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The Philadelphia Eagles lost a hard-fought game Sunday as giving up was not an option. They played harder than they’ve had in several weeks and it showed.

Last week coach Doug Pederson questioned their effort. This week the Eagles players answered.

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The Eagles will not roll over. They will fight. Carson Wentz was a one-man wrecking crew. Avoiding blitzes and shrugging off tackles. I lost count how many times Wentz got away from pressure to deliver a strike or pick up yards himself.

Zach Ertz was questioned by the media during the week for not putting a block on a Bengals defender when Wentz ran out of bounds. Ertz answered with a huge performance, 10 receptions for 112 yards.

The Eagles got Darren Sproles and Ryan Mathews back, only to lose Wendell Smallwood to a knee injury. But Sproles put Philadelphia on his back as he has many times before and kept the team in the game. Sproles had one touchdown on a pass from Wentz and another punt return touchdown negated by penalty. Ryan Mathews added 60 yards on 15 carries.

Leodis McKelvin, the man Philadelphia fans love to hate, had a pick six off a Kirk Cousins interception to bring the Eagles closer.

On the Eagles final drive, they came up short. Matt Tobin was filling in for Allen Barbre who left the game with an injury, Tobin was the player responsible for the defender who got a strip sack on Wentz. Ending the drive and securing the win for Washington.

Yes, the Eagles may have lost, but at least they didn’t give up. That’s what made fans so mad the last few weeks. It looked like they had given up.

The Eagles were without a few starters; Brandon Brooks due to illness, Allen Barbre was out with injury, Wendell Smallwood was injured, John Dorenbos was injured, Brent Celek was injured, Darren Sproles was injured in a blatant attack by a no name Washington defender on a punt return, and finally, Dorial Beckham-Green was out with injury. Add them all up and it’s a miracle the Eagles were still close to winning.

The Eagles lost their long snapper Dorenbos and backup long snapper Celek. Trey Burton was the third long snapper and just in case, Mychal Kendricks was on the sidelines practicing his long snap as well.

The Eagles dug deep and they fought hard. In the end, that’s all the fans can ask for.