Eagles tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert step up in win against Washington

LANDOVER, Md. — Dallas Goedert can’t really explain how he hauled in a one-handed catch late in the fourth quarter against Washington, but he remembers what went through his head.

On the Eagles’ game-winning drive, Goedert managed to make the spectacular catch for a 20-yard gain just before the two-minute warning as his team trailed by a field goal.

But the catch was almost hampered by his teammate, the catchless J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

“I just knew that I had one-on-one coverage with a linebacker that I was going to go win,” Goedert said after the game. “I remember going out and seeing J.J. and going ‘Oh, [shoot].' I saw the ball and it just stuck to my hand.”

The catch was somewhat emblematic of the afternoon overall. The Eagles won a football game, 37-27, against Washington at FedEx Field, despite Zach Ertz getting as many yards as the team’s entire receiving corps. Carson Wentz threw 43 passes on Sunday, and targeted a receiver just 11 times.

Greg Ward, who caught the game-winning touchdown, was the only receiver to record a catch, finishing with seven receptions for 61 yards. Arcega-Whiteside had two targets, no catches, and a drop in the end zone during the first half. Recent practice-squad call-up Rob Davis wasn’t targeted at all.

The Eagles instead leaned on their running backs, but primarily looked toward Goedert and Ertz, who delivered despite garnering heightened attention. Because the team had just three healthy wideouts, the two tight ends even lined up as slot receivers or on the outside at times.

“I just think, when we’re going in there, it don’t matter who we got, it’s all we need,” said Goedert, who had five catches for 55 yards. “We’re going to get out there and give it all, empty the tank. It’s been playoff football the last couple weeks, we’re just going to keep going.”

Ertz, who finished with five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown, was helping the Eagles’ offense even when he wasn’t catching passes. Washington safety Landon Collins, a 2016 All-Pro selection and three-time Pro Bowler, drew the assignment to stop Ertz most of the game.

“I just try to make a lot of plays when the balls in the air,” Ertz said. "Obviously they were doing a lot of different things to me coverage-wise, putting two guys over me when I was by myself on the backside and stuff, not really letting us find our groove on the back side. But that’s when the other guys were making plays, so all that matters is finding ways to win football games.”

The tight end out of Stanford used an adage he heard from former Eagles defensive end Chris Long to explain how he’s handled defenses that make him their first priority each Sunday.

“It’s more mentally than anything, just understand that the play doesn’t care who makes it,” he said. “Something that Chris Long told us a couple years ago. ... If they try to take me away, other guys are going to make plays.”