Landover, Md. • Carson Wentz threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns as the second-year quarterback guided the Philadelphia Eagles to a 30-17 victory over Washington on Sunday in a sloppy, mistake-filled season opener between the NFC East rivals.
Wentz was 26 of 39 and threw an interception that Ryan Kerrigan returned for a touchdown. But Wentz made fewer errors than Washington’s Kirk Cousins, who was picked off at the goal line and fumbled twice. Cousins’ second fumble was forced by Brandon Graham and returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Fletcher Cox in the final minutes, putting the game away.
Cousins finished 23 of 40 for 240 yards with a TD pass to third-down back Chris Thompson. He was under duress all day because of the relentless Eagles pass rush and was sacked four times.
Wentz wasn’t perfect, though his evading a sack and throw to Nelson Agholor for a 58-yard touchdown set the stage for his big day. Wentz and the Eagles went 8 of 13 on third down and they kept getting into field goal range for Caleb Sturgis, who connected from 50, 42 and 37 yards.
NO RUNNING GAME: Washington’s Jay Gruden and Philadelphia’s Doug Pederson avoided the running game, in part because it was having little effect for each team. Cousins, in the second straight season of being franchised by Washington, tied as the team’s leading rusher with 30 yards on four carries; they finished with 64. The Eagles had 59 yards on 23 carries, including several handoffs on a clock-draining fourth-quarter drive.
DARBY DOWN: The Eagles lost cornerback Ronald Darby to what looked like a serious right ankle injury early in the second quarter. Darby’s ankle bent the wrong way as he was running in coverage with Washington tight end Jordan Reed, and he was carted off and replaced by Patrick Robinson. Philadelphia sent receiver Jordan Matthews and a 2018 third-round pick to Buffalo for Darby last month.
Left tackle Justin Peters also left with a groin injury.
PICK-SIX TIMES THREE: When Kerrigan picked off Wentz and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown, he added to his unique career history with interceptions. All three times Kerrigan has had an interception in the NFL, he has returned it for a touchdown. This was his first since 2012.
NO DOCTSON IMPACT: Despite going into the game as a projected starter, Washington 2016 first-round pick Josh Doctson was a limited part of the game plan with no targets as Ryan Grant filled in as the third receiver. After missing almost all of his rookie year with sore Achilles tendons, Docston was bothered by a sore hamstring during the preseason but was full go in practice this week, leading to questions why he was used so little in the opener.