PHILADELPHIA — The Washington’s commander defense is preparing to go up against a Philadelphia Eagles offense that likes to get the ball moving on the ground with running back Saquon Barkley and then take advantage of potentially thin downfield areas with deep passes.

While Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ranks in the middle of the pack in pass attempts of 20+ air yards this season, he ranks top 10 in completion percentage. The Commander are aware of this and know it’s the key to getting a big win in the NFC East Divisional on Thursday night.

“(We have to) take care of the explosive plays and just tackle well,” Washington safety Quan Martin said heading into the matchup. “I know they have great players on offense. Just being able to take care of the explosive plays and get those guys on the floor when we need to (will be important).”

In their seven wins this season, Philadelphia is averaging over eight turnovers per game. In the two losses the team has recorded, it averaged less than four and had no more than four in either.

Martin’s teammate and fellow safety Percy Butler echoed some of the same sentiments when we spoke to him about tonight’s matchup in Philadelphia.

“It’s about limiting the explosive plays with them,” Butler said. “When you look at it, I don’t think they can really put together a long-game drive. They score a lot on explosives and explosives keep the energy up. So it’s about making the other team feel like they can’t get anything done.”

To Butler’s credit, the Eagles have scored 28 touchdowns this season and averaged 7.5 plays per scoring drive while doing so. In fact, 57 percent of those 28 drives have lasted fewer than eight plays.

Meanwhile, the Commanders defense is forcing opponents to run an average of 8.5 plays per touchdown drive this season and only 37 percent of the 27 surrendered have come on fewer than eight plays.

Both men agree — and the numbers show — if Washington’s secondary can limit the explosives, they have a good chance to come out of Thursday night with a win. A critical one too, one that would leave the team in first place in the NFC East Division as the only undefeated team in group stage play.

Of course, as we mentioned earlier, it’s not all about the explosive passes as Barkley is a challenge himself.

“(He’s a) dual threat catching passes out of the backfield and you know he’s a great back,” Martin said of Barkley. “So just being able to take that first step, put your pads on him and bring him to the ground (will be important).”

Without a doubt, the Eagles provide a great challenge for the Commanders, and a timely challenge for both teams to truly stake a claim to be one of the best in the NFC. And it’s a challenge the Washington defense seems ready and willing to handle.

“I feel like it’s always a big challenge,” Butler said. “You’ve got to be on your P’s and Q’s. It’s a game where you can’t make easy mistakes. So everybody’s just got to be on their game, and it’s a quick turnaround, and it’s an exciting game. It’s an NFC East game in the division, so you want to win it.

Stick with it Commander Gameday and that Locked on Commander podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders during the 2024 season.

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