PHILADELPHIA \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a masterpiece. It didn\u2019t have to be.<\/p>\n
The Eagles opened the season Sunday with a 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders, surviving a late rally when Moro Ojomo blew up a two-point conversion with 1:01 remaining. There were enough big plays to win and enough mistakes to keep the coaches busy this week.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the report card by position group:<\/p>\n
Quarterback: A<\/p>\n
Jalen Hurts completed only 14 of 25 passes but threw for 203 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, good for a 122.2 passer rating. He added 46 yards rushing, including a Houdini-like 22-yard scramble on third-and-18 during the decisive fourth-quarter drive. \u201cIt\u2019s just playing ball,\u201d Hurts said of the scramble.<\/p>\n
Running back: B<\/p>\n
Saquon Barkley was hit in the backfield far too often but still managed 83 yards on 15 carries, including a 42-yard burst on third-and-2. Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley combined for only three carries, so Sean Mannion\u2019s promised committee was mostly a one-man show.<\/p>\n
Offensive line: C<\/p>\n
This was the troublesome part. The Eagles allowed three sacks, committed four holding penalties and repeatedly let Washington penetrate the backfield. Cam Jurgens was flagged twice for holding and Landon Dickerson had an especially rough afternoon. Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata were considerably steadier on the edges.<\/p>\n
Tight end\/Receiver: B<\/p>\n
Dallas Goedert caught four passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns, including a 43-yarder that gave the Eagles a 24-16 lead. Dontayvion Wicks announced his arrival with a 64-yard reception and later caught a 9-yard touchdown. DeVonta Smith had only three catches but made a beauty for 31 yards with a toe-drag along the sideline and later recovered Washington\u2019s onside kick to seal the win.<\/p>\n
Rookie Makai Lemon caught three passes, including the first of the game, for minus-5 yards. Perhaps Elijah Moore should have started in his place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith J, if he trusts you, he\u2019ll put it up there,\u201d Wicks said of Hurts.<\/p>\n
![\"Wide](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2295118756.jpg\")
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) of the Philadelphia Eagles catches a pass near the sideline against Darius Rush (29) of the Washington Commanders in the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (Mitchell Leff\/Getty Images)
\nDefensive line: B+<\/p>\n
The Eagles recorded only one sack and didn\u2019t get the penetration they wanted, but Jalen Carter and company still made QB Jayden Daniels uncomfortable. Jordan Davis was stout against the run and finished with eight tackles. Carter forced a fumble (though it was recovered by the Commanders) and blocked an extra point that loomed enormous later. Ojomo supplied the game-saving tackle on Washington\u2019s two-point shovel pass.<\/p>\n
Linebacker: A-<\/p>\n
Zack Baun was everywhere. The All-Pro led the Eagles with 12 tackles, broke up two passes and made a tackle for loss. Jihaad Campbell had a few shaky moments in coverage, but Baun more than compensated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were good things and bad things,\u201d Baun said, \u201cI\u2019m excited to watch the film.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cornerback: B<\/p>\n
Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen were like Velcro on Washington receivers, including keeping Terry McLaurin quiet most of the game. Cooper DeJean had a rough evening in the slot, allowing several completions and drawing an illegal-contact penalty. He did contribute a well-timed blitz that forced an incompletion.<\/p>\n
Safety: B<\/p>\n
Marcus Epps left briefly with a shoulder injury but returned, and Andrew Mukuba was generally steady. Washington found some openings over the middle and hit Antonio Williams for 33 yards in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles largely prevented Daniels from hurting them deep.<\/p>\n
Special teams: A-<\/p>\n
Braden Mann was superb, averaging 51.6 yards on seven punts with four downed inside the 20. Jake Elliott made his 35-yard field goal and both extra points, Carter blocked one and Smith cleanly handled the onside kick when Washington still had a prayer. Britain Covey was unspectacular yet solid returning punts. The only significant blemish was uneven kickoff coverage.<\/p>\n
Coaching: B<\/p>\n
Nick Sirianni improved to 6-0 in season openers, and Mannion won his first game as an NFL play-caller. The new offense flashed its potential with explosive plays but too often went backward, finishing with 10 first downs and 10 tackles for loss allowed. Vic Fangio\u2019s defense bent late but made the play it absolutely had to make.<\/p>\n
As Hurts put it: \u201cIt\u2019s just about meeting the moment when your opportunity comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a masterpiece. It didn\u2019t have to be. The Eagles opened the season Sunday with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1418,69,4538,71,70,726,432],"class_list":["post-285565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}