After Monday’s night exhilarating comeback victory over the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles pulled off another miraculous comeback behind a last-gasp touchdown from Carson Wentz to Greg Ward Jr. with 26 seconds left to defeat the Washington Redskins, 37-27, on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Eagles (7-7) are now 4-1 in the division and put themselves in a great position to win the NFC East.
In a repeat of their season opener against Washington, the Eagles had to overturn another slim deficit thanks to another solid performance from fourth-year starting quarterback Carson Wentz.
Without wide receivers Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, right tackle Lane Johnson, and running back Jordan Howard, Wentz completed 69.8-percent of his passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. One of Wentz’s touchdown passes went to rookie running back Miles Sanders, who had an outstanding performance on Sunday.
Sanders racked up 122 rushing yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. He also had six receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown.
In the receiving department, All-Pro tight end Zach Ertz led the way with five receptions (10 targets) for 61 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Greg Ward Jr. had seven receptions (nine targets) for 61 yards and what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
For the Redskins, rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins had one of his better performances this season on Sunday. The former Ohio State standout completed 67.8-percent of his passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns.
Both of Haskins’ touchdown passes went to fellow rookie wide receivers Terry McLaurin (5 recs for 130 yards) and Steven Sims Jr. (5 recs for 45 yards).
On their first offensive possession of the game, the Eagles set the tone right away, putting together a time-consuming 16-play, 88-yard scoring drive.
To start the drive, Wentz found Ertz for a 14-yard reception on first down. Then on 2nd-&-2, the fourth-year gunslinger hit Sanders for an 11-yard reception for another first down.
A few minutes later, Wentz once again found Ertz for a 27-yard reception on third down, which put the Eagles inside the red zone. Philadelphia ultimately capped off their seven-minute scoring drive with a 25-yard field goal from Jake Elliott.
With Elliott giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead towards the end of the first quarter, it was the defense’s turn to hold Haskins and company to another scoreless drive.
However, that was not the case as Haskins found McLaurin for a 75-yard touchdown reception, putting Washington up 7-3. It was the second time in consecutive weeks that the Eagles cornerbacks failed to make a tackle, leading to a touchdown.
After Haskins and McLaurin clicked for the big play, Wentz led the Eagles on their second-straight scoring drive to open up the second quarter.
But unlike their previous scoring drive, this one ended with a Sanders one-yard rushing touchdown on 2nd-&-goal to put the Eagles up 10-7. The former Penn State running back played an integral role both in the receiving and rushing departments on Sunday.
With 6:58 left in the first half, Washington responded with a scoring drive of their own. On 3rd-&-Goal at Philadelphia’s five-yard line, Haskins found Sims Jr. in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
Washington went into halftime up 14-10 over the Eagles after both teams traded punts to end the second quarter.
In the third quarter, the Eagles retook the lead on their second offensive possession. With 5:53 left on the clock, Wentz scrambled out of the pocket and found Sanders for a 15-yard touchdown reception in the back of the end zone.
After the Sanders’ touchdown catch to put the Eagles up 17-14, Haskins put together his own time-consuming scoring drive to end the third quarter. At the start of the fourth, Redskins running back Adrian Peterson ran for a 10-yard touchdown, giving Washington a four-point lead (21-17) over the Eagles.
But the Eagles’ offense was not phased by the opportunity to come back once again. Wentz and Co. marched down the field for 75 yards, ending the drive with a two-yard touchdown reception by Ertz.
Nevertheless, the Redskins responded with a 53-yard field goal from Dustin Hopkins to tie the game up at 24-24 at the eight-minute mark.
Eagle anxiety only grew when Wentz fumbled the ball away on third down and short, giving the Redskins great field position. Washington capitalized off of the Eagles’ crucial mistakes with another made field goal from Hopkins, putting them up 27-24.
With 4:52 left in the game, Wentz and head coach Doug Pederson dialed up an 11-play, 75-yard game-winning drive to seal the game. The former first-round pick found Ward Jr. in the back of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown reception to put the Eagles up four in the final seconds.
Haskins tried to make something happen in the final moments, but he turned the ball over to Nigel Bradham, who rumbled home from 47 yards out to end the game with an exclamation point.
