The Commanders have gotten back in the win column.
While Philadelphia took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, it was all Washington from then on, with the club coming away with a 27-10 victory on Sunday night.
With Tanner McKee starting his third game in place of Jalen Hurts, Washington’s defense thoroughly outplayed Philadelphia’s offense throughout the night. The Commanders were able to generate pressure on McKee, sacking him four times. Washington ended the night with nine official QB hits.
Saquon Barkley was limited to just 30 yards on 13 carries, including a 3-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.
Jake Elliott had a shot at another field goal in the fourth quarter, but a 41-yard attempt banged off the left upright. He had made a 36-yard attempt that was negated by a penalty for an illegal formation.
In many ways, that sequence encapsulated what’s been a rough 2026 for the Eagles.
Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels finished the night 16-of-29 for 217 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
It’s the first time Daniels has won a game since Oct. 2025.
Treylon Burks led with three catches for 81 yards. Stefon Diggs has three catches for 38 yards with a game-tying touchdown in the second quarter.
Drew Stevens gave Washington a three-point lead at halftime with a 39-yard field goal. Stevens also hit from 56 in the first quarter, 25 in the third quarter, and 42 in the fourth.
For the Eagles, this is the franchise’s first six-game losing streak since 2012. The last time the team started 2-6 was 1999. Both of those instances came under former head coach Andy Reid, in his last and first seasons with the club, respectively.
Philadelphia will host the 4-2-1 Giants next weekend.
With the win, the Commanders are now 2-4-1 and will host the 4-4 Rams in Week 9.
Commanders Clips
Contenders usually aren’t sellers at the trade deadline. But the Jaguars have a receiver who, for whatever reason, hasn’t really clicked with the coaching staff that arrived in 2025.
As a result, 2024 first-rounder Brian Thomas Jr. has interest in a fresh start. And multiple teams are believed to be interested in acquiring him.
Currently, the Chiefs, Steelers, and Commanders have interest.
The Steelers, we’re told, have greater interest in Colts receiver Josh Downs. Downs, however, is Kansas City’s Plan B, if they can’t get Thomas away from the Jaguars.
Thomas had 1,282 receiving yards as a rookie. In 2025, his output dipped to 707 yards. This year, Thomas has 10 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
During Sunday’s 42-7 romp over the Colts, Thomas was targeted twice, catching one pass for 12 yards and the first touchdown of the day.
The Jaguars have no real incentive to move him, unless they get a big offer. The problem is that their price tag doesn’t reflect his current usage.
Beyond the question of whether they’d trade him at all is whether they’d send him to an AFC contender.
The Commanders aren’t much of a contender at all this season; they’d presumably want Thomas for 2027 and, once the fifth-year option is exercised, 2028.
Still, trading him carries risk. If, once he’s gone, Jakobi Meyers or Parker Washington get injured, the Jaguars will wish they still had him.
The Commanders got down 10-0, but have scored 13 straight points and have a 13-10 lead at halftime.
However, there could be an injury concern with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels took a hard hit from Nolan Smith late in the first half on an incomplete pass and took a bit to get up. Though Marcus Mariota spoke with Daniels on the sideline, the young quarterback stayed in before throwing an incomplete pass on third-and-1 to bring up Drew Stevens’ 39-yard field goal with 19 seconds left on the clock.
The NBC broadcast showed Daniels wincing on the sideline as he went to sit down following the incomplete pass. Washington’s medical staff surrounded Daniels, but then the broadcast showed Daniels sitting by himself, ostensibly OK.
Daniels had a middling first half, completing 11-of-221 passes for 96 yards with a touchdown — an 8-yard pass to Stefon Diggs midway through the second quarter.
On the other side, Tanner McKee is 8-of-14 for 81 yards. Saquon Barkley had a 3-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter to make the score 10-0. He is having a tough night, though, gaining just 15 yards on eight carries. He also has a 24-yard reception.
The Eagles have just seven first downs, 113 total yards, and are 1-of-6 on third down.
Washington has 10 first downs, 185 yards, and is 4-of-9 on third down.
The Eagles will receive the second-half kickoff.
The Eagles have gotten out to a 10-0 lead over the Commanders with the help of a takeaway.
Andrew Mukuba forced a fumble on Chig Okonkwo deep in Washington territory, and Philadelphia cashed in on the opportunity with a 3-yard touchdown run by Saquon Barkley.
Mukuba’s forced fumble came on first-and-20 from Washington’s 10 yard line after a pair of penalties put the Commanders in the unfavorable position.
Barkley has been the top offensive weapon, catching a 24-yard pass while also rushing for 12 yards on five carries.
The fumble continued a poor start from the Commanders, who did not score despite Luke McCaffrey setting them up at the 50-yard line on the opening kickoff. Jayden Daniels has not been accurate throwing it, completing just 2-of-6 passes for 15 yards on three drives.
The struggling Commanders will have a pair of players who were listed as questionable for Sunday’s matchup with the Eagles.
Receiver Treylon Burks (foot) and tight end John Bates (shoulder) are both active for the contest.
Burks has nine receptions for 152 yards with two touchdowns in five games this season. Bates has five receptions for 27 yards in six games.
On the other side, the Eagles have three quarterbacks active for the contest, which means they do not have one designated as the emergency third QB.
Washington’s inactives are quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, cornerback Fabian Moreau, cornerback Isaac Yiadom, guard Tanoa Togiai, defensive tackle Daron Payne, and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.
With several players dealing with injuries, the Eagles have just one healthy scratch. Philadelphia’s inactives are receiver DeVonta Smith, linebacker Jihaad Campbell, receiver Dontayvion Wicks, cornerback Jonathan Jones, offensive lineman Jake Majors, and receiver Britain Covey.
As the Eagles plunged to their fifth straight loss, questions emerged regarding effort, or lack thereof.
Or, more fundamentally, whether the defensive line was even bothering to get into their stances.
To no surprise, then, effort was a theme of the week, specifically when reporters had a midweek chance to pose questions to coach Nick Sirianni.
Asked whether there was an issue with effort on Monday night against the Cowboys, and how the coaching staff gauges whether effort is an issue, Sirianni said this: “We grade every play based off of what they did, we grade every play based off of their assignment alignment and we grade every play off of effort. That’s not only in games, but that’s also at every practice, because if we were just grading it in games and not emphasizing it on every play in every practice, then we wouldn’t be doing our job.
“I did not see an effort issue on Monday night. Obviously, it was other things, which I’m sure you guys will ask me about. There were other things, but effort in no way, shape [or] form was an issue there.
“The plays -- now, do you bat 100% on effort? No, you don’t play a perfect football game. The plays, anytime there is an effort stand out in a positive way, we show it to the team and show what the standard is. Anytime there’s one that we feel like there was a loaf, we point that out and show that to the team. But I didn’t think that we had -- I didn’t look at the tape and say, ‘Hey, this was an effort issue, and this is why this play happened or that play happened.’ That’s how I graded the film.”
He later was asked whether players get grades on a weekly basis regarding topics like assignment, alignment, and effort.
“That would be crazy not to tell them what they’ve done and what they haven’t done,” Sirianni said. “We go over that with them. We watch the game with them, and everything is discussed with these guys. I guess I’m a little confused by the question. If we want them to get better, we’ve got to go over all the mistakes and everything with it.”
The reporters eventually attempted to address the confusion by explaining to Sirianni the perception that effort was an issue. So what does Sirianni think about the questions in that regard?
“I think in that situation, everyone’s going to look to find answers in a five-game losing streak,” Sirianni said. “Just because the result -- If we win that game, do they still question the effort? I don’t know. I can’t -- I’m not them. My job is to look at the daily process of it and the daily work and what objectively happened in that game and not react based off of the outcome. I get it. I would understand [that] everyone’s looking for answers. I don’t give you a lot of answers up here. I get that. I understand that. I do respect the job that you guys have to do, but I’m always going to probably keep it tight to the vest.
“But again, it’s not about the outcome. . . . We’re outcome-aware -- but it is about the process that goes [into] it, what happens Monday through Saturday. What happens Monday through Saturday is usually what happens in the game in my experience. That’s why you need great week of preparation, but I’m not letting the outcome dictate how I grade the film. I’m grading the film objectively based off of what I see on a weekly basis.”
What everyone sees is a team in a tailspin, with the most recent Super Bowl win fading deep into the rear-view mirror. They get their next chance to turn things around on Sunday night, when they face the 1-4-1 Commanders.
Why are teams trading key players well in advance of the November 10 deadline? Doing the deal now avoids the possibility of an injury that could kill the player’s trade value.
Case in point — the Commanders, we’re told, were talking to one or more teams about the terms of a potential trade for veteran defensive tackle Daron Payne. After he suffered a season-ending foot injury during practice on Friday, there will be no trade.
A first-round pick of the Commanders in 2018, Payne is in the last year of his current contract. The Commanders, due to the injury, have lost the opportunity to get value for his remaining deal, and to avoid paying the balance of his 2026 base salary of $16.4 million.
The lesson to every team is clear. The trade deadline isn’t the only deadline that matters. Every game, and every practice, in which a potentially tradable player participates is a practical deadline, since one injury can render a possible trade dead in the water.
Daron Payne’s foot injury will keep him out for the rest of the season.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Payne’s significant injury is a Jones fracture, which will sideline him through the remainder of 2026.
Payne had been added to the injury report on Friday after suffering the injury in practice.
The No. 13 overall pick in 2018, Payne is Washington’s longest-tenured player. He did not miss a game from 2020-2024 and missed just two contests in 2025.
In his nine seasons, he’s recorded 38.0 sacks, 67 tackles for loss, and 86 quarterback hits.
His 2026 will end having tallied 14 total tackles, two tackles for loss, five QB hits, and one sack.
Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne was expected to have serious trade interest before the Nov. 10 trade deadline. Alas, Payne, who is in the final year of his contract, is heading to injured reserve instead.
The Commanders added Payne to the injury report Friday, listing him as questionable with a foot injury.
Payne, 29, was diagnosed with a significant injury after injuring his foot in Friday’s practice, NFL Media reports. He will undergo an MRI on Sunday to confirm what X-rays showed.
Payne has possibly played his final game this season, per NFL Media.
Washington drafted Payne with the 13th overall pick in 2018, making him the team’s longest-tenured player. He started every possible game from 2020-24 and missed only two games last season.
He totaled 14 tackles, five quarterback hits and one sack in six games.
Payne has 38 sacks in his career.
The Commanders had already ruled out defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (knee). He missed practice all week.
Now they could be without another defensive tackle.
The Commanders added Daron Payne to the practice report on Friday with a foot injury that has him questionable to play. Payne was limited in Friday’s practice.
Tight end John Bates (shoulder), wide receiver Treylon Burks (foot) and defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton (pectoral) are also questionable. All three were limited in Friday’s practice.
The Commanders added wide receiver Luke McCaffrey (hip) to the injury report as a limited participant Friday, but he has no injury designation.
Quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (left elbow) and Marcus Mariota (knee) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs (hand/hamstring) are good to go as well.
