Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith and Eagles’ defense dominate Commanders

By Ralph Vacchiano
FOX Sports NFC East Writer

The Philadelphia Eagles always figured to be one of the best teams in a mediocre NFC East and a playoff contender in a generally weak conference. But if they can keep playing defense the way they did Sunday in Washington, they might have entered another level.

They might be one of the best teams in the NFL.

The Eagles certainly have looked like that through the first three weeks of the season, and they might have put a stamp on their status as a Super Bowl contender with a dominating, 24-8 victory over the Washington Commanders. It wasn’t just that they beat a flawed Commanders team and spoiled ex-Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz’s first game against his old team.

It was how thorough and suffocating their performance was.

The Eagles absolutely pummeled Wentz, right from the start of this game. They had four sacks in the first quarter, on the first seven times Wentz dropped back to pass. They added another on his eighth dropback and finished with six sacks in the first half.

They blitzed him at will. They also got to him with only the front four rushing. In the end, they sacked him nine times.

“They played their tails off,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of his defense. “They were awesome. We thought they could get after him a little bit, and they did. And that’s the strength of our team.”

“We was hitting him,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham added. “Them hits add up.”

They sure did, because even when Wentz had a little bit of time to throw, he looked completely rattled. He rushed most of his passes toward his well-covered receivers. He completed just 3-for-10 for 24 yards in the first half and needed some garbage-time work to finish with 211 yards on 25-for-43 passing.

And remember: The defense was the Eagles’ missing piece this season. They were terrible in their opener, a 38-35 victory in Detroit. And while they were much better against the Vikings in a 24-7 win last Monday night, their pass rush still was basically non-existent. It’s why, during the week, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox summed up the sentiment in the Philadelphia locker room by saying, “I think we can do better.”

They did, with a pass rush like Philadelphia hasn’t seen in years. And it came from everywhere. Six players divvied up those nine sacks — Graham (2½), linebacker Haason Reddick (1½), defensive end Josh Sweat (1½), Cox (1½), linebacker T.J. Edwards (one) and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (one).

“Our D-line, they went out and hunted,” Sirianni said. “And it wasn’t just one guy. It was all the guys.”

And what they all did was buy time for the Eagles’ offense to get going — and when it did, it was as good as it has been all season long. 

Jalen Hurts had another MVP-caliber performance (22-for-35, 340 yards, three touchdowns). And he continued to spread the ball around, this time featuring receiver DeVonta Smith (eight catches, 169 yards, one touchdown).

Smith, remember, didn’t have a single catch in the opener. But he dominated this game. He now has 15 catches for 249 yards and a touchdown on the season — not bad for the Eagles’ No. 2 receiver. Their No. 1, A.J. Brown, has 20-309-1. And don’t forget, this is still the team that ranked No. 1 in rushing last season and has picked up where it left off, averaging 150.3 yards on the ground the first three games — and that’s after getting only 72 against the Commanders.

With the offense spreading it out like that, with Hurts playing like he is, it was already starting to look like they only way to beat them would be to outscore them. That certainly seemed to be the Commanders’ best hope.

But they never had a chance.

“It’s like we’re constipated,” Commanders left tackle Charles Leno explained to reporters. “Couldn’t get s— going.”

“That’s a good defense, a good team,” Wentz added. “They got after us. I did not play to my standards, especially early.”

No, he didn’t, but that’s because the Philly defense wouldn’t let him get set in the pocket. Wentz had thrown for 650 yards in the first two games, the second-best total in the NFL. But he’s a pocket passer, and he has no shot if the pocket is constantly collapsing. The Eagles gave him no time to breathe.

It’s interesting Sirianni called that pass rush the Eagles’ “strength” because it sure figured to be more like their weakness when the season started. They were second-worst in the NFL last season with only 29 sacks in 17 games, which is why they went out and gave Reddick, a top edge rusher, a three-year, $45 million contract. And they still had just three sacks in the first two games.

But they put it all together Sunday. They have an elite quarterback, some dangerous weapons in the passing game, a top-tier rushing attack and a dominant offensive line. And they have a talented, smothering secondary and a strong front against the run. Now, it turns out their defense, which has forced four turnovers and allowed just two touchdowns in the past two games, can get after the quarterback pretty well, too.

If that’s for real, and this pass rush was not just a one-week wonder, then the Eagles are for real. They are the total package, with all the ingredients teams need to survive the season and even make an extended playoff run.

Yes, of course, it’s early. The Eagles know that, too.

“We compare this to a 17-round heavyweight boxing match,” Sirianni said. “You go down and sit in your corner after each round. If you think you’re too good in one round, this league has a good way of smacking you in the teeth.”

It turns out the Eagles are pretty good at smacking teams in the teeth, too. And with a defense like that, there’s a lot more damage they can do.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. He spent 22 years covering the Giants, Jets and NFL at large for SNY and the New York Daily News. He can be found on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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