By the skin of Reed Blankenship’s forearm, Eagles defense survives vs. Washington

Reed Blankenship held out his left arm — the one that might have saved the Eagles. There was an imprint from Terry McLaurin’s left cleat. It was inflamed and obvious, more so than the Washington receiver’s foot landing out of bounds, or the notion that Blankenship’s arm kept him from staying inbounds.

But the Eagles safety’s tight coverage on a key third-down stop in overtime was clear as it helped propel the once-again uneven Eagles past the pesky Commanders, 34-31, on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

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“I guess the football gods were looking out for us,” Blankenship said. “It was just a bang-bang play and luckily my arm was in the right spot.”

After the defense forced a punt, quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense drove into Washington territory where the ever-reliable Jake Elliott booted a 54-yard field goal to advance the Eagles to 4-0. Only the San Francisco 49ers have won as many in the first four weeks of the NFL season.

“It’s been an ugly 4-0 start, to be honest,” cornerback Darius Slay said.

The Eagles have yet to put together a complete performance. Last week, the defense shut down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and looked as dominant as the unit has looked in years in doing so. This week, the offense carried the load and finally delivered the type of passing outing that has come to be expected of Hurts and company since last year.

But overall consistency has been elusive. And on Sunday, Sean Desai’s defensive unit took a step back. Was it just a one-game blip? Perhaps. But that it came against a Washington offense that was downright dreadful last week in a 37-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills could be cause for concern.

Quarterback Sam Howell, a week after tossing four interceptions and getting sacked nine times, looked the complete opposite of how he did vs. Buffalo. The second-year quarterback completed 29 of 41 passes (71%) for 290 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 40 yards.

“He was making a lot of plays with his legs,” Slay said.

He made as many with his arm — early and then late in the fourth quarter with two touchdown drives. Desai had his moments. He dialed up some timely blitzes that helped lead to three Nicholas Morrow sacks. And he made some adjustments at the half that temporarily stalled the Commanders’ first-half success.

But new Washington offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was often a step ahead — just as his former team, the Kansas City Chiefs, were in Super Bowl LVII vs. the Eagles. His pre-snap motions often revealed Desai’s disguises and the secondary was late to adjust.

“We knew going into the game they were going to motion a lot,” cornerback James Bradberry said, “but it’s different once you get out on the field.”

But unlike Jonathan Gannon’s unit in February, the Eagles were able to get some stops after the half. Linebacker Haason Reddick, who had the cast from his surgically repaired right thumb removed last week, had his first sack of the season which led to a Commanders punt in the fourth quarter.

Facing off against Andrew Wylie — just as he did in Arizona on the slippery State Farm Stadium grass — Reddick burned the right tackle with an outside speed rush.

“After the Super Bowl, it’s time to let it go when you talk about that,” Reddick said of the controversial field conditions. “But based on the conditions … I was happy to be out there today and help my team and contribute to a win.”

» READ MORE: Yes, the Eagles are 4-0, but they can be better. And they’ll have to be.

The Eagles went ahead, 31-24, on their ensuing drive with A.J. Brown’s 28-yard touchdown grab. But the defense couldn’t put Washington away as Howell hit receiver Jahan Dotson in the end zone against cornerback Josh Jobe and safety Terrell Edmunds as time expired.

The Commanders won the toss in overtime. On third-and-5, Howell went to his linchpin, McLaurin, with the Eagles in man coverage.

“It was something they don’t like to do a lot of on first and second down, but on third down they will play a little more man coverage,” Howell said. “The safety … he was playing man on Terry, so I knew I was going to Terry the whole time.”

McLaurin, who finished with eight catches for 86 yards, ran an out pattern.

“As soon as he broke out, I was like, ‘I got to go,’” Blankenship said. “I got to get on my horse and go.”

McLaurin made a leaping, over-the-shoulder catch, but Blankenship arrived at the same time and wrapped the receiver up around the waist. He used his arm to brace himself as he landed and McLaurin’s foot landed squarely on it, which propelled it forward seemingly onto the sideline.

The incomplete call on the field was reviewed.

“The explanation I got,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said, “was that they couldn’t see it clear enough.”

It wasn’t Blankenship’s lone standout play. He had another pass breakup and finished with eight tackles. He’s kept the safety position, ahem, afloat despite an assortment of injuries. He missed Week 2 with a rib injury, and starter Justin Evans (neck) and Sydney Brown (hamstring) were sidelined Sunday.

Edmunds, who dropped a would-be interception and was flagged for two unnecessary-roughness penalties, had a rough day. Howell’s quick release often offset the Eagles’ pass rush, and the Eagles’ zone-heavy coverage was often unable to take away first reads.

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“Yeah, we made some mistakes out there,” Blankenship said. “But at the end of the day … we still got a good team.”

But do they have a good defense under Desai?

“I feel like we’re comfortable,” Blankenship said. “We make mistakes, but we’re the type of team where we’re going to go in and correct them. Everybody’s open for it. We communicate real well with each other.”

As for Blankenship’s cleated-up arm, he said he was fine.

“I’m still walking around,” he said before slipping on a pair of cowboy boots.

And the Eagles are still undefeated — by the skin of their teeth.