Monday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders ended Week 10 of the 2022 NFL season — and the Eagles’ pursuit of an undefeated season.
Behind a methodical offense that held the ball for over 40 minutes and an opportunistic defense that forced four turnovers, the Commanders gave their division rivals their first loss.
Meanwhile, NFL history was made Sunday morning as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 at Munich’s Allianz Arena in the league’s first regular-season game in Germany.
Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson and key defensive plays led the Minnesota Vikings to another come-from-behind win — this time over the Buffalo Bills in overtime. The Vikings are now 8-1 on the season.
Tua Tagovailoa threw three touchdown passes to lead the Miami Dolphins over the Cleveland Browns, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the New York Giants’ defense was solid in a win vs. the Houston Texans.
T.J. Watt returned to action for the first time since Week 2 to help the Pittsburgh Steelers pick up a win over the New Orleans Saints, the Detroit Lions scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Chicago Bears, and the Denver Broncos gave up 17 unanswered points to the Tennessee Titans as their offense was mostly silent in the second half of the loss.
In the late afternoon window, the Jeff Saturday era for the Indianapolis Colts began Sunday with Matt Ryan back at QB, a 66-yard run for Jonathan Taylor and a win at the Las Vegas Raiders. The Green Bay Packers took down the Dallas Cowboys in overtime with help from rookie WR Christian Watson, who had three touchdown catches, and the Arizona Cardinals dominated the Los Angeles Rams in the battle of backup quarterbacks.
Closing out the Sunday lineup, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers.
On Thursday, the Carolina Panthers’ ground game continued to chug along without Christian McCaffrey as they ran over the Atlanta Falcons 25-15 in Carolina.
Our NFL Nation reporters react with the biggest takeaways and lingering questions off this week’s matchups and look ahead to what’s next. Games are Sunday unless noted. Let’s get to it.
What to know: Washington finally discovered its identity: the run game. Actually, some in the building knew that’s who the Commanders needed to be, but the trick was sticking with the run and not falling in love with getting the ball to their wideouts. But credit offensive coordinator Scott Turner with an excellent game plan. They won’t be able to run the ball 49 times every week, but they can be more run heavy. It helped the protection being in so many third-and-shorts. It kept the defense off the field, and it keyed a win. It’s the blueprint they need to follow moving forward.
Who will start at quarterback? Carson Wentz is eligible to be activated off injured reserve this week after spending the past four games nursing a broken right ring finger. But Taylor Heinicke led Washington to a 3-1 mark in his absence and guided a huge upset win over the Eagles. While the coaches believe Wentz has the higher upside in this offense, there’s no denying what Heinicke means to his teammates. They have to ride with him as the starter until his magic runs out. — John Keim
What to know: The Eagles were on the wrong end of at least one critical call — a clear facemask on tight end Dallas Goedert factored into a game-changing fumble — but they were too sloppy in their play and saw their undefeated streak come to an end. Philadelphia turned the ball over four times, marking the first time this season they didn’t win the turnover battle.
How big of an issue is the run defense? The Eagles’ rush defense continues to be a problem in the absence of rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. The Commanders rushed 29 times for 100 yards in the first half alone, gobbling up 23:49 in time of possession in the process. Philadelphia’s 6:11 on possession was its shortest since Week 6 of 2001 against the New York Giants and the lowest by any team in the first half of a game in the last five seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. They need to get things corrected quick with Jonathan Taylor and the Colts on deck. — Tim McManus
