The Philadelphia Eagles snapped their five-game losing streak to the Washington Redskins on Sunday, thanks to a 30-17 win at FedEx Field.
It may not have been pretty all the way through, but the Birds are 1-0 on the season and picked up a crucial division win that could play a big role in the playoff picture down the line.
We've already shared some observations on the first half – you can read those, here – but here's a look at the good, bad and ugly from the second half, one that saw the Eagles outscore Washington, 14-3, thanks in large part to their play on defense and special teams.
THE GOOD
• Timmy Jernigan had a sack, his first as an Eagle
Eagles almost had back-to-back sacks, but a defensive holding call on Nigel Bradham negated this sack by Jordan Hicks.
The Eagles finished with four sacks, two of them coming from Brandon Graham.
• Corey Clement made another play on special teams, once again on a kickoff. In case you're wondering, that's why he was active in Week 1 and Donnel Pumphrey was not.
• The secondary didn't completely collapse following the loss of Ronald Darby like many expected it would. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Jalen Mills made a nice play to prevent a would-be Terrelle Pryor touchdown.
Ike agrees.
It was nice to see the Eagles other two cornerbacks step up after Darby’s injury.
• Then, on the second Washington possession, it was looking like Cousins and his wideouts were beginning to figure out the Eagles secondary, moving the ball downfield pretty quickly.
That’s when Jalen Mills decided to make his biggest contribution in the game, with some help from a well-timed blitz by Jim Schwartz.
Wag that finger, kid.
• The ensuing drive didn’t result in any points – although Donnie Jones’ punt pinned the Redskins at their own one-yard line – but did feature this gem from Wentz to Zach Ertz.
• The Eagles got the ball back with about five minutes left, and they weren’t able to run the clock out, but they did get it to the two-minute warning and added a 37-yard Sturgis field goal to increase their lead to 22-17. The biggest play of the drive was this second-down pass from Wentz to Jeffery that moved them into field goal range.
Wentz, who was sacked twice in the game, finished 26-of-39 for 307 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
• And Fletcher Cox sealed the victory a few plays later. The play was reviewed but it stood.
THE BAD
• Left tackle Jason Peters left the game near the end of the first half but returned for the first play of the second half. However, that was the last time we saw him for the rest of the game.
• Despite making a few plays in the second half, Alshon Jeffery didn’t leave us with the first impression many had hoped.
Still, he finished with three catches for 38 yards, plus the two-point conversion following Cox's touchdown.
• Doug Pederson wasn’t doing a great job of balancing his playbook through the first three quarters.
But it's not like his run game was lighting it up. The Eagles finished with just 24 carries for 58 yards. It will be interesting to see how this plays out moving forward.
• Eight penalties for 76 yards. This one is pretty self explanatory.
THE UGLY
• The Redskins first drive on the second half was a long one, and included a few hard-to-watch plays from the Eagles defense, including two third-and-long conversions.
Luckily, the Eagles were able to make a stop on the third, third-and-long attempt, forcing Washington to settle for a field goal after a 16-play drive. More importantly, it kept the Eagles ahead in the game, 19-17.
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