Commanders Close Out Season With A Road Victory Against Eagles (1-4-26)
By: Jaden Golding
Headline Photo Credit: Commanders Wire
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Josh Johnson hadn’t won a game as a starting quarterback since his last stint with Washington back on December 16, 2018, on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yesterday, his go-ahead game-winning one-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-goal, off a nice handoff fake, put the Commanders ahead 24-17 with 2:32 left in the game.
It was Johnson’s third appearance this season and second-straight start after Marcus Mariota went down against Philadelphia in December. Johnson completed 14-of-22 passes for 131 passing yards, one passing touchdown, one interception, while rushing nine times for 45 yards and his previously mentioned rushing touchdown.
Philadelphia (11-6) had already clinched the playoffs and the NFC East weeks ago, and head coach Nick Sirianni decided to roll with his backups and rest his starters in preparation. However, as a result of the loss, Philadelphia missed out on the second seed in the NFC and will now host the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card round on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Tanner McKee made the start in place of Jalen Hurts, completing 21 out of 40 passes for 241 yards, one passing touchdown, one interception, and was sacked three times. McKee struggled with accuracy, decision-making, and guiding the offense down the field in scoring position.
Johnson threw a touchdown pass to John Bates earlier in the fourth quarter before his go-ahead rushing touchdown that sparked the Commanders’ (5-12) comeback.
Chris Rodriguez had 16 carries for 65 yards, 4.1 per carry, and one rushing touchdown.
Terry McLaurin was the leading receiver with four catches for 57 yards, and Deebo Samuel only had two catches for 20 yards.
Daron Payne, Noah Igbinoghene, and Von Miller rounded out the three sacks for Washington. Miller’s sack earned him an incentive of $500K for nine sacks total on the season.
Veteran safety Jeremy Reaves came up with Washington’s interception in the second quarter.
Future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner finished the contest with five tackles to mark him with 2,000 tackles in his career, joining two elite talents in NFL history as the only ones to accomplish that feat (London Fletcher and Ray Lewis).
It’s been a rough and challenging season for the Commanders as they’ve dealt with injuries and bad play. They’ll look to make massive changes to their roster and, potentially, to some spots on their staff in the offseason.
