Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Commanders game

In Week 11, the Philadelphia Eagles extended their lead atop the NFC East with a grimy win over the Washington Commanders, bringing their winning streak to six games. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The 'It's All Coming Together' Award 🧩: Vic Fangio

During their six-game winning streak, the Eagles' defense, led by Vic Fangio, has been outstanding. They're stopping the run, they're getting a good pass rush, they're forcing turnovers, and they're frustrating opposing quarterbacks.

Each level of the defense — whether it's the interior defensive line, the edge rushers, the linebackers, or the secondary — is playing at a high level.

Since the bye week, the defense is allowing a mere 11.2 points per game and just 211 yards per game. They have kept the team in games when the offense has sputtered early, and closed out opponents to seal wins.

During the Nick Sirianni era, the Eagles employed a pair of Fangio knockoffs in Jonathan Gannon and Sean Desai, and Fangio has proven that it's hard to top the original.

2) The 'Menace' Award 😈: Jalen Carter

I can't wait to dive into the All-22 and just watch Carter, who was unblockable against the Commanders. Though he didn't have any sacks, he lived in the backfield all night, creating havoc for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders' running backs.

This Jalen Carter cutup from the game is insane. All Pro talent. pic.twitter.com/jTboEge8TW

— Patrick (@PhillyPMC) November 15, 2024

Carter finished with 7 tackles, a career-high, but his contributions to this win extended far beyond the box score. He simply messed up the Commanders' plays all night.

3) The 'All-Pro' Award 😇: Zack Baun

Baun has been a star player out of nowhere for the Eagles this season, after becoming a full-time off-ball linebacker in Fangio's defense. He had 14 tackles and made plays all over the field.

Baun's highlight of the game was a 4th and 2 stop with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Eagles clinging to a 12-10 lead.

Carter (surprise) got immediate pressure, forced Daniels to flee, and Baun finished him off with a physical hit that knocked Daniels back and out of bounds for a turnover on downs.

That was probably the most crucial play of the game. Baun is playing like an All-Pro.

MORE: Eagles' defense rises to the occasion in prime-time win over Commanders

4) The 'Spark Plug' Award 🔌: Kenny Gainwell

Still seeking their first touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter, the Eagles went hurry-up and gave the ball to Kenny Gainwell on three straight carries. He gained 14, 13, and 7 yards on those carries, getting the offense down to the Washington 4 yard line. Then Barkley ran for 3, and Hurts Brotherly Shoved his way into the end zone for a 12-10 lead – that they would never relinquish.

Gainwell doesn't often make it into our "10 awards" posts, but he stepped up on Thursday when the offense needed a spark.

5) The 'Big Play Explosion' Award 💥: Saquon Barkley and Reed Blankenship

All season long Barkley has made huge plays to help win games and Thursday night was no different. The Commanders did a nice job keeping Barkley in check for much of the night, and then… bang… two touchdown runs in under 30 seconds. TD run No. 1:

Great blocks by Lane Johnson and Mekhi Becton on that run.

On the Commanders' ensuing possession, Blankenship picked off Daniels:

And then two plays later, Barkley struck again with a 39-yard TD run:

Watch Cam Jurgens on that play. He tosses a DB like a rag doll, and when the DB gets up to try to chase Barkley, Jurgens dumps him to the ground again.

Barkley's first TD, Blankenship's INT, and Barkley's second TD all happened in 27 seconds of game time.

MORE: The pivotal plays from Eagles-Commanders

6) The 'Hustler' Award 😤: Grant Calcaterra

During the drive leading up to Barkley's first TD run, Dallas Goedert had a 32-yard catch and run, but fumbled. Because Calcaterra was hustling behind the play looking for someone to block, he was in the right place at the right time and was able to jump on the football and allow the Eagles' offense to continue what would eventually be a scoring drive. Via @ShaneHaff:

That was a HUGE play.

7) The 'Not Seeing It' Award 👨‍🦯: Jalen Hurts

Hurts finished 18 of 28 for 221 yards, 0 TDs, and 0 INTs. He also ran 10 times for 39 yards and a TD.

Hurts didn't see a lot of open receivers in the first half, and his tendency to hold onto the ball for too long continued. He was better in the second half, but if the Eagles are going to make a deep playoff run, they're going to need to get better quarterback play for 60 minutes.

8) The 'Uncharacteristically Bad' Award 🤦‍♂️: Jake Elliott

Elliott missed two field goals and a PAT. He missed two field goals the entire season in 2023. He was lucky the Eagles pulled away late.

MORE: Saquon Barkley is outrageously good, but a kicking problem arises

9) The 'Overall Domination' Award 💪: The Eagles, as a team

During their six-game streak, the Eagles have outgained their opponents by a combined 1069 yards.

We showed a version of that chart last week, and it was perhaps easy to dismiss their success because they played a weak quintet of opponents. But on Thursday night they took it to a team with a then-7-3 record.

10) The 'Leader of the Pack' Award 🔝: The Eagles, in the NFC East

The NFC East standings:

The Eagles now have a 1.5-game lead over the Commanders, a 4.5-game lead over the Cowboys, and a 6-game lead over the Giants. They also have a 3-0 record in the division, with head-to-head wins over each team. They are in a position of power in the NFC East, and could reasonably be a threat for the 1 seed.

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