Special teams won’t get the headlines, but it helped tilt the Eagles’ 24-22 win over the Commanders on Sunday just as much as the bigger names did.
Philadelphia’s offense had Jalen Hurts and Dallas Goedert. Its defense had Zack Baun and Moro Ojomo. And in the third phase, Michael Clay’s group quietly stacked up the kind of plays that swing a tight game.
Braden Mann was a big part of that. He averaged 51.6 yards per punt and 44.0 net yards, with 57.1% of his punts landing inside the 20. That helped pin Washington at an opponent starting field position of -20.3 and played into a stretch where the Commanders managed just 14 plays for 23 yards in the first half.
The Eagles also got a huge play from Jalen Carter, who blocked Drew Stevens’ PAT attempt and kept the score at 14-9 going into halftime. That block mattered again late, because Washington eventually had to go for two in the fourth quarter. When Antonio Williams scored with 1:01 left and the Eagles clinging to a 24-22 lead, the Commanders were forced into a two-point try instead of lining up for an extra point to tie.
Jake Elliott did his part, too, making his lone field goal attempt from 35 yards and all three extra points. That was five points on the board for Philadelphia. On the other side, Stevens missed from 54 yards, a three-point swing that would have given Washington the lead with 1:01 remaining after the Antonio Williams touchdown.
Darius Cooper made his presence felt in coverage with four special teams tackles, three of them solo. He helped stop two dangerous Washington returns in the second quarter, bringing Rachaad White down at the 32 and 33-yard lines after deep Elliott kickoffs. Philadelphia’s kickoff coverage was uneven, but Cooper helped shut down the damage.
Britain Covey was steady as a punt returner, averaging 9.3 yards per return while protecting the ball. Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley were solid on kick returns as well, combining to average 25.0 yards per return.
Special teams usually gets attention when something goes wrong - a missed kick, a bad snap, a breakdown that changes the game. That wasn’t the story for Philadelphia. Jake Elliott didn’t miss, and Rocco Underwood handled his NFL debut cleanly as the long snapper.
The Eagles also got one more crucial stop that counted in the box score as special teams: Moro Ojomo’s tackle on John Bates to stop the two-point conversion and seal the win.
By the end of the afternoon, Washington had left as many as six points on the table in special teams. Philadelphia didn’t give any away. In a one-score game, that mattered plenty, and it helped get the Eagles to 1-0 without beating themselves in that phase.
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