The Washington Redskins, picked by many to finish last in their division, silenced the doubters by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 38-24, and in the process clinched the NFC East Crown and a trip to the playoffs before a stunned crowd at Lincoln Financial Field.
Washington, which began the season (2-4) now has a record of (8-7) and a trip to the post season with one game remaining to play in the regular season against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Redskins overcame some baffling miscues to secure the win. First, they missed and extra point giving the Eagles a 7-6 first quarter lead and then right before the break, their quarterback Kirk Cousins committed the “Gaff at the Half.”
With his team inside the 10-yard line with six seconds to play before halftime, Cousins downed the ball instead of spiking it or throwing a pass out of the end zone which allowed the clock to expire with the Redskins only holding a 16-10 lead at the break.
But instead of letting a very embarrassing mistake derail his play, Cousins led the team on a scoring drive which ended with a 12-yard pass to Chris Thompson which gave Washington a 23-10 lead with 6:58 to play in the third quarter.
The Eagles countered with a DeMarco Murray four-yard touchdown run cutting the Washington lead to 23-17 with 4:47 to play in the quarter.
Then the Redskins, who got several breaks, as the Eagles overthrew and dropped two potential touchdown passes, got another dose of good fortune as Murray fumbled a pitch from Eagle’s quarterback Sam Bradford and it was scooped up by Redskin DeAngelo Hall who returned the fumble 17 yards for a touchdown which gave his team a back-breaking 30-17 lead with 3:15 to play in the third quarter.
Cousins, who led the team to 22 second half points, then added a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide out Pierre Garcon in the right corner of the end zone stretching the Washington lead to 38-17 as their two-point conversion pass to Jamison Crowder was good with 8:55 to play in the contest.
The Eagles responded with a Bradford to Jordan Matthews eight-yard scoring pass with 4:34 to play to cut the Washington lead to 38-24. Their onside kick attempt was caught by the Redskin’s Garcon. The Redskins punted to the Eagles with just over three minutes to go. The Eagles failed to convert a fourth and seven and the Redskins were then able to churn the clock and celebrate their Division-clinching victory.
Cousins, who led the team to the 600th win in franchise history, was 31 for 46 for 365 yards and a career-tying four touchdown passes, two to his favorite target Jordan Reed who caught nine passes for 129 yards and two first quarter touchdowns.
Garcon finished the game with seven catches for 80 yards and one touchdown. Ex-Eagle DeSean Jackson, the Washington deep threat, was held to four catches for 40 yards.
Newcomer Pierre Thomas, who has been with the team for three weeks, finished with 67 yards on seven receptions and four rushes for 22 yards, most of which occurred on the Redskins last game-clinching drive.
Bradford finished the game going 37 for 56 for 380 yards and one touchdown. Murray finished the game with 27 yards on five carries. Philadelphia was led in receiving by Zach Ertz who had 13 catches for a team-high 122 yards in a losing effort for the (6-9) Eagles.
