Eagles: Three Keys to Victory vs. Washington

With their win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Redskins are guaranteed at least a. 500 season, the divisional title, and a playoff birth for the first time in three long, painful seasons.

But Washington pulled to within 7-6 on the of Kirk Cousins’ touchdown passes to tight end Reed, this one going for 22 yards.

The Redskins rebounded from a lackluster home loss to Dallas on December 7 to knock off Chicago and Buffalo, posting back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

The Redskins’ 16th-ranked scoring defense could hinder the team in the postseason, but pulling off stunners has become Washington’s primary mode of operation over the past few weeks.

Sam Bradford has been less impressive in Philly, although he’s played better as the season has gone on.

The Redskins’ defense recovered two fumbles, including a scoop-and-score by DeAngelo Hall in the third quarter. They have to believe they’re a good team. But Cousins inexplicably took a knee rather than spiking the ball, and the clock ran out.

Cousins later threw his fourth touchdown pass, this time to wide receiver Pierre Garcon from 13 yards. Starting 5-7 didn’t help, but Gruden kept the team together and the result is their first division title since 2012.

The Eagles aren’t that good and never deserved a chance – let alone what’s felt like an endless parade of second chances – to win the division in the first place. The Eagles are coming off a loss to the Arizona Cardinals by a 40-17 final score, and need a victory tonight in order to remain in realistic contention within the division. Towards the end of the first half, Dashon Goldson recovered a fumble after the Redskins punted the ball out of the back their own end zone. Washington’s Dustin Hopkins was flawless on three field goals and two extra points in that game. He made up for it in the second half.

Cousins tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Thompson to give Washington a 23-10 lead. Look for Chip Kelly to try to establish the run game early, control the tempo, and try to make things easy for Sam Bradford. He converted three third-down passes on the series after Jaylen Watkins dropped an interception.

Washington Redskins’ running back Matt Jones has been ruled out for Saturday’s contest against the Philadelphia Eagles due to a lingering hip injury, according to Comcast Sports’ Tarik El-Bashir. Bradford then missed tight end Zach Ertz for a potential go-ahead 60-yard touchdown.

Bradford was 5-for-5 on that opening series, for 60 of those yards.

Washington scored on back-to-back first quarter drives when Cousins twice connected with Reed for scores.

They missed another opportunity on the following series when Nelson Agholor dropped a 28-yard TD pass and settled for Caleb Sturgis’ 34-yard field goal that cut it to 13-10.

Cousins finished with 364 yards passing and four touchdowns. He had career-highs in receptions (82) and yards receiving (1,332) and tied his best with nine touchdown catches.