Eagles roll to win after a slow start

Decimated by COVID absences, Washington fades; Hurts accounts for three touchdowns.

PHILADELPHIA 27 WASHINGTON 17

PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, helping the Philadelphia Eagles come back from an early deficit to beat virus-ravaged Washington 27-17 on Tuesday night in a critical showdown with NFC playoff implications.

In his first game back from an ankle injury, Hurts scored on a pair of one-yard sneaks to set the single-season franchise record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 10 and connected with Greg Ward on a 19-yard touchdown pass. He was 20 for 26 for 296 yards passing and the touchdown with an interception that occurred when Dallas Goedert dropped a catchable pass and the ball bounced off his right foot and into the hands of Washington’s Landon Collins.

That was a mistake for Philadelphia that helped stake Washington (6-8) to a 10-point lead after the first quarter. Behind a dominant effort from their offensive line, it was all Eagles (7-7) from there: They outgained Washington 435-136 the rest of the way and shut down a team missing a handful of starters because of COVID-19 protocols, including starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke.

Miles Sanders exploited the holes in Washington’s defense left by those absences, carrying the ball 18 times for 131 yards. He became the first Eagles player with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since LeSean McCoy in 2014.

Philadelphia finished with 238 yards rushing, becoming the first team with 175-plus yards on the ground in seven consecutive games since the 1985 Chicago Bears.