FINAL SCORE: Eagles win by losing to Washington, 20 to 14

The Philadelphia Eagles did it!

They lost their must-lose game to the Washington Football Team on Sunday Night Football to make sure they didn’t worsen their position in the 2021 NFL Draft. They could’ve dropped to No. 9 overall with a win but they clinched No. 6 instead with a loss.

Final score: 20 to 14.

The Eagles finish 4-11-1 on the season. Thank God it’s over.

Read on for observations and postgame thoughts.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Eagles got to 4th-and-2 from the 50-yard line and punted. If the Eagles were actually trying to win this game, that would’ve been bad. But it was a good decision in this case!

• Rudy Ford, a backup safety/special teams contributor, started for the Eagles at cornerback opposite of Darius Slay. Lol. Washington drove into goal-to-go territory and Alex Smith hit Terry McLaurin for a touchdown with Grayland Arnold trailing. Saw a lot of “Who is Arnold” reaction on Twitter. EAGLES 0, FOOTBALL TEAM 7.

• Zach Ertz got jammed at the line and Jalen Hurts threw a pick to someone named Kamren Curl.

• Washington had to settle for a 42-yard field. Dustin Hopkins made it. EAGLES 0, FOOTBALL TEAM 10.
• Hurts aired it out down the field and Jalen Reagor dropped it. Wouldn’t have counted anyway due to a holding penalty. Still would’ve been nice to see Reagor come down with the ball and actually do something impressive for once. Greg Ward (!) completed a pass to Travis Fulgham, allowing Fulgham to clinch his spot as the Eagles’ 2020 leading receiver (he entered the game tied with Dallas Goedert, who didn’t play). The Eagles waited to break that trick play out for a meaningless game?!

SECOND QUARTER

• Hurts drove the Eagles into the red zone. Then he ran in for a 4-yard score. Tank in danger!. EAGLES 7, FOOTBALL TEAM 10.

• Undrafted rookie free agent defensive tackle Raequan Williams picked up a sack to force a Washington three-and-out.
• Reagor made a nice sideline grab on a touch throw from Hurts for a first down. Then Hurts connected with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (!!!) on a 30-yard contested catch over the middle. JJAW making a play!? Hurts used his legs to rush for another score. Not good! EAGLES 14, FOOTBALL TEAM 10.

• The Eagles’ defense forced another three-and-out with Alex Singleton sacking Alex Smith. Alex on Alex crime.
• The Eagles went three-and-out. Phew.
• Washington started at their own 45-yard line after a 20-yard punt return. More quality stuff from the Eagles’ special teams unit. Washington drove into the red zone and Smith found Logan Thomas, who Moss’d T.J. Edwards, for a touchdown. Very nice. EAGLES 14, FOOTBALL TEAM 17.

• The Eagles ran out the clock to end the first half.

THIRD QUARTER

• It looked like Antonio Gibson fumbled and K’Von Wallace recovered for an Eagles touchdown but the refs ruled the ball carrier down. Doug Pederson wisely decided not to challenge even though he might’ve won it! Great tanking effort. The Eagles’ defense forced a three-and-out anyway.
• Hurts remained in the game. The Eagles went three-and-out.
• Washington went three-and-out.
• The Eagles tried to have John Hightower attempt a throw but he had to settle for a 1-yard rushing gain. The Eagles got to Washington’s 36-yard line and Quez Watkins couldn’t bring in a throw from Hurts along the sideline. The Eagles then took a delay of game penalty to punt from Washington’s 41-yard line. Cameron Johnston’s punt bounced into the end zone for a touchback. 21-yard net gain. Great for tanking purposes.
• Smith threw a high and bad pass in the flat that got picked off by MARCUS EPPS. Bad!

• The Eagles took over at Washington’s 15-yard line. The Eagles got to 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line and Pederson went for it ... and Hurts’ throw on his back foot for an open Watkins was short and incomplete. Clutch for the tank!

FOURTH QUARTER

• Nasty Nate Sudfeld in the game! He aired out a deep pass and got picked off by former Eagles undrafted rookie free agent signing Jeremy Reaves. Arm punt.

• Smith gave the ball right back to the Eagles with a terrible, ill-advised throw that was picked by T.J. Edwards. No idea what he was looking at.
• And then Sudfeld couldn’t handle a low shotgun snap and it was recovered by Chase Young! Lol. Such a disastrous division.
• Washington got into range for a 42-yard field goal attempt and Hopkins made it. Yes! EAGLES 14, FOOTBALL TEAM 20.
• The Eagles ran six plays for a net gain of three yards and then punted. Beauty.
• Smith fumbled and Rudy Ford thankfully whiffed on a scoop-and-score attempt for a Washington recovery. Phew.
• Washington got to 4th-and-1 from midfield with two minutes remaining and T.Y. McGill got called for a neutral zone infraction to bring up a Washington first down. Fantastic. Washington got to the Eagles’ 36-yard line and punted.
• The Eagles took over at their own 8-yard line with 0:56 on the clock and zero timeouts to work with. They did not manage a comeback.

FINAL SCORE: 20 to 14, Eagles LOSE (but actually win)

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RAPID REACTION

• The Eagles’ season is over. Mercifully, it’s finally over.
• Doug Pederson gets the game ball for making sure the Eagles lost this game.
• Congrats to Washington on making the playoffs only to probably lose in the first round and have a harder time at finding a long-term quarterback answer.
• The final numbers weren’t pretty for Hurts but it’s not like he was working in a great situation. Thought he was OK overall.
• Sudfeld ... you tried.
• Lol at New York Giants fans who stayed up and wasted their time rooting for the Eagles to win so the G-Men could clinch the NFC East.
• One could say it’s a big offseason ahead for the Birds.

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INJURIES

• Travis Fulgham came out limping after the first play. He returned to action.
• Jalen Reagor went to the locker room with trainers late in the second quarter. He was promptly ruled out with a head injury.

• Brandon Graham got banged up late in the fourth quarter.