On the first third down of the game, Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat started things out with a sack of Carson Wentz from outside as he got around the corner by getting off on the snap of the ball. Eagles veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox had a good pass rush on the play as well and he contributed to the sack.
The Eagles forced the Commanders to punt, but the Birds offense wasn’t able to get any thing going so they punted the ball back to Washington.
On the first play when Washington got the ball, Cox ran over the guard who was trying to block him and drove him back into face of Wentz. He sacked the former teammate, who he had been talking to before the game, with some help from linebacker Hassan Reddick.
On the very next play, Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave went around the guard, who was trying to block him and sacked Wentz, giving the Birds three sacks before five minutes were off the clock.
Next up was veteran defensive end Brandon Graham getting in on the action. He sacked Wentz on a third downplay with Reddick giving him some help again and this happened on a third down play and it forced the Commanders to punt the football. I saw total frustration from Wentz and his Commanders offensive teammates. They just could not get anything going in the first half against the Eagles pass rush. Incidentally, the Graham sack forced Washington to punt.
At this point in the game, there were Eagles sacks in four of the first seven drops Wentz in the ball game. four of them ended with the Washington quarterback being sacked.
