Washington’s Sam Howell had a terrific first half, but A.J. Brown’s tremendous touchdown catch late in the second quarter stole the show even with the Commanders taking a 17-10 lead into halftime.
With 37 seconds left in the second period, Brown twisted his body to make a one-handed catch in the end zone for a 16-yard score. Brown secured the ball before getting both of his knees down in bounds for his fourth touchdown of the season.
That made the score 14-10, Commanders. But Washington got the lead back up to seven points when Joey Slye boomed a 61-yard field goal through the uprights with time nearly expired in the half to make the score 17-10.
Howell was blistering hot in the first half, going 24-of-26 for 226 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Terry McLaurin caught the first TD for a 26-yard score. Then Jahan Dotson caught a 21-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Howell started the game 10-of-10 for 83 yards. HIs only incompletions were a failed deep pass to Byron Pringle and a fourth-down incompletion to McLaurin that was nearly intercepted and returned for six.
On the other side, the Eagles punted on their first drive and fumbled on their third while in the red zone. But things got better after stopping the Commanders on fourth down, as that’s when the team went down the field and scored with Brown.
Brown has caught all six of his targets for 88 yards. The Eagles haven’t found anything running the ball, as D’Andre Swift has one carry for 3 yards and Kenneth Gainwell has two carries for -4 yards with a fumble. Hurts had one scramble for 7 yards.
Washington is averaging 8.2 yards per play. Howell wasn’t sacked in the first half, despite entering the game having taken a league-leading 40 of them this season.
The Eagles will receive the second-half kickoff.
