Game recap

Commanders @ Eagles

2026 Wk 1 · PHI 24, WAS 22

A blocked extra point usually vanishes from the story because most games are not decided by a single point. This one was, twice over: the block forced Washington into a two point try instead of a tying kick, and the try failed. Eight such losses in 27 seasons makes the event itself rare. The same defender producing two of the eight, three games apart, is the part fans will remember.

FanIQ Research · September 14, 2026 · 6 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Jalen Carter blocked an extra point, and Washington lost by 2. He did the same thing to Buffalo in Week 17.

Rare

Washington's fourth quarter touchdown with 1:05 left made it 24-22, and Jayden Daniels's two point pass to John Bates was complete but did not reach the end zone. The missing point traces back to the second quarter: Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored from the 1, and Jalen Carter blocked Drew Stevens's extra point. With that point on the board, the final touchdown needs only a kick to tie. Since 1999 a team has had its own extra point blocked in 222 games and lost 85 of them, but only eight of those losses were by 2 points or fewer. Two of the eight are Philadelphia's last three regular season games, and Carter blocked both kicks: Buffalo's in Week 17 of 2025 (Eagles 13, Bills 12) and Washington's here.

Losing team had an extra point blocked, final margin 2 or fewer, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Game	Score	Margin
2007	7	ARI @ WAS	WAS 21, ARI 19	2
2016	10	DEN @ NO	DEN 25, NO 23	2
2018	2	LV @ DEN	DEN 20, LV 19	1
2019	3	NYG @ TB	NYG 32, TB 31	1
2019	9	IND @ PIT	PIT 26, IND 24	2
2025	17	PHI @ BUF	PHI 13, BUF 12	1
2025	18	CLE @ CIN	CLE 20, CIN 18	2
2026	1	WAS @ PHI	PHI 24, WAS 22	2

The two points Washington did not get

Qtr	Clock	Play	Score after
2	1:56	Croskey-Merritt 1-yd TD run	PHI 14, WAS 9
2	1:56	Stevens extra point blocked by Carter	PHI 14, WAS 9
4	1:05	Daniels 1-yd TD pass to A.Williams	PHI 24, WAS 22
4	1:05	Two point pass to Bates complete, short	PHI 24, WAS 22

Why it matters. A blocked extra point usually vanishes from the story because most games are not decided by a single point. This one was, twice over: the block forced Washington into a two point try instead of a tying kick, and the try failed. Eight such losses in 27 seasons makes the event itself rare. The same defender producing two of the eight, three games apart, is the part fans will remember.

Six Week 1 starts, six wins. No other quarterback since 1999 has opened a career that way.

Milestone

Jalen Hurts has started Philadelphia's opener every season since 2021 and won all six. This was the closest of them at 2 points; the other five were won by 26, 3, 5, 5 and 4. Among every quarterback whose Week 1 starting career began in 1999 or later, the next longest run of wins to open it is five, shared by Joe Flacco and Patrick Mahomes.

Hurts's Week 1 starts

Season	Game	Score	Margin
2021	PHI @ ATL	PHI 32, ATL 6	26
2022	PHI @ DET	PHI 38, DET 35	3
2023	PHI @ NE	PHI 25, NE 20	5
2024	GB @ PHI	PHI 34, GB 29	5
2025	DAL @ PHI	PHI 24, DAL 20	4
2026	WAS @ PHI	PHI 24, WAS 22	2

Longest winning runs to open a Week 1 starting career, 1999 to 2026

Quarterback	First Wk 1 start	Wk 1 starts	Wins to open
Jalen Hurts	2021	6	6
Joe Flacco	2008	14	5
Patrick Mahomes	2018	8	5
Peyton Manning	1999	15	4
Ben Roethlisberger	2005	15	4
Aaron Rodgers	2008	18	4
Jared Goff	2017	10	4
Tua Tagovailoa	2021	5	4
Brock Purdy	2023	4	4

Why it matters. Openers are the one game a year where every team has had a full offseason to prepare, so a long run of Week 1 wins says as much about the program as the passer. Hurts's six came by a combined 45 points, with five decided by 5 or fewer, so this is a streak built on close finishes rather than blowouts. The cohort is scoped to 1999 onward, which is where the play by play record begins; Manning's 1998 opener is not in it.

Philadelphia won with 10 first downs. Washington had 19 and ran 17 more plays.

Anomaly

Washington ran 68 pass and run plays to Philadelphia's 51, moved the chains 19 times to 10, ran 16 plays inside the Philadelphia 20 to the Eagles' 6, and still lost. Philadelphia out-gained Washington 320 to 295 because four plays covered 180 of its yards: a 64-yard pass to Dontayvion Wicks, a 42-yard Saquon Barkley run, a 31-yard pass to DeVonta Smith, and the 43-yard touchdown to Dallas Goedert. Washington's longest play went 33. Since 1999, a team has won with 10 or fewer first downs while its opponent had 19 or more in 66 of 7,273 winning team-games, about one in 110. Six have come since 2020.

This game, pass and run plays

Team	Plays	Yards	First downs	3rd down	Plays inside 20	Plays of 30+	EPA/play
PHI	51	320	10	6 of 14	6	4	+0.071
WAS	68	295	19	5 of 15	16	1	+0.060

Winners with 10 or fewer first downs against a loser with 19 or more, 2020 to 2026

Season	Week	Game	Score	Winner FD / plays	Loser FD / plays
2020	8	LA @ MIA	MIA 28, LA 17	8 / 47	30 / 91
2021	15	TEN @ PIT	PIT 19, TEN 13	9 / 44	22 / 78
2022	6	MIN @ MIA	MIN 24, MIA 16	9 / 49	23 / 74
2023	2	CLE @ PIT	PIT 26, CLE 22	9 / 51	19 / 83
2024	13	LAC @ ATL	LAC 17, ATL 13	10 / 44	21 / 77
2026	1	WAS @ PHI	PHI 24, WAS 22	10 / 51	19 / 68

Why it matters. First downs measure how often an offense sustained anything, and a nine first down deficit normally loses. Philadelphia survived it because its yardage came in four chunks instead of drives, and because Washington's 16 plays inside the 20 produced three touchdowns and a blocked extra point rather than a lead. The pattern in the cohort is the same each time: the winner lives on explosive plays and the loser runs far more snaps. Whether Philadelphia can repeat that against a defense that takes the deep ball away is the open question for Week 2.

Third and 18 from his own 31, up by 1: Hurts ran for 22, then threw the 43-yard winner three snaps later

Trend

Washington had just cut it to 17-16 with 10:04 left. Philadelphia's answer drive stalled at once: a minus 3 yard pass, a false start, an incompletion, and third and 18 from the Philadelphia 31. Hurts scrambled up the middle for 22. Two Will Shipley runs gained 4, and on third and 6 Hurts hit Goedert over the middle for 43 yards and the touchdown. Those two third down plays were the two biggest win probability swings of the game, plus 15.6 and plus 14.6 points. Since 1999, quarterbacks have scrambled on third and 15 or more in a fourth quarter with the score within 3 points 45 times, and converted 9. All plays from that spot convert 10.4 percent of the time (105 of 1,006).

Scoring plays and running score

Qtr	Clock	Team	Play	Score after
1	11:29	WAS	Stevens 55-yd FG	WAS 3, PHI 0
2	14:17	PHI	Hurts 17-yd TD pass to Goedert	PHI 7, WAS 3
2	6:35	PHI	Hurts 9-yd TD pass to Wicks	PHI 14, WAS 3
2	1:56	WAS	Croskey-Merritt 1-yd TD run, PAT blocked	PHI 14, WAS 9
3	0:48	PHI	Elliott 35-yd FG	PHI 17, WAS 9
4	10:04	WAS	Daniels 10-yd TD pass to Diggs	PHI 17, WAS 16
4	6:12	PHI	Hurts 43-yd TD pass to Goedert	PHI 24, WAS 16
4	1:05	WAS	Daniels 1-yd TD pass to A.Williams, 2-pt failed	PHI 24, WAS 22

The go-ahead drive, fourth quarter

Down	Spot	Play	Yards	WP swing
1st and 10	PHI 26	Barkley run	6	+0.2
2nd and 4	PHI 32	Barkley run	7	+2.3
1st and 10	PHI 39	Hurts pass to Barkley	-3	-1.0
2nd and 13	PHI 36	False start, Mailata	-5	-1.8
2nd and 18	PHI 31	Hurts incomplete	0	-3.4
3rd and 18	PHI 31	Hurts scramble	22	+15.6
1st and 10	WAS 47	Shipley run	2	-1.3
2nd and 8	WAS 45	Shipley run	2	-2.4
3rd and 6	WAS 43	Hurts TD pass to Goedert	43	+14.6

QB scrambles that converted 3rd and 15+ in a 4th quarter with the score within 3, 1999 to 2026

Season	Game	Quarterback	To go	Gained
2009	DEN @ PHI	Donovan McNabb	25	27
2010	PIT @ BUF	Ben Roethlisberger	17	18
2012	BAL @ KC	Joe Flacco	15	16
2015	ATL @ TB	Jameis Winston	19	20
2016	MIN @ DET	Matthew Stafford	15	15
2020	KC @ LAC	Patrick Mahomes	20	21
2023	KC @ NYJ	Patrick Mahomes	23	25
2023	DAL @ LAC	Dak Prescott	18	9
2026	WAS @ PHI	Jalen Hurts	18	22

Why it matters. A punt from third and 18 hands Washington the ball with a 1 point deficit and eight minutes left, against an offense that gained 121 yards in the fourth quarter. The scramble kept the drive alive and the Goedert catch turned a one point lead into eight, which is why Washington's last touchdown needed a two point try. Scrambles from that far back convert one time in five even in this cohort, and the whole league converts third and 15 or more in a close fourth quarter about one time in ten.

Philadelphia's third quarter: 15 plays at minus 0.43 EPA each. Its fourth: 8 plays at plus 0.74.

Split

Both offenses swung the same way by quarter. In the first and third quarters Philadelphia and Washington were all negative, and the game produced 13 punts, 7 by Braden Mann and 6 by Tress Way. In the second and fourth quarters both were positive. Philadelphia's fourth quarter was the shortest and most efficient stretch of the game: 8 pass and run plays, 79 yards, plus 0.744 EPA per play. Washington ran 21 plays in the same quarter for 121 yards and 8 first downs and scored twice, but the second score came with 1:05 left.

Score at the end of each quarter

Quarter	PHI	WAS
1	0	3
2	14	9
3	17	9
4	24	22

Offense by quarter, pass and run plays

Team	Qtr	Plays	EPA/play	Yards	First downs	Sacks
PHI	1	13	-0.130	80	2	1
PHI	2	15	+0.386	102	4	0
PHI	3	15	-0.428	59	1	2
PHI	4	8	+0.744	79	3	0
WAS	1	13	-0.356	36	2	0
WAS	2	21	+0.113	90	7	0
WAS	3	13	-0.302	48	2	0
WAS	4	21	+0.488	121	8	1

Why it matters. Philadelphia's third quarter is the stretch that let Washington back in: 15 plays, one first down, two sacks, and a 17-9 lead that could have been larger. The fourth quarter number is built on a tiny sample, 8 plays, two of which went for 22 and 43 yards, so it reflects two moments rather than a sustained shift. Washington's problem was different: its 21 fourth quarter plays were efficient, but 68 plays for the game produced only 22 points, and 16 of those plays came inside the 20.

Hurts has thrown 17 touchdown passes against Washington. No other opponent has allowed him more than 11.

Comparison

Hurts went 14 of 25 for 203 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, taking three sacks. That is his 13th regular season game with three or more touchdown passes, and three of the 13 have come against Washington. Across ten regular season games against the Commanders he has 17 touchdown passes and 2,344 yards; the Giants are next at 11 in nine games. Dallas Goedert caught two of the three. It was his fifth career game with two receiving touchdowns, and four of the five have come since Week 4 of 2025.

Hurts regular season passing touchdowns by opponent, top 6

Opponent	Games	TD passes	Pass yards
WAS	10	17	2,344
NYG	9	11	1,706
DAL	8	10	1,870
PIT	2	6	575
GB	4	6	723
ARI	3	6	744

Hurts's three-touchdown games against Washington

Season	Week	Comp / Att	Yards	TD
2022	3	22 / 35	340	3
2023	8	29 / 38	319	4
2026	1	14 / 25	203	3

Goedert's games with two receiving touchdowns

Season	Week	Opponent	Rec	Yards	TD
2021	13	NYJ	6	105	2
2025	4	TB	4	37	2
2025	8	NYG	3	28	2
2025	15	LV	6	70	2
2026	1	WAS	4	77	2

Why it matters. Division opponents get two games a year, so volume alone explains part of the Washington lead: ten games is Hurts's largest sample against anyone. The rate is what stands out. He averages 1.7 touchdown passes per game against Washington against 1.2 against the Giants and 1.25 against Dallas, the two other opponents he has faced eight or more times. Goedert's recent run matters for the same reason: four two-touchdown games since Week 4 of 2025 after one in his first seven seasons.

FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.

Get FanIQ free Get it on Google Play