drive. McLaurin had cornerback Darius Slay playing off coverage with outside leverage and capitalized with a deep crossing route that left Slay out of position. A few plays later, Washington ran a flood concept with McLaurin drawing Slay deep into the end zone and freeing up Jahan Dotson underneath for a 14-yard gain in the red zone.

Effective third-down defense has been a staple of the Eagles’ success this season, but Washington went 9-for-12 on the money down during the first half. The Eagles offense, by comparison, went 2-for-3.

“They stuck to their game plan and kept us on the field for an awfully long time,” Sirianni said. “I do think the adjustments we made were good, but we can’t start off flat.”

In the second game without Jordan Davis, the Eagles almost exclusively used reserve defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu as the nose tackle in their odd fronts.

The team used a mixture of Tuipulotu, practice-squad tackle Marvin Wilson, and Javon Hargrave in Davis’ role against the Texans with mixed results. The mixed results continued Monday night with Tuipulotu at the heart of the defense.

Tuipulotu had a handful of nice plays and even recovered a fumble on a Josh Sweat strip-sack, but the Eagles’ run defense continued to struggle without Davis anchoring things. Washington ran for 152 yards and consistently set up third-and-manageable situations on the back of the running game.

For the first time all season, the Eagles trailed going into halftime.

After a three-and-out to start the third quarter, Hurts got things going later in the period. The Eagles reeled off a 12-play, 80-yard drive that led to a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The defense followed up the scoring drive with an interception from Gardner-Johnson, who now leads the NFL with six picks.

Hurts finished 17-for-26 for 175 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The turnover came on a deep pass to A.J. Brown into double coverage. The ball went through a Washington defender’s hands and hit Brown in the mitts before deflecting up to Forrest.

Hurts’ first-half turnover, along with the two fumbles from Goedert and Watkins, killed the Eagles’ momentum.

“Just a lack of detail and overall execution,” Hurts said. “Today it got us. There have been games in the past where you’d hear us say maybe, ‘Leaving money on the table,’ or opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of. I look at this game and I say we were repeat offenders of that. Today it got us. It’s something we have to learn from.”