After the Commanders made it a two-point game midway through the second quarter, the Eagles scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes and have a 27-15 lead at halftime.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts put up the first score with 1-yard TD on a tush push, giving Philadelphia a 20-12 advantage. The Eagles went for two after Marshon Lattimore was flagged for a personal foul, but didn’t get the conversion on a failed tush-push play.
Washington then fumbled the ensuing kickoff for the team’s second lost possession of the first half. The Commanders were nearly off the field on third-and-10, but cornerback Mike Sainristil was flagged for unnecessary roughness for hitting running back Saquon Barkley as he went out of bounds. That gave Philadelphia a free first down, which the club eventually turned into a 4-yard touchdown to A.J. Brown.
Washington did get three more points with a 42-yard field goal at the end of the half, capping a quick five-play, 46-yard drive that took just 37 seconds.
Barkley had previously scored two touchdowns in the first two quarters. He took the first play from scrimmage for a 60-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 7-3 lead. Then Barkley went in for a 4-yard touchdown after Washington’s first fumble of the half, making it 14-3.
After a second Zane Gonzalez field goal, the Commanders made it a game with Jayden Daniels’ 36-yard touchdown pass to Terry Mclaurin. But their two-point conversion failed, to keep the score at 14-12 with 7:05 left in the second quarter.
Jake Elliott had also missed a 54-yard field goal in the first half.
As noted by Tim McManus of ESPN, the Eagles are the first team since 2000 to recover multiple opponent fumbles on kick returns in a single postseason. Philadelphia also picked up a fumble recovery against Green Bay.
Hurts ended the first half 12-of-18 for 141 yards with a touchdown pass and a TD run. Saquon Barkley has 85 yards on nine carries with two TDs. He now has three touchdown runs of at least 60 yards in the last two weeks. Brown caught four passes for 61 yards with a touchdown.
On the other side, Daniels was 15-of-24 for 138 yards with a touchdown in the first two quarters. He also rushed for 31 yards on four carries. McLaurin had two catches for 43 yards.
The Eagles will receive the second-half kickoff.
