Okay, no Eagles fan ever wants to wait 413 days - 413 days! - for a win at home again. But the franchise-record 10-game losing streak in the City of Brotherly Love is over as the Eagles beat Washington 24-16 on Sunday.
With three straight wins, the Eagles go into the bye week with a 6-5 record and own sole possession of first place in the NFC East. The last time the Eagles were above .500 this late in the season was 2010.
The Eagles never trailed and led 24-0 through three quarters, but Washington rallied to make the game interesting with a pair of late touchdowns. Washington had one final chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Brandon Boykin picked off Robert Griffin III in the end zone with 24 seconds remaining to put an end to the comeback attempt. It was the second straight week that Boykin intercepted the quarterback in the end zone. On the year, Boykin has a team-leading four interceptions with two of them coming against Griffin III and Washington.
Running back LeSean McCoy grinded out a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs to provide the bulk of the scoring for the Eagles despite missing some of the game with a hamstring injury. With 77 yards rushing on 20 carries, the league's leading rusher became the first NFL player to go over 1,000 yards on the season.
It's the third time McCoy has gained at least 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Sunday also marked McCoy's 10th-career multi-touchdown game and his sixth with at least two rushing touchdowns. McCoy exited the game in the second quarter with a right hamstring injury after a 16-yard run, but returned for the start of the third quarter.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson led all receivers with a game-high 82 yards receiving on four catches. McCoy added 73 receiving yards to finish with 150 total yards from scrimmage.
Quarterback Nick Foles was efficient completing 65 percent of his pass attempts for 298 yards to finish with a quarterback rating of 104.3. Foles opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and was second on the team with 47 rushing yards. Foles nearly had two touchdown passes, but Brent Celek and Riley Cooper were each brought down at the 1-yard line on the other touchdown drives which were capped off by McCoy.
The last time the Eagles won at home before Sunday was September 30, 2012 when the team retired the number of legendary safety Brian Dawkins. The defense carried the Eagles to victory despite missing three key players in linebacker Mychal Kendricks, cornerback Bradley Fletcher and safety Earl Wolff. Najee Goode started for Kendricks and recorded his first-career sack. Cornerback Roc Carmichael started for the second straight week in place of Fletcher.
Linebackers Connor Barwin and Trent Cole led the defensive effort as Barwin forced a Griffin III fumble in the red zone, which was recovered by defensive end Fletcher Cox. Cole, meanwhile, notched his first multi-sack performance since December 2011 at Miami.
Griffin III struggled mightily completing 17 of 35 pass attempts (49 percent) for 264 yards with two touchdowns and the interception. Running back Alfred Morris had 86 rushing yards in the first half, but only finished with 93 total for the game. Washington lost wide receiver Leonard Hankerson to a knee injury in the first half and playmaking rookie tight end Jordan Reed to a concussion in the second half. Wide receiver Pierre Garcon had 68 yards on six receptions to lead Washington.
It appeared as if the Eagles had the game at hand with a 24-0 lead in the third quarter. In fact, out-of-town markets seeing the game on FOX were being shifted to other contests. However, Griffin III connected with fullback Darrel Young on a 62-yard touchdown pass to end the shutout as safety Patrick Chung accidentally leveled Cole to pave the way for Young. Griffin III found wide receiver Aldrick Robinson for a 41-yard touchdown with 5:57 remaining. After the two-point conversion, it was a one-possession game until Boykin's interception put a bow on the victory.
Following the bye week, the Eagles have two straight home games beginning with the Arizona Cardinals on December 1.
