Amazon landed a marquee matchup with Week 11 of the NFL’s regular season kicking off with the Washington Commanders traveling to division rival Philadelphia on Thursday night.
The Eagles (7-2) have a five-game winning streak and overtook the Commanders (7-3) for first place in the NFC East on Sunday, when Philadelphia demolished Dallas and Washington lost a nail-biter to Pittsburgh.
Forget the short week of practice, Dan Quinn was ready to lead his Commanders into Philadelphia by Monday.
“I’m fired up about it. … This is what division games should be — an absolute blast,” the first-year Washington coach said. “Philadelphia and Washington battling for it? Hell yeah!”
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was a little less psyched about the prime-time matchup, calling the quick-turnaround Thursday night games “a pain in the butt to prepare for” during his Monday press conference.
“It’s just that everything gets crammed into a shorter amount of time,” Sirianni said. “So that’s what we’re working through right now, is I think a lot of guys will have big bags under their eyes at the end of the week, but we’ve got to do what we need to do as coaches to get the guys ready.”
ODDS AND TRENDS
The Eagles had settled in as consensus 4.0-point favorites by mid-day Thursday.
They have been the slightly more popular choice at BetRivers, where the Eagles have been backed by 56 percent of the spread-line tickets and 57 percent of the money. Meanwhile, the book reported that the Commanders have failed to cover the spread in six of their last seven games against teams with a winning record.
Philadelphia’s -195 moneyline to win the game outright has also drawn 66 and 91 percent of the action, respectively.
Eight of Washington’s past nine road games have gone over the total points line, and BetRivers has seen 74 percent of the money on the 49.0-point line supporting the Over ahead of this matchup.
PROP PICKS
–Terry McLaurin Over 4.5 Receptions (-135 at DraftKings): This has been the most popular player prop at the book. The Commanders’ wide receiver has averaged 6.6 targets and 4.7 receptions per game this season. That includes at least five catches in four of his past five games, with the lone exception being a touchdown on both of his two receptions against the New York Giants in Week 9. McLaurin has at least 98 receiving yards in three of his past four games.
–DeVonta Smith Over 52.5 Receiving Yards (-131 at BetRivers): This has drawn 2.1 percent of all money wagered on player props at the book, leading all options. Smith had only two catches for 14 yards last week, but he wasn’t needed much in the blowout win at Dallas. In his other seven games this season, Smith has topped 52.5 receiving yards six times. And with A.J. Brown healthy, the Commanders won’t be able to consistently slide coverage toward Smith, who has at least 64 receiving yards in six of his past seven home games.
KEY STATS
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has not thrown an interception in five consecutive games, while Eagles counterpart Jalen Hurts has thrown at least two touchdown passes in each of the past four meetings. He also has scored at least two rushing touchdowns in three of his past four games overall.
THE NEWS
Philadelphia’s defense enters Week 11 ranked No. 2 in the NFL in yards allowed (274.1 per game) and tied for fifth in points allowed (17.9 per game).
“We’ve improved as a defense, but I know we feel we have a lot more to grow,” Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean said. “I don’t think you ever say that you have ‘arrived’ as a defense. It doesn’t work that way in this league.”
The Philly defense will be tested by a rookie quarterback who has “arrived.” Daniels has completed 68.7 percent of his passes for 2,147 yards with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions through 10 starts, adding 464 yards and four scores on the ground.
The Washington offense is tied for third in the NFL in scoring (29.0 points per game) and ranks fourth with 377.0 yards per game.
The Commanders let a 10-point, second-half lead slip away against the Steelers, losing on Russell Wilson’s 32-yard TD pass to new teammate Mike Williams with 2:22 to play.
The loss stung, but right guard Sam Cosmi wanted to make sure it didn’t linger and addressed the Commanders in the locker room after the game.
“I wanted them to know that what we have here is still special,” Cosmi told reporters. “Like no matter what, we still keep fighting.”
INJURY REPORT
The Eagles welcomed starting left tackle Jordan Mailata (hamstring) back to practice this week and activated him from injured reserve on Wednesday, clearing the way for his return Thursday night. Cornerback Darius Slay (ankle), tight end Dallas Goedert (ankle) and Dean (groin) were full participants in Wednesday’s practice after being limited on Tuesday. Receiver DeVonta Smith is dealing with a hamstring injury and has been limited in practice all week.
Recently acquired cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) did not practice with the Commanders all week and was ruled out for the game, along with kicker Austin Seibert (right hip) and linebacker Nick Bellore (knee). Running back Brian Robinson Jr. (hamstring) has missed the last two games but was taken off the injury report and will be active for the game. The Commanders listed as questionable left tackle Brandon Coleman (shoulder), offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas (ankle) and right tackle Andrew Wylie (shoulder) after they were limited in practice.
SERIES HISTORY
The Commanders and Eagles will meet again in Week 16 in Landover, Md. Philadelphia has won five of the last six meetings, including season sweeps during the 2021 and 2023 campaigns.
PREDICTION
The Commanders are coming off a hard-fought loss against Pittsburgh, but have still won seven of their past nine games. At least they don’t have to go a long distance on a short week. The Eagles are rolling and their veteran leadership is a definite advantage in a contest that could go a long way toward deciding the division champion and home-field advantage come playoff time. –Eagles 27, Commanders 24
