Wentz leads Eagles

Carson Wentz passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns, and the Philadelphia Eagles sacked Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins four times in the Eagles’ 30-17 victory over the NFC East rival Redskins. Wentz also had an interception returned for a touchdown but made fewer errors than Cousins, who was picked off at the goal line and fumbled twice.

LANDOVER, Md. — Carson Wentz put on a magic act evading pressure, the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense ratcheted up its pass rush and the result was the end of a losing streak against the Washington Redskins and a Gatorade bath for Coach Doug Pederson.

Behind two touchdowns from Wentz and four sacks of Kirk Cousins, the Eagles beat the Redskins 30-17 on Sunday in a sloppy, mistake-filled season opener between the NFC East rivals.

Wentz threw for 307 yards and also had an interception returned for a touchdown but made fewer errors than Cousins, who was picked off at the goal line and fumbled twice.

Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor, the recipient of a 58-yard TD pass from Wentz after he avoided being sacked by Jonathan Allen and Preston Smith, called the second-year quarterback “a magician.”

“I don’t know how the guy does it,” left tackle Jason Peters (Arkansas Razorbacks) said of Wentz, who was 26 of 39. “He’s just got a knack for feeling pressure coming and he rolls out of it, he gets out of it and makes a play down the field.”

Cousins finished 23 of 40 for 240 yards with an interception and 2 fumbles, the second of which was forced by Brandon Graham and returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Fletcher Cox in the final minutes, putting the game away.

Cousins had a touchdown pass to third-down back Chris Thompson, but much of the afternoon was done in by drops and other offensive blunders.

“I think we’re better than that up front, better than that at receiver, better than that at quarterback,” Redskins Coach Jay Gruden said.

The Eagles snapped a five-game skid against the Redskins going back to Sept. 9, 2014, and won at FedEx Field for the first time since 2013.

“We’ve been talking all week about kind of getting the monkey off our back down here and really against the Redskins,” Pederson said. “It was just the old setup on the sideline, and I got the bath. Appreciate it, but a little sticky.

Gruden and Pederson avoided the running game, in part because it was having little effect for each team. Cousins, in the second consecutive season of being franchised by Washington, tied as the Redskins’ leading rusher with 30 yards on four carries; they finished with 64. The Eagles had 59 yards on 23 carries, including several handoffs on a clock-draining fourth-quarter drive.

“I think Washington just had a good game plan, but at the end of the day we made enough plays to win,” Wentz said.

The Eagles lost cornerback Ronald Darby to what looked like a serious right ankle injury early in the second quarter. Darby’s ankle bent the wrong way as he was running in coverage with Washington tight end Jordan Reed, and he was carted off.