LOOK BACK: Eagles Top 5 Moments vs The Washington Football Team
Washington’s organization officially announced that they would be retiring the name ‘Redskins’ permanently.
Although long overdue, Dan Snyder finally came around on the obvious negative connotations the name held.
Right now, however, a new name might be the last thing on Snyder’s mind, with a report coming out about years of sexual abuse within Washington’s organization.
With the Redskins era officially coming to a close, it’s a good time to look back on the top 5 moments for the Eagles in their rivalry with the Redskins.
1) The Monday Night Massacre
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Already having lost the first leg of the division series, the Eagles traveled to Landover, Maryland to take on the Washington Redskins on Monday Night in week 10 of 2010. Before the game even got started, the two teams were riled up at midfield in an apparent exchange of words between DeSean Jackson and Laron Landry. It didn’t work out too well for the latter.
On the first play of the game, Jackson burned Landry deep for an 88-yard touchdown on an absolute bomb from Michael Vick.
The rest of the night went pretty much the same way, as Michael Vick had himself one of the greatest performances in NFL history. It was 45-14 at the half, and 59-28 after all of the massacre.
Vick finished the night at 20/28, 333 yards, 4 passing TDs, and a 150.7 QBR. On top of that, he had 8 rushes for 80 yards and 2 more touchdowns. His 413 total yards and 6 total touchdowns resulted in the highest fantasy score for a quarterback ever.
2) MVP Wentz Takes the Spotlight on Monday Night
Photo: Yong Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer
In a primetime divisional matchup between two teams over .500, the Eagles would end up dominating the Redskins to take a commanding lead in 1st place of the NFC East. The game didn’t start out pretty for the Birds though; on the second play from scrimmage, Kirk Cousins attacked a hurt Jordan Hicks down the seam for a 32-yard pass to Vernon Davis. That ended up being Hicks’ last play of the season, as he had torn his Achilles on the play.
Down 10-3 through a quarter and a half, Carson Wentz and the offense finally hit their stride. Starting off with a 64-yard bomb to Mack Hollins for a touchdown, the Eagles offense would end up scoring touchdowns on 4 of 5 drives between the 2nd and 3rd quarters, including a Brett Favre-esque pass from Wentz to Corey Clement. Wentz capped his incredible night off when he broke out of what looked to be a guaranteed sack and turned it into a 17-yard scramble, leading to another score, and a 34-24 Eagles win.
3) The BodyBag Game
Photo: Philadelphia Eagles
Notice a growing theme here? The Eagles always seem to dominate the Redskins on Monday Night. This game was no different. With the 5-3 Redskins visiting the 4-4 Eagles, playoff implications were most certainly on the line in this matchup, and with the Eagles already having lost the first leg, they were more than motivated to win. The game would start off with a William Frizzell pick-6 off of Jeff Rutledge to put the Eagles ahead 7-0. After the Redskins tied it up at 7-7, the Eagles put up 21 points in the 3rd quarter and never looked back.
Over the course of the game, over nine Redskin players were injured, including starting quarterback Jeff Rutledge as well as back up quarterback Mark Rypien. They would end the game with running back Brian Mitchell taking snaps under center. This game ended up forcing the NFL to instate a rule that allowed teams to dress a third quarterback outside of the 45-man game-day roster.
4) Miles Sanders Runs Rampant in Must-Win Game
Photo: Will Newton/Getty Images
Coming in at 6-7, the Eagles had to essentially win out the season in order to win the division and secure the playoff spot. With the 3-11 Redskins up second in a string of four straight divisional games, you would imagine this would be the easiest game, right? Wrong. A game that came down to a Carson Wentz game-winning drive, was Miles Sanders who was the star that day.
Sanders put together a performance of 172 all-purpose yards (122 rushing, 50 receiving), 2 total touchdowns, and a ridiculous catch in the back of the end zone on a 63 mph Carson Wentz bullet. Twice he rushed for 1st down on 3rd and longs and became the first Eagles running back to rush for 100 yards since LeGarrette Blount in 2017. The Eagles finished the game with a Nigel Bradham run back for a touchdown on a lateral fumble, winning 37-27 and improving to 7-7.
5) Chip Kelly’s High Octane Offense Wins Season Opener
Although Chip Kelly’s first game as head coach was not indicative of the rest of his time in Philadelphia, or the NFL for that matter, it was certainly impressive for a guy who had never coached on the pro level before.
On the game’s first drive, Michael Vick and the offense traveled 76 yards to the Redskins 4, before a pass that was eventually deemed a lateral was returned back for a touchdown by D’Angelo Hall. After that though, it was lights out football from Chip Kelly and the Eagles.
The offense scored 33 straight, while the defense forced 3 turnovers, a safety, and only gave up 52 yards through the first two quarters and the first Redskins drive in the 3rd quarter. Washington would then put together a comeback that fell short after a failed onside kick, sealing a 33-27 win for the Eagles to start off the 2013 campaign.
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