Darren Sproles getting clocked by Washington safety Deshazor Everett. Photo by Andy Lewis / contrastphotography.com

The Eagles 2016 season, as far as making the playoffs, has been decided. It’s over.

That happened when the Birds (5-8) dropped a hard-fought decision to the Washington Redskins (7-5-1), 27-22, at Lincoln Financial Field on a cold but clear late fall day in South Philadelphia.

Head coach Doug Pederson criticized his players effort after the Eagles embarrassing 32-14 loss to the
struggling Cincinnati Bengals last week.

Pederson said he was proud of his players spirit against Washington.

“I told the guys at the end of the game, ‘don’t hang your head.’” Pederson said. “This is a great group. The guys hung together. They battled today all the way down to the end, really the last play of the game. It’s great to be the head coach and lead these guys and to see how far they’ve come. Through all the adversity throughout the season, they still hang together.
“As I mentioned during the week, you saw it today, I mean there’s not quit in these guys. The fight is there. That’s a good thing to see.”

The Eagles took a 22-21 lead with 5:03 left in the fourth quarter when Caleb Sturgis converted a 41-yard field goal using their third long-snapper of the game, tight end Trey Burton, who was in for tight end Brent Celek, who replaced Pro Bowl long-snapper Jon Dorenbos after he injured his wrist in the third quarter. Celek was injured in the fourth quarter.

The field goal conversion was uplifting and it appeared the Birds may pull out the win despite losing Darren Sproles on a nasty special teams hit, offensive tackle Allen Barbre (hamstring) plus running backs Kenjon Barner, Wendell Smallwood plus Celek and Dorenbos.

The Redskins responded with an eight-play 77-yard drive that ended with a 25-yard touchdown run by Chris Thompson to make the scope 27-22. The two-point conversion failed.

The Eagles came back with a spirited dive led by rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, that maed to the Redskins 14-yard line 26 seconds left, but the former North Dakota State star was strip sacked by defensive end Ryan Kerrigan and that was it.

“That was good,” Washington head coach Jay Gruden said after the game. “We gave them a couple of chunk yards there and they drove down the field, but still had to get it in the end zone and we knew that. We just kept rushing and changing up our coverages a little bit. We played some man, played some zone and got the sack…Ryan Kerrigan of course.”

Wentz was 32 of 46 for 314 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He was sacked four times behind a line that was down four linemen, including Brandon Brooks who fell ill just before the game.

Pederson praised Wentz, saying it may have been his best overall game of the season. The rookie didn’t seem to care.

“Hard to say, we lost,” Wentz said. “That’s what really matters. We lost. We didn’t finish at the end. Kind of like when we played them last time. We had a chance to finish the game and win on offense and we didn’t do that. And that’s all that really matters.”

As a team, the Birds rushed 26 times for 95 yards, with Ryan Mathews leading the team with 60 yards on 15 carries.

Darren Sproles had 27 yards on five carries. The two-time Pro Bowl special teams player had to leave the game after Deshazor Everett, a second-year safety from Texas A&M, when he plowed into Sproles as he prepared to field a punt at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Sproles was pretty much defenseless on the play, Everett was flagged 15-yards on the play.

Earlier in the quarter, Everett was hit with a 15-yard penalty for an illegal hit during a Donnie Jones punt that knocked Celek out of the game with a stinger. He never returned.

The Eagles said he was being evaluated for a concussion.

“An obvious cheap shot,” tight end Zach Ertz said after the game.

Everett said he never meant to hurt Sproles and could’t reach out to him after the game.

“I did not see him fair catch for the ball at all,” he said. “But, I did, well I thought the ball was right there in front of me when I went for the tackle. But unfortunately, it was not. The ball hit me in the back as you can tell. Football is a split-second game and unfortunately I did not make the right decision. I was just giving my full effort to go out and make the tackle.”

Washington was led by quarterback Kirk Cousins who was 14 of 21 for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception that was returned 29 yards for a touchdown by Leodis McKelvin.

Early in the third quarter, Cousins hit DeSean Jackson for an 80-yard strike to put the Redskins ahead 14-13.

The Redskins as a team rushed 23 times for 107 yards, led by Robert Kelly who carried the ball 16 times for 63 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Fletcher Cox came out of hiding with four combined tackles (one for a loss), two quarterback hurries and 1.5 sacks.

Cox said he knows the Eagles with their record and 0-4 in the NFC East, must keep their chemistry.

“The main focus right now is to keep this team together and make sure everyone is one the same page,” Cox said. “Everybody is still holding each other accountable. Everybody still believes in the coaching staff and what the coach is doing and trusting the way we prepare week in and week out.”