Eagles’ comeback win against Washington tells the story of the season

LANDOVER, Md. — Nick Sirianni didn’t sense any panic on the Eagles sideline.

The Eagles were trailing the Washington Football Team; their run game wasn’t as effective as it has been for most of the season, and Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke was on a hot streak.

Still, Sirianni said the Eagles remained steadfast en route to a 20-16 win over Washington at FedEx Field on Sunday, moving to 9-7 and setting up a playoff berth secured later that night.

“There was a calmness throughout the entire game,” Sirianni said. “We’ve had double-digit wins. I think we’ve only had one game that wasn’t a double-digit win. ... That whole game, there was just this, I’ll say it again, this calmness from our leaders on the team that reflected in everybody else.”

There’s a good chance the Eagles’ disposition has come from experience. They’re on a four-game winning streak going into the season’s final week, but each of those games required them to overcome slow starts and early deficits.

This stretch is also emblematic of the season they’ve had in a way. After starting 2-5, the Eagles have won seven of their last nine games. Sirianni said the team’s turnaround this season has been instructive in games like Sunday’s.

“That’s what you do when you take things little by little,” Sirianni said. “When you’re down two scores at the end of the first half, you’re not going to get it all at once with one drive, right? You’re going to go down there and make it a tighter game with the drive, but you can’t get all your points back.

“Just like you can’t get all your wins back when you start a little bit slow,” he added. “So it’s just us recovering from the 2-5 to where we are now is definitely; it kind of prepared us. You know it prepares you for games like this where you’re in a hole and you’ve got to chip away at it. That’s what our guys did.”

While it hasn’t been a problem during this four-game stretch, the slow starts are still an area for concern for the Eagles. They’ve been held scoreless in the first quarter three consecutive games and are being outscored by 32-7 in the first frame during the win streak.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Washington instant analysis: Rodney McLeod seals the win with an interception, Boston Scott shines

The Eagles’ first offensive drive ended on a failed fourth-and-1 conversion attempt, which helped set up a Washington field goal on the next series. The Eagles trailed 10-0 going into the second quarter and went into halftime down, 16-7.

Like they have all season, though, the Eagles responded. On the opening drive of the second half, Boston Scott capped a 14-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down. On two of the next three offensive possessions, Jake Elliott made field goals to give the Eagles the lead.

When asked about the team’s ability to dig itself out of holes, Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson pointed to the “resiliency” the group has shown this season.

“That’s what the NFL is all about,” Johnson said. “A lot of times, there’s a point in the season where you have to take a direction that’s either up or down. I feel like we fought to point that arrow up. So, even when our backs were against the wall and things weren’t looking good, even today, a lot of stuff, self-inflicted wounds, and we had to adjust and overcome.”

The Eagles’ “arrow-up” moment came in Las Vegas after a 33-22 loss — a loss that was more of a blowout than the score suggested — to drop them to 2-5. They seemed to make an about-face on both sides of the ball coming off the Vegas loss. They shifted to a run-first operation on offense and have been, at times, more aggressive on defense.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Washington instant analysis: Rodney McLeod seals the win with an interception, Boston Scott shines

“We just bought into who we are,” Hurts said of the turnaround. “We just bought into what we could be. We trusted in the grind and approaching every day the way we do. For a game like this, to be able to persevere and show straight grit, straight grit, in tough moments of the football game, we found a way to win today.”