Roob's Observations as Eagles hang on for Week 1 win over Commanders

The Eagles opened their 2026 NFL season with a 24-22 win over the Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field.

By Reuben Frank • Published September 13, 2026

There was a lot working against Jalen Hurts Sunday in the 2026 season opener. It was his first game working with new play caller Sean Mannion, and his first game as a pro working with a play caller upstairs in the booth. He was playing behind an offensive line that struggled much of the day. And he didn’t get a ton of help from an inconsistent running game, also courtesy of the shaky o-line.

All he did was join Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Roger Staubach as the third quarterback in NFL history to win his first six opening-day starts.

It was hardly a work of art, but the Eagles hung on in the final seconds to beat the Commanders 24-22 Sunday at the Linc.

Nick Sirianni is now 6-0 on opening day and Hurts is the winningest opening-day QB in Eagles history, breaking a tie with Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham and Donovan McNabb.

Here’s our 10 Instant Observations on one that was too close for comfort.

1. Considering the pocket was breaking down snap after snap, Hurts was terrific Sunday. On the Eagles’ third possession, he heaved a perfect 64-yard bomb down the right sideline to the 6-yard-line to newcomer Dontayvion Wicks and after Cam Jurgens’ second penalty of the quarter, threw a dart to Dallas Goedert in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown. Two spectacular throws on his sixth and seventh passes ever in Sean Mannion’s offense. Encouraging start. Later in the second quarter a terrific nine-yard TD pass to Wicks, and with six minutes left in the fourth quarter he found Goedert open over the middle and lobbed him a short pass that the veteran tight end turned into a 43-yard touchdown, longest by an Eagles tight end since Brent Celek’s 65-yarder in the historic comeback win at the Meadowlands in 2010. Considering how little help he was getting up front, I thought Hurts was outstanding in his first game working with Mannion. He also had some terrific runs – a 14-yarder on a 1st-and-20 in the third quarter and a 22-yarder on a 3rd-and-18 on the 4th-quarter TD drive. When he ran it was out of desperation under duress not out of any kind of set play. Hurts finished 14-for-25 for 203 yards with the three TD passes and no interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating along with 48 rushing yards on five runs before a couple kneel downs. He overcame a lot.

2. The biggest concern right now for the Eagles is the offensive line. This group was supposed to be healthier and fitter and better equipped than last year, but for Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens in particular it was a rough season debut. In addition to penalties – one for Dickerson, two for Jurgens (and one for Jordan Mailata) – they just got manhandled by the Commanders’ defensive linemen, which made things very tough for both Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley. Neither Dickerson nor Jurgens had any injury issues during training camp. Dickerson got a couple rest days, but on the days he practiced he never missed a rep. And Jurgens practiced every day and didn’t miss a snap. So with the full o-line back healthy and intact you expected a return to their 2024 form. Don’t want to overstate this, but it’s alarming that they were this bad in Week 1. Because without a dominating offensive line, this offense is not going to function at a high level. And without the offense functioning at a high level, this team is not going to contend for a championship. Not quite time to put in Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin just yet, but that might not be too far off. Jurgens and Dickerson in particular simply have to be better. The Eagles won Sunday despite the offensive line.

3. There was a lot to like about Sean Mannion’s debut as play caller and considering that the starters didn’t play a snap in the preseason and their only work against another team came in joint practices against the Patriots, it was a huge triumph. Especially after what we saw last year. The offense was hamstrung to a large extent by a poor performance from the offensive line, but as far as the things Mannion can control – play calling, keeping the defense off balance, getting the ball to guys in position where they could make plays, using a variety of different weapons and just giving the offense a heavy dose of crispness and efficiency – it was awfully encouraging. It also kind of puts into perspective just how bad things were last year. Considering this was Week 1, this was better than I expected. They’re going to get better. They’re going to get more efficient. They’re going to get more consistent. So to score 24 points and get a win in the opener, that’s huge.

4. Can Dontayvion Wicks help replace A.J. Brown? Consider this: Wicks’ 64-yard catch from Jalen Hurts in the first quarter to set up the Hurts to Goedert touchdown gives Wicks the same number of 60-yard catches as an Eagle as Brown since the start of the 2024 season. Brown had a 67-yard catch from Hurts against the Packers in the Eagles’ 2024 opener against the Packers. Wicks followed that up with a sweet move in the end zone to get free of Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil and reel in a nine-yard touchdown from Hurts in the second quarter. Nobody wanted to see Brown get hurt (I hope not, at least), but I really don’t think he’s the same player he was a few years ago, even when he’s healthy. Wicks may not be an upgrade, only time will tell. Those were his only two catches of the game. But he sure made quite an impression in his Eagles debut.

5. It was a wonky day for Saquon Barkley in his first game in Mannion’s offense. He exploded for a 42-yard run in the second quarter but on his 14 other runs he netted just 41 yards and he didn’t catch a pass, finishing 15-for-83 rushing. Honestly, it looked like last year, where on so many of his runs he just had nowhere to go. I still think he is fine physically and capable of having a huge season, but the running game just looked out of sync for most of the game. And the blame for that goes squarely on the offensive line.

6. Every year we wonder if Dallas Goedert is going to be back, and every year he comes back and his playmaking never lets up. Goedert recorded his fifth career two-touchdown game and the 43-yarder was the longest touchdown of his nine-year career. Goedert for most of his career did not get in the end zone very much. He scored 24 touchdowns in his first 93 career games. Guess what. He now has seven in his last five games. Goedert is such a weapon and it’s great news that Mannion realizes that and is already finding ways to get him open for big plays. Goedert caught four passes for 77 yards and continues to be one of the most under-rated tight ends in the NFL.

7. This game did nothing to change my mind that Makai Lemon just isn’t ready after missing almost all of training camp. Lemon was targeted four times and caught three passes for minus-five yards. He just doesn’t seem to be a confident player right now, and I thought it would have made more sense to go with veteran slot Elijah Moore for now. But Moore, who averaged 50 catches for 540 yards from 2021 through 2024 and had a solid training camp, was inactive Sunday. The Eagles clearly want Lemon to succeed and they’re giving him opportunities and I get that because he’s a rookie 1st-round pick and you want those guys to succeed. But you can’t make up the time he missed both in OTAs and training camp in a week or two. He’s just not ready.

8. It was an odd game for the defense, which did a lot of good things without making many big plays. No takeaways and just one sack for one yard. And they were leaky vs. the run, allowing 132 yards, and gave up a couple 4th-quarter touchdown passes to Jayden Daniels. But they made big plays at big moments and got stops when they had to get stops, most notably on Washington’s potential game-tying two-point conversion with a minute left, when Moro Ojomo stuffed tight end John Bates short of the end zone to clinch the win. (Terrible play call but a great play call for the Eagles). But in the end, they held Washington under 300 yards, stopped them on 10 of 15 third downs and only allowed one play longer than 17 yards. Tough day for Cooper DeJean, which we’re not used to seeing, and I expected better run defense and more pressure on Daniels. But I don’t worry about this defense. They’ll be fine.

9. We can’t forget about Jalen Carter’s blocked PAT in the second quarter. Carter’s knack for getting up and having the coordination to get his hand in the way of the football is uncanny. A remarkable combination of timing and athleticism. That play was huge because it meant that the Eagles were up two instead of one after the final Washington touchdown with a minute to go. And that meant they had to go for two to tie and maybe Dan Quinn would have gone for two and gone for the win there if they were down 24-23, but that blocked PAT forced his hand and put the Eagles in position where, whatever happened on that two-point attempt, they couldn’t lose the game there. Carter now has five blocked kicks in his career – two field goals and three PATs. He’s a heck of an interior lineman but his side gig is pretty darn awesome too.

10. A quick note about the onsides kick at the end of the game, a play most people won’t think twice about. Just a routine play, right? Drew Stevens hit a pretty good kick and DeVonta Smith recovered to clinch the win, and that may seem like no big deal, but it’s interesting to know what goes into that. Smith is a hell of a wide receiver, but he works every week on Wednesday and Thursday with Jake Elliott on fielding onside kicks, and it shouldn’t be surprising that someone like Smith puts in that much time on something that seems so unimportant but isn’t. Every detail that could possibly affect whether the Eagles win or lose he’s on top of it. His professionalism is off the charts. Just another thing to love about Smith. He’s not just a wide receiver, he’s a football player. He’s a winner.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/roobs-observations-eagles-commanders-season-opener-2026-nfl-season/750986/