Eagles stats: Without Jalen Hurts, the running game struggled while A.J. Brown was a constant threat

Despite forcing a season high-tying five turnovers against the Washington Commanders, the Eagles still couldn’t get the job done.

The Commanders handed the Eagles their first loss since September on Sunday afternoon in their 36-33 comeback win. The victory marked the first time Washington has won a contest with five-plus giveaways since Week 17 of the 2002 season against the Dallas Cowboys, according to Next Gen Stats.

Here are four stats that illustrate the Eagles’ third loss of the season:

Jalen Hurts’ first-quarter exit because of a concussion shifted the Commanders’ defensive approach. Washington started the game by using single-high safety shells on three of 12 plays (25%), according to Next Gen Stats, focusing on the elimination of explosive passing plays by keeping two safeties deep.

Once Kenny Pickett took over for the injured Hurts, and the Eagles offense became one-dimensional, the Commanders changed course. They lined up in a single-high shell on 40 of the final 59 plays (67.8%), likely in an effort to take away the Eagles running game spearheaded by Saquon Barkley.

Their formula worked. Barkley began the game with 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including a 68-yarder, on his first seven carries. He accumulated 99 of those 109 yards before contact and did not take a hit behind the line of scrimmage on those runs.

However, on his last 22 carries, the running back managed just 41 rushing yards. He had minus-4 rushing yards before contact and was hit behind the line of scrimmage 13 times. On his 18 carries against single-high safety shells, Barkley ran for 28 yards.

“They were kind of loading the box,” Barkley said. “We get it each week. The dynamic of Jalen definitely helps. In our situation, a lot of things that we do in our run game is designed with Jalen. So it’s kind of hard to continue running the same stuff when he’s not in there. So we had to adjust. They did a really good job. We just didn’t make the plays that we needed to make.”

» READ MORE: Something or nothing? Analyzing the Eagles’ sloppy loss vs. Commanders, from not-so special teams to a shaky run game

Entering Sunday’s game, the Eagles seldom dialed up a blitz and sent extra rushers on just 18.6% of dropbacks in Weeks 1-15, according to Next Gen Stats, which was the fourth-lowest rate in the league.

Vic Fangio tried to take a different approach against Jayden Daniels, to no avail. The Eagles blitzed the rookie quarterback on a season-high 37.8% of his dropbacks. The calls didn’t have the intended effect. Against the blitz, Daniels completed 10 of 15 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns, including the second touchdown pass to a wide-open Olamide Zaccheaus, which came on a free play because of an Eagles penalty for too many men on the field.

Daniels wasn’t only effective against the blitz. He was also mostly successful when throwing down the field, completing seven of 13 passes over 10 air yards for 169 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

All eyes were on veteran cornerback Marshon Lattimore in his first game against the Eagles as a member of the Commanders. Lattimore spent most of the day following A.J. Brown. He lined up against the top receiver on 23 of his first 25 routes before exiting the game halfway through the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.

Neither Hurts nor Pickett shied away from throwing the ball Brown’s way with Lattimore in coverage. Eagles quarterbacks targeted Brown 10 times with Lattimore as the nearest defender, which is tied for the second-highest number of targets by any receiver-defensive back matchup in a contest this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

Brown made plays, whether he was snaring the ball or drawing penalties. He caught five of his 10 targets with Lattimore as the nearest defender for 68 yards and a touchdown. Lattimore also was called for three pass interference penalties for 68 yards while in coverage against Brown. Still, Brown’s efforts weren’t enough to lead the Eagles to a win.

With 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter as the Eagles led, 27-14, the Commanders had a win probability of just 5.7%, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Commanders scored a trio of touchdowns in a whirlwind of a fourth quarter to take the lead by their final possession of the afternoon. Jamison Crowder, the 31-year-old wide receiver, sealed the win with his second touchdown of the day (his only two of the season through four games). Crowder shed Zack Baun in coverage and found a soft spot between the safeties in the back of the end zone to haul in the 9-yard pass.

“We hit that in practice, that same exact concept, same exact throw,” Daniels said. “It was kind of just like, ‘OK, I’ve seen two-high safety, middle-field open, and I have already hit this in practice.’ It was just time to make the throw in the game.”

While the Commanders have a 93% chance of making the playoffs thanks to the win, the Eagles’ odds of gaining the top seed in the NFC dropped to 4%. Perhaps a rematch in the wild-card round awaits the division foes.