D4 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22 , 2021
NFL WEEK 15
PHOTOS BY JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts runs for a first down in the third quarter against Washington in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Hurts rushed for 38 yards and two touchdowns, part of a 238-yard ground attack.
spot had the season ended Tues-
day.
For a team that was depleted
enough to prompt the NFL to
postpone its game two days, that
was missing not just its starting
quarterback (Taylor Heinicke) but
also his backup (Kyle Allen), that
has been without its starting tight
end (Logan Thomas) and its top
two centers (Chase Roullier and
Tyler Larsen), that will no longer
have one of its top running backs
(J.D. McKissic), that didn’t have
its starting right guard (Brandon
Scherff) or one of its starting cor-
nerbacks (Kendall Fuller) because
of the covid-19 protocols, that
would lose another starting cor-
nerback (William Jackson III) to
injury Tuesday and that was,
among other things, down three
athletic trainers... the relatively
close loss was nothing short of
remarkable.
“We tried to stay ahead of it and
tried to keep things normal,” Rive-
ra said. “I thought the guys were
handling it pretty well. But in the
end, we just didn’t get it done.”
Washington departed Philadel-
phia irked, “pissed off,” according
to safety Jeremy Reaves, and an-
noyed by its own doing. Despite
having its defensive line mostly
intact again after starters and re-
serves were in the covid-19 proto-
cols, Washington allowed 41 car-
ries for 238 yards to the Eagles, the
most it has given up since 2017,
when the New York Giants ran for
260 yards.
Miles Sanders led the way with
131 yards, and Jordan Howard
added 69. Quarterback Jalen
Hurts ran for 38 yards and two
touchdowns, including the go-
ahead score in the third quarter.
Rivera believed the defensive
line was affected by the prolonged
absence of some and its limited
reps together.
Defensive end Jonathan Allen,
who spent five days in the proto-
cols last week, refused to offer any
excuse.
“I don’t think we did anything
well today, when you give however
many yards we gave up on the
ground,” he said. “We got our ass
kicked. What do you want me to
say? They were just the better
team today.”
Washington’s running attack
sputtered, gaining just 63 yards
on 21 attempts. Before kickoff, the
team placed McKissic on injured
WASHINGTON FROM D1
reserve with a neck injury, ending
his chance of a return until Week
17 — if he returns at all. Then
Antonio Gibson injured his toe
and tried to fight through the pain
but was clearly missing a step.
The inefficient running game
put even more pressure on Gil-
bert.
Plucked off the New England
Patriots’ practice squad Thursday
when Heinicke was placed in the
coronavirus protocols, Gilbert
had only walk-throughs and film
study to relearn an offense he ran
three years ago. The team was in
the enhanced protocols, with vid-
eoconferences instead of usual
team meetings, and few personal
interactions that required masks.
“It was tough to see anyone’s
face, to be honest with you,” hesaid. “And then putting faces with
names, again, not ideal, but it is
what it is. There’s nothing we can
do about that. Just a testament to
all those guys in there for fighting
it out and giving us a chance.”
But in only his second career
start, Gilbert impressed with me-
diocrity; he completed 20 of 31
passes for 194 yards and an 81.9
rating. He took two sacks but,
more importantly, had zero turn-
overs. Even as the game seemed to
slip away in the second half, he led
a seven-play, 69-yard drive to pull
Washington back within three in
the fourth quarter.
By then, the mistakes and in-
herit disadvantages were too
much to overcome.
“We had some momentum ear-
ly on, and we couldn’t capitalizeon the momentum,” Rivera said.
“You can’t let teams, good teams,
stay around. If you get an opportu-
nity, you got to make plays, and we
didn’t do that.”
Washington jumped to an early
lead, lending belief to the notion
that its adversity was serving as
fuel. It amassed 101 yards in the
first quarter, relying heavily on its
own running game and even more
on its defense. Washington had
takeaways on its first two defen-
sive series to set up a pair of
scores, first a one-yard touch-
down run by Gibson and then a
22-yard field goal by Brian John-
son to claim a 10-0 lead.
Landon Collins, who has
thrived in a hybrid role at safety,
picked off Hurts when his pass
bounced off the foot of tight endDallas Goedert. Collins caught the
ball, but officials mistakenly ruled
it a dead ball, negating what
would’ve been a pick-six.
Washington still turned the
takeaway into points, however,
going 26 yards in seven plays, a
drive that Gibson finished with
the one-yard run.
On the next series, Collins tried
again. Montez Sweat, back from a
month-long absence because of a
fractured jaw and later the coro-
navirus, strip-sacked Hurts, and
Collins recovered the loose ball
and ran it back 23 yards to give
Gilbert another shot at the end
zone.
After a 46-yard strike to Terry
McLaurin along the left sideline,
Washington’s drive sputtered on
third and four, and it settled forthe field goal.
Philadelphia finally started to
gain traction on the wet turf of
Lincoln Financial Field. After the
Eagles hit a 20-yard field goal,
their offense — and especially
Hurts — found a groove, produc-
ing 177 yards in the second quarter
alone. Hurts tied the score at 10
just before halftime with a one-
yard touchdown run, then led the
Eagles to a momentum-shifting
score to begin the second half.
Philadelphia needed only six
plays and 2 minutes 34 seconds at
the start of the third quarter to
take the lead and never let it go.
Hurts collected another one-yard
rushing touchdown, and Wash-
ington, which has prided itself on
its comebacks amid adversity,
quickly unraveled.
Two failed third and longs end-
ed two drives in the third quarter,
and its running game remained
stagnant.
“We had our opportunities,” Ri-
vera said. “We missed opportuni-
ties.”
Washington rallied late after
stopping the Eagles on third and
13 late in the third quarter to set
up a touchdown. Gilbert connect-
ed with rookie tight end John
Bates for a 29-yard catch up the
middle to set up a one-yard touch-
down run by Jaret Patterson, the
first of his career.
But throughout, Gilbert’s tim-
ing was off. His rhythm with the
receivers was missing. And his
limited practice reps showed in
his production.
“He was late a couple of times,
coming back off of his reads,”
R ivera said. “He hung on his reads
a little bit longer. But, man, he
made some plays, and he fought,
and he battled. And when a guy
does that, you appreciate that.”
Hurts seemingly had no such
issues and aired it out in response,
completing two more deep passes,
including one that sailed deep to
the right for a 19-yard touchdown
catch by wide receiver Greg Ward
that expanded Philadelphia’s lead
back to 10 points.
Desperate for a Heinicke-like
big play in crunchtime, Rivera
decided to go for it on fourth and
nine with just under three min-
utes left. Gilbert was sacked by
Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave
and fumbled for a loss of 10 yards
after scrambling to find an open
receiver.
Washington never recovered.
[email protected]Heavily depleted WFT can’t pull o≠ desperately needed win
Washington’s Landon Collins s tops the Eagles’ Miles Sanders. Collins had an interception that was ruled dead, erasing a possible pick-six.