Carson Wentz keeps Eagles alive as Washington lose Colt McCoy for season
Carson Wentz ran around and extended plays the way he did before his knee injury.
Wentz tossed two touchdown passes, Darren Sproles ran for a score and the Philadelphia Eagles stayed in the hunt for the NFC East title with a 28-13 victory over depleted Washington on Monday night.
The Eagles (6-6) won consecutive games for the first time since Nick Foles led them to a Super Bowl victory over the Patriots.
Washington (6-6) lost backup quarterback Colt McCoy to a serious right leg injury in his second game replacing Alex Smith, who broke his right tibia and fibula on 18 November. Mark Sanchez took his place.
Washington coach Jay Gruden said after the game that, from what he understands, McCoy fractured his fibula and will miss the rest of the season.
Adrian Peterson ran 90 yards for a touchdown on Sanchez’s first play under center, giving Washington a 10-7 lead. It was the longest run Philadelphia has allowed in franchise history but Washington’s lead didn’t last long, and their fans won’t relish relying on Sanchez for the rest of the season. Sanchez, who has had an undistinguished career so far, threw one interception and no touchdowns in the remainder of the game.
Wentz, who hasn’t scrambled much since returning in Week 3 from surgery to repair two knee ligaments, didn’t run for any yards. But he was on the move quite a bit on designed rollouts and plays in which he improvised and completed passes.
Sproles put Philadelphia up 14-10 on a 14-yard TD run in the second quarter. Wentz tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Jordan Matthews and connected with Golden Tate on a 2-point conversion to extend the lead to 22-13 early in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles twice failed to score inside the red zone and still managed their second-highest point total this season.
They had a first down at the Washington 2 in the second quarter, but Josh Adams was stopped for a loss on fourth down from the 1.
They had a first down at the Washington 5 in the third quarter, but Wentz threw an interception right to Josh Norman.
Wentz finished 27 of 39 for 306 yards. He came out firing and led the Eagles to a score on their opening drive for only the third time season.
First, he scrambled out of the pocket, motioned Tate to go deep and lofted a 19-yard pass down the left sideline on a first-and-15. Wentz finished the drive by firing a 6-yard TD pass on the run to Tate.
Dustin Hopkins kicked field goals of 47 and 44 yards for Washington.