Eagles-Commanders: Eagles defeat Commanders, extend lead in NFC East

Saquon Barkley and Vic Fangio.

That’s the formula.

Nick Sirianni knows it. Howie Roseman knows it. The Washington Commanders sure as heck know it.

The Eagles couldn’t have played more hungover if they’d spent Wednesday night on South Street. The Commanders smelled even worse.

The two best teams in the NFC East provided three hours of mostly somnambulant play in a short-week display of why Thursday Night Football is a crime against nature. The Eagles played a road game Sunday in Dallas, with a three-hour flight that landed them back in town after midnight. The Commanders on Sunday lost a grueling game at home, by one point, to the Steelers, then had to be in Philly by Wednesday evening.

The game finished 26-18, and Saquon Barkley had two big touchdown runs, but the first three quarters were uglier than the Commanders’ helmets.

The Eagles have their first lead of the game with 12 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Kenneth Gainwell and Saquon Barkley did the dirty work, and Jalen Hurts crossed the goal line via Tush Push for his 11th touchdown run of the season.

But instead of leading by three, Jake Elliott's bad night continued with a missed extra point. It's 12-10 Eagles with a dozen minutes left. Elliott has now missed three kicks on the night (two field goals).

Jalen Hurts was in the blue medical tent as the first half came to a close and then jogged indoors with the rest of his teammates at halftime.

Outside the tent, sideline personnel appeared to be looking at a replay of the third-down hit Hurts took on the previous Eagles drive, which resulted in a Jake Elliott 21-yard field goal.

According to the Amazon broadcast, Hurts was being evaluated by a neurologist in the tent.

Jalen Hurts is not having a good start to Thursday night's Eagles-Commanders game.

After missing a wide-open A.J. Brown on the sideline to stall a drive midway through the second quarter, Hurts fell below the 50% completion mark. He is 6-for-13 for 58 yards and has not looked comfortable, even on plays when Washington hasn't pressured him.

Brown wasn't the first receiver he missed. Earlier in the night, in the first quarter, he missed DeVonta Smith running free across the middle on a third-down play that stalled another Eagles drive.

Four plays is all it took for the Commanders to go 58 yards to take a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

A bad punt gave Washington good field position, and it capitalized quickly. First Austin Ekeler caught a swing pass and rumbled for 34 yards. Jayden Daniels then went for five yards on a keeper.

Brian Robinson was next, catching the Eagles in a run blitz. Jalen Carter appeared to be out of his gap, and then Zack Baun missed an open-field tackle on Robinson, who bullied his way to the goal line.

Saquon Barkley needed just nine yards entering Thursday night to hit the 1,000-yard mark on the season. He needed just three rushes to reach the milestone.

Barkley has five carries for 14 yards through two Eagles drives Thursday night.

It is the fourth time Barkley has topped 1,000 yards in his seven-year NFL career. The Eagles still have eight games remaining, including Thursday night.

Jason Kelce and Mt. Joy rocked the house outside the Linc ahead of the Eagles’ game against the Commanders. Philly-based band Mt. Joy took the stage first, clad in Eagles jerseys and hats, to perform a few of their own songs, plus a rock version of "Fly Eagles, Fly."

Then, Kelce hopped on stage to perform the new single from “A Philly Special Christmas Party”, “Santa Drives An Astrovan,” with the band. The single officially drops Friday, and Kelce and Mt. Joy were putting the finishing touches on a music video for the song (drop date TBD), so they ran through the number once and then did the final chorus three additional times, including one with “Philly” subbed for “Connecticut” in the chorus.

Kelce showed off his raspy chords and tossed presents into the excited crowd, and the fans tossed a few potential Christmas gifts of their own up for him to sign, which Kelce somehow managed to do while continuing to sing.

It’s a short week for the Eagles, as they’ll put their five-game winning streak — and first place in the NFC East — on the line when they welcome in the Washington Commanders on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

So how does the Birds’ winning streak compare to your Bird Box streak? Have you mastered our game? Or are you the Dallas Cowboys of Bird Box? If you’ve struggled recently, don’t worry, we’re back with another grid to test your football knowledge — and another chance for you to start a winning streak of your own.

If you haven’t played before, the rules are simple: Fill in each cell on the grid with a different Eagles player from the past 50 seasons that matches the criteria.

Thursday night’s game has every aspect of a fun prime-time matchup. Both teams above .500, check. Division rivalry, check. And a battle for first place in the NFC East, check.

The outcome of this game can help determine who is on the top of the division and who is battling for a wild-card spot. But the Commanders aren’t focused on the division or wild-card implications. When asked about how much this impacts his mentality heading into the game, head coach Dan Quinn said: “Zero.”

“And that’s not a coaching cop-out either,” Quinn told reporters. “I just honestly want to stay in the pocket of where we’re at. I don’t want us to miss a step on this journey. I don’t want to miss the next step that we have to take and that’s this weekend and the next one and the next one. I’m having a blast with these guys. Not to say that I don’t want all of those things that you’re saying to happen [as far as reaching the playoffs]. But I also don’t want to miss one step with this group.”

During the Eagles’ five-game win streak, they’ve relied on Saquon Barkley and the run game to open up more options on offense.

On last week’s episode of unCovering the Birds, members of the offensive line shared that they pushed for a pivot back to run-first football, and head coach Nick Sirianni followed their lead. In the four games prior to the win over the Cowboys, the Eagles ran the ball 64% of the time, compared to 36% pass plays. Against Dallas, aided by a big lead, they ran the ball on 76% of their plays.

Of course, when you have receivers as talented as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles want to make sure they’re also staying involved and that the offense is using all the weapons at its disposal.

The Eagles host the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football. Here's a look at our writers’ predictions for Week 11, including a portion of their analysis. For a full breakdown, click here.

Jeff McLane: This should be a fun game. I see a fair amount of scoring. The Eagles defense hasn’t surrendered more than 17 points in the last five games, but it also hasn’t seen as offense as good over that span. Daniels is the first true dual-threat quarterback the Eagles will face this season and I think he’ll give them problems. Also, keep an eye out for Austin Ekeler as a kick returner. He’s dangerous. I don’t necessarily love my pick. I feel like the Eagles have figured out a lot since the bye and will play well. So let’s call this a noble loss. When was the last time Nick Sirianni had one of those? | Prediction: Commanders 30, Eagles 26

Jeff Neiburg: Let’s forget the standings stuff, though. This is a test to see if the elements of the Eagles defense that are holding up so well are really strengths or not. ... On the other side of the ball, the Commanders have been beatable on the ground. They’re allowing 142.7 rushing yards per game, which ranks 28th in the NFL. Sounds like the right recipe for the Eagles to continue their run-first approach and let Saquon Barkley take over. Add the Lincoln Financial Field crowd to the mix and it feels like an Eagles win. | Prediction: Eagles 26, Commanders 20

Jason Kelce is topping the charts once again — this time with Stevie Nicks for A Philly Special Christmas Party.

Kelce, the self-declared new “Queen of Christmas,” topped the iTunes Holiday charts after the release of “Maybe This Christmas,” beating Mariah Carey’s classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

But not to be topped by Carey, who will take her Christmas Time Tour to the Wells Fargo Center this December, Kelce is putting on a surprise concert of his own with Mt. Joy on Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field to promote the album, which raises money for local charities.

The Eagles activated Jordan Mailata from injured reserve ahead of their Thursday night game against the Washington Commanders.

Mailata, the Eagles’ starting left tackle, had spent the last four weeks on injured reserve while dealing with a hamstring ailment sustained in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. The Eagles opened his 21-day practice window on Monday and listed him as an estimated full participant on each injury report ahead of Thursday’s contest before bringing him back to the active roster.

The Eagles had one open spot on the 53-man roster to assign to Mailata after waiving tight end Jack Stoll, who was claimed by the Miami Dolphins later on Wednesday. Now that he is back on the active roster, the 6-foot-8, 365-pound tackle is available to play against the Commanders.

The Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) will take on Jayden Daniels and the surprising Washington Commanders (7-3) tonight in a battle for first place in the NFC East on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 8:15 p.m., and will stream exclusively on Amazon's Prime Video.

In the Philadelphia TV market, Birds fans can watch the game on Fox 29, while fans in the Washington, D.C., area can tune in on Fox 5.

After a 10-year NFL career, including eight with the Eagles, Vinny Curry is officially hanging up his cleats.

The 36-year-old defensive end will retire as a member of the Eagles on Thursday. Curry, whom the Eagles selected in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Marshall, will be recognized as an honorary captain ahead of the game against the Washington Commanders.

“Vinny Curry’s contributions were always on display, and it was his role on our Super Bowl-winning team that defined his legacy,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “Vinny’s genuine love and passion for the Eagles growing up [in Neptune, N.J.] allowed him to connect so easily with our team and city. His commitment over eight seasons, along with everything he gave to his teammates and coaches on the field, was truly authentic and always came from the heart. We are thrilled to celebrate this special occasion with Vinny and his family on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.”