Eagles struggle to find line in chip loss to Commanders originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LANDOVER, Md. – The Eagles want to be physical, they want to be tough, they want to play with fire, especially in heated games.

But they don’t want to be undisciplined.

“If you ask me, we went a little too far over the line when we started getting penalties to affect drives and stuff like that,” middle linebacker Nakobe Dean said.

“The thing is, we know it’s crumbly. It’s a division game, it’s a top game that takes place at the end of December this year. We knew it would be difficult, we knew what kind of game it would be. We just have to somehow keep our composure as a team and as players.”

The Eagles lost 36-33 to the Commanders on Sunday at Northwest Stadium in a strange game that had a little bit of everything. There were many reasons why they lost this game, but their own mistakes top that list.

A big turning point on Sunday came when CJ Gardner-Johnson took his second unsportsmanlike penalty early in the third quarter and was ejected from the game. The Eagles then had to use Tristin McCollum in his place and clearly missed Gardner-Johnson.

It seemed unclear why exactly Gardner-Johnson was ejected, but here’s what NFL referee Shawn Smith said to a pool reporter after the game:

“He basically taunts the opponent on the second foul. He had a first goal early in the game, which we announced as his first against the disqualification. So that was his second. He taunted the player, so that’s a disqualification by rule.”

As Gardner-Johnson left the field, he saluted the Washington fans with the old double bird salute as he headed into the tunnel. He then took to social media and said he was “kicked out for nothing.”

Fellow safety Reed Blankenship agreed.

“I’ll stand behind him,” Blankenship said. “He didn’t say anything at all. I mean, was right there. But you know, when you’re in the hotspot, things happen. But at the end of the day, I stand by my buddy. It’s the next man up, whatever happens.”

Of course, Gardner-Johnson has earned his reputation in the NFL, and after picking up an unsportsmanlike penalty for the first time, you’d think he’d be cautious enough not to get another penalty.

In addition to Gardner-Johnson’s two unsportsmanlike penalties, the Eagles were also cited twice for unnecessary roughness: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was called for a punt in the first quarter, and Jalen Carter was called for a punt after a sack in the second quarter.

“I think they said it was a very intense game, so they just decided to call it that,” Carter said. “I can’t do anything, I can’t reverse time or nothing. I just have to move on to the next piece.”

This was Carter’s second unnecessary roughness penalty in as many weeks.

The Eagles love that Carter plays with so much fire, but they need to make sure they use it. How does Carter know how far he can go?

“When that flag goes up, you know how far you can take it,” Carter said. “That flag goes up in the air, that means you probably went overboard and the referee thinks that was a fag right there. You just have to calm it down. You can’t get another one. That’s pretty much it.”

A total of 16 penalties were called in Sunday’s game, and the Eagles ended up with 10 penalties for 91 yards. That’s the most penalties and penalty yards for the Eagles in a game this season.

And that total doesn’t even include a defensive too-man-men penalty that was called in the fourth quarter after Jayden Daniels hit Olamide Zaccheaus on a 49-yard touchdown. There was a miscommunication on this play as Darius Slay tried to get back on the field after being injured. The Eagles were doing well, and when Slay realized he was 12th man, he tried to run off the field, leaving a gap in the defense.

“I think at the end of the day I need to be able to watch the game and tell you everything that happened,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “But just sloppy, sloppy with penalties, sloppy with too many men on the field, sloppy with our fundamentals.” And when you play against a good football team like we are today and you’re sloppy, it’s going to be hard to win, no matter what You force a lot of ball losses.”

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