Commanders Vs. Eagles (Game One) – Studs and Duds

Washington traveled to Philly to take on the Eagles Thursday night in primetime, and the results were not pretty. Kingsbury’s offense could not generate any consistency on the evening, and what looked like a strong Washington showing on defense early on, finally fell apart in the fourth quarter – allowing Saquon Barkley and Kenneth Gainwell to run wild.

Washington has now lost two straight and needed a miracle to prevent that being three in a row. The mini-bye couldn’t come at a better time as this team really needs to regroup and get healthy.

Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.

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Studs:

Frankie Luvu – Luvu was a one-man wrecking crew against Philly. He was second on the team with 10 tackles (6 solo), racked up two sacks and had multiple pressures.

Jeremy Chinn – For the second week in a row, Chinn led the team in tackles. He tallied 13 stops (10 solo) and a pressure against Philly.

Mike Sainristil – Sainristil played a really solid game and this was while being matched up most of the contest on A.J. Brown. He had six total tackles and two passes defended (one in the endzone).

Austin Ekeler – Ekeler had a team-leading eight receptions for 89 yards. However, these numbers also speak to Kingsbury’s inept offensive showing and lack of being able to get the ball to the wide receivers. This was not Ekeler’s fault though, as he did his job when the ball was in his hands.

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Duds:

Jayden Daniels – You can argue Daniels wasn’t himself all game, but that won’t keep him off this week’s duds list. He had his worst game since the season opener against Tampa Bay and looked every bit a rookie. He consistently underthrew open receivers, locked onto his first target too often and threw a costly interception later in the fourth quarter. He made some plays in garbage time on Washington’s last drive that actually made his stats look better than how he actually played.

Kliff Kingsbury – Washington’s offense was putrid all evening and they failed to capitalize early against an anemic Eagle’s offense. I think this was Kliff’s worst game of the season, and I have to ask if the league has now figured him out.

Brandon Coleman – The rookie struggled for the second week in a row, allowing two sacks and multiple pressures on the evening.

Andrew Wylie – In his return to the starting lineup, Wylie played very poorly. He was blowing blocks left and right and couldn’t handle Jalen Carter when asked to do so.

Dan Quinn – I absolutely hated the decision to go for it on fourth and two later in the game when Washington was down just two points. The play call on that fourth down attempt was just as bad as choosing not to kick the field goal. Aside from that, the team looked lethargic throughout.

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Notes:

• Sam Cosmi didn’t have his best game. He had some missed blocks and gave up a few pressures.
• The interior defensive line did a pretty good job throughout the majority of the game. It wasn’t until later in the contest that the Eagles got multiple chunk plays on the ground.
• St-Juste held his own against Philly’s receivers, and he came up and made some nice tackles near the line of scrimmage.
• Ertz had a nice bounce-back game, catching six passes for 47 yards and a touchdown, while showing good blocking. He also caught a two-point conversion.

• There were multiple plays where Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey were open, but either the ball didn’t come their way or if it did, it was thrown inaccurately.
• Even Tress Way had an off game by his standards,
• I feel these last two games really exposed us a bit. We took care of business against the teams we were supposed to beat, but we got a gift against Chicago and showed we are not in the same league as the top teams just yet. I do have hope we’ll get there though.