Eagles Show Effort, But Same Mistakes Amount To 27-22 Loss To Washington

PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — Effort was the operative word of the week, and Zach Ertz was the posterchild of the message. The fourth-year tight end had a week to ponder, watch, listen and wonder if he wanted to be marked a mutt by Eagles fan. Ertz has always played with the promise tag, but never had his character openly questioned as a player before last week. Those concerns no doubt seeped through and touched some part of his conscience, because he was looking to over compensate for his avoided block in Cincinnati by how he played Sunday against Washington.

The Eagles certainly played with more verve, and certainly did Ertz, it's just too bad the Eagles couldn't exorcize the other glitches that have plagued them all season.

The Eagles lost for the eighth time in their last 10 games, serving up further proof that the three-game mirage that began the season was more Pyrite than what the Eagles were truly peddling, a mediocre team that dropped to 5-8 after losing to Washington for the fifth-straight time, falling 27-22 at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles have not scored more than 23 points in their last 10 games.

While all chilly eyes were keenly observing the score and the play, they were also looking for "effort."

Ertz did show up and actually broke a few downfield tackles, garnering season-highs with 10 catches for a season-best 99 yards (on 13 targets). Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox actually had a sack for the first time in two months. And not that anyone would question the drive and determination of Bennie Logan, the defensive tackle made a third-quarter tackle on Robert Kelley 14 yards down the field.

But following the helter-skelter template of this season, the good was always followed by something bad.

When it looked like Ertz was about to erase the ghosts of missed blocks past, he stirred up the ire of Eagles' fans once again early in the third quarter when his illegal block negated a Darren Sproles' 72-yard punt return for a touchdown. What was so irritating about the play is that Ertz didn't have to touch Washington's Derek Carrier, who didn't appear to have a good angle on Sproles. The Ertz block doesn't fall under the overcompensation category as it does sheer stupidity.

With 13:11 left to play, cornerback Leodis McKelvin jumped a Kirk Cousin's pass for a 29-yard pick six that pulled the Eagles to within 21-19, giving them some hope. Again, it was followed by a failure, when Carson Wentz couldn't connect with Jordan Matthews on a slant for a two-point conversion.

Washington's Deshazor Everett breathed new urgency into the Eagles early in the fourth quarter, when he took out Sproles with a blatant helmet-to-helmet shot to the head with 11:27 remaining on a punt. Both team's benches spilled out on to the field and Everett was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul.

The Eagles capitalized when Trey Burton, their third emergency long snapper of the game, managed to get the ball to Donnie Jones, who placed it down for a Caleb Sturgis 41-yard field goal with 5:03 to play, giving the Eagles a 22-21 lead.

Again, good followed by bad.

The lead wouldn't last.

Chris Thompson spoiled what looked like a great finish, when he scored on a 25-yard TD run with 1:53 to play. The Eagles' last, gasp drive ended at the Washington 9 when Ryan Kerrigan sacked and stripped Wentz with :12 left.

Wentz, meanwhile, continues to regress, completing 32-of-46, for 314 yards, with a touchdown and one costly first-quarter interception in the end zone. The secondary was stung again, getting cleaned numerous times, once with a lead-changing 80-yard TD reception by old nemesis DeSean Jackson that gave Washington a 14-13 lead with 9:26 to play in the third quarter.