PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts rolled over, face down, and grabbed his helmet.

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback’s head was stuck into the turf by Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu in the second quarter and bounced off the ground. Hurts was evaluated for a concussion — “I think I broke protocol,” he joked — and stayed in the game.

Hurts ran for the go-ahead signal, Saquon Barkley rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Eagles extended their lead in the NFC East with a 26-18 win Thursday night over Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.

“Really,” coach Nick Sirianni said, “what we talked about at halftime was this was going to be a dirty, gritty game.”

After three quarters of uninspired offense from the Eagles, Barkley and Hurts led them to 20 points in the fourth.

The Eagles (8-2) won their sixth consecutive game since their bye. Fans cheered as Hurts ran out of the tunnel for the second half and he finished with 221 yards passing.

“If you see grass coming out of his helmet, yeah man, he got rocked a few times,” offensive lineman Lane Johnson said. “I thought he did a good job in the second half and really put it behind him.”

After the game, Hurts laughed when he couldn’t remember the details of a specific play.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Probably not the right thing to say right now,” he said.

The Eagles defense pitched in with a decisive stop.

With the Eagles leading 12-10 in the fourth quarter, Washington was in range for a go-ahead field goal and coach Dan Quinn opted to go for it on fourth down. Daniels scrambled and was stopped for no gain, and less than three minutes later Barkley scored on a 23-yard run.

“I trust my teammates. I trust the unit,” Daniels said of the fourth-down gamble. “I always trust the coaches. I never question them.”

Jake Elliott made the extra point to give the Eagles a two-score lead after missing his previous attempt – along with two of his four field goal attempts.

Daniels, who finished 22 of 32 for 191 yards and a late touchdown pass, was intercepted by safety Reed Blankenship on Washington’s next play. Ten seconds later, Barkley finished off the Commanders (7-4) with a 39-yard touchdown run.

With 1,137 rushing yards in 10 games, Barkley moved ahead of Baltimore’s Derrick Henry for the NFL lead. Both veteran running backs were signed as free agents this offseason.

“You can’t be great without the greatness of others,” Sirianni said. “Saquon was great tonight, but the offensive line was really good.”

Washington came in with a chance to take over first place in the division, but left with its second straight loss.

Elliott, who missed field goals of 44 and 51 yards, was left wide left on the extra point after Hurts’ 1-yard rush-push touchdown in the fourth quarter. He made field goals of 21 and 31 yards.

Elliott holds the franchise record with seven field goals of 50 yards or more in a season, but has missed all four 50-and-over attempts in 2024.

The matchup was hyped as the biggest game in this NFC East rivalry in nearly 30 years, but the first 30 minutes had all the excitement of a preseason game.

Hurts had an ineffective first half. He threw receivers under — most notably to DeVonta Smith a few times — and hung his head when a pass attempt with no open receiver nearby sailed out of bounds.

Brian Robinson Jr. of Washington ripped off an 18-yard run to the 1-yard line and punched in a touchdown on the next play for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Zane Gonzalez made a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter for a 10-3 lead.

But Gonzalez, promoted from the practice squad while Austin Seibert was dealing with a hip injury, didn’t get another chance late in the fourth. The Commanders were stopped on second and third and first, and Daniels, the No. 2 overall draft pick, was stuffed on Philadelphia’s 26.

The Eagles took over and Hurts immediately connected with Dallas Goedert for a 31-yard gain. Goedert fumbled but the ball was picked up by fellow tight end Grant Calcaterra.

Barkley scored three plays later.

Zach Ertz, who played for the Eagles from 2013 to 2021, had a touchdown catch in the final minute and then landed with both feet in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion that brought the Commanders within eight. Washington attempted an offside, but Philadelphia recovered.

“We’ll get there,” Quinn said. “But over the past two weeks we have failed to demonstrate and fully express that.”