Mistakes By Eagles & Refs Cost Philadelphia Undefeated Season

On paper, this loss made no sense. If you had the traveling 4-5 Washington Commanders pitted against an undefeated Philadelphia Eagles team on a primetime stage, the overwhelming response would side with an easy Eagles win.

In a twist of fate, Washington went to Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night and defeated the Eagles, 32-21.

Costly mistakes in the second half by the Eagles; Jack Del Rio’s defense stunting Philly's offense; and one of the worst missed calls of the season by the refs combined to hand Philly their first loss of the season. And what a huge L it was.

Washington went into the half with a 14-10 lead. This was the Eagles' first game all season where they entered the halftime break with a deficit.

Eagles, Refs Lose Big

The were two calls that will surely dominate Tuesday morning headlines. The first was the missed facemask penalty on Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert that halted an Eagles drive in Washington's territory, down 23-21, as Goedert would fumble as he was having his head twisted.

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Goedert coughed the ball up after getting his facemask yanked, and the Commanders recovered. Sadly, the NFL's early-season issues with officiating reared its ugly head in Week 10.

Goedert’s fumble ended with a 55-yard field goal from Joey Slye, who drilled four FGs for Washington. Slye ended the first half with a clean (and made) 58-yard boot.

The Commanders scored 10 points on takeaways.

Washington cornerback Benjamin St-Juste threw salt in the Eagles' wounds on their ensuing drive with a forced fumble on a 51-yard completion to Quez Watkins.

Inexplicably, the Eagles managed to one-up their mistakes late in the game. With a nail in the coffin and salted wounds, the Eagles buried themselves six feet deeper.

Facing a third-down play by the Commanders to potentially give the ball back to the Eagles offense, defensive lineman Brandon Graham got a roughing-the-passer call with a late hit on Taylor Heinicke, who had given himself up for what should have been a huge sack.

No matter how hard Troy Aikman tried to justify the flag on Graham, it was a clear display of Philadelphia's frustration and wayward focus.

Game. Over.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 14: Taylor Heinicke #4 of the Washington Commanders reacts to a late hit by Haason Reddick #7 of the Philadelphia Eagles which was later ruled as unnecessary roughness penalty during the fourth quarter in the game at Lincoln Financial Field on November 14, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Philadelphia remains cemented at the top of the NFC East with an 8-1 record, but the Commanders' win proved that no NFL team is disqualified from upsetting the Eagles. Any Given Sunday.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only undefeated team in NFL history.