3 plays that doomed Washington in Week 15 loss vs Eagles
By Jerry Trotta
2. Adam Humphries end zone drop
Other than Terry McLaurin, Adam Humphries is probably the lone pass-catcher fans would have the most trust in a momentum-deciding moment.
After all, Humphries, who signed a one-year deal with Washington in the offseason largely due to his experience catching passes from Ryan Fitzpatrick, has come up in the clutch time after time throughout the campaign.
With the Eagles doing everything possible to take McLaurin out of the game (why let the best player on the field beat you?), Garrett Gilbert called Humphries’ number in the end zone with a chance to take a 14-0 first quarter lead.
Garrett fired an absolute strike that hit Humphries right in the chest. However, the throw almost caught the former undrafted slot receiver off-guard, because he somehow never even got a hand on the ball.
Gilbert worked away from it, but Humphries initially broke open in the slot to the left. Gilbert eventually came back to the left and tried to fit it in there, but Humphries couldn't bring it in. pic.twitter.com/Lt95QBXXBq
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) December 22, 2021
Just a brutal sequence for Washington, which was forced to settle for a field goal and saw their 10-0 lead erased before halftime.
Given how the defense was manhandled in the trenches, those four points might not have mattered in the end. However, forcing a field goal deep in the red zone always jumpstarts a defense and that’s exactly what happened.
At this moment, Washington’s momentum had all but dried up.