3 Takeaways from Eagles' Week 4 Win vs. Commanders

The Philadelphia Eagles survived an upset bid from the Washington Commanders to remain undefeated after Week 4.

Nick Sirianni's team did not put in its best performance, but its most important players came up with big plays when it mattered most.

The Jalen Hurts-A.J. Brown connection could not be stopped. The No. 1 wide receiver scored two touchdowns and recorded 175 yards on nine catches.

Jake Elliott remained automatic on field goals. He went 4-for-4 and easily knocked in the game-winner in overtime.

Philadelphia is far from a perfect team right now, and in order for the defense to match the effectiveness of the offense, it needs to figure out its issues in the secondary.

Jalen Hurts-AJ Brown Connection Is On Fire

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 01: DeVonta Smith #6 and A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrate Brown's touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on October 01, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Brown seemingly made a big catch whenever the Eagles needed one.

The team's top wide out caught nine of his 13 targets and found the end zone on two occasions.

Brown broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown play to give the Eagles their first lead of the game in third quarter.

He scampered into the end zone again in the fourth quarter for what many inside Lincoln Financial Field was the game-winning score.

Brown put together consecutive 100-yard performances after he barely saw the ball in the Week 2 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

That is only the second time Brown turned in back-to-back 100-yard games in his Eagles career.

Philadelphia needs the Hurts-Brown connection to be at its best in the coming weeks with the Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs among the tougher opponents in the coming weeks.

That pairing should find more success against the Los Angeles Rams and New York Jets in the next two weeks before the first of the few big showdowns of the season against Miami in Week 7.

Jake Elliott Remains Automatic

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 01: Philadelphia Eagles Place Kicker Jake Elliott (4) lines up to kick a game-winning field goal in overtime during the game between the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles on October 01, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Eagles have an immense amount of trust in Elliott to make field goals from anywhere on the field.

That was on display during the game-winning drive, as Hurts coolly converted a nine-yard pass to DeVonta Smith to get the Eagles back into field-goal range after an intentional grounding penalty dropped them back to the Washington 45-yard-line.

Some teams would have panicked in that situation and tried to make up the 17 yards to the first-down line in order to give their kicker an easier shot at winning the game.

The Eagles knew exactly what they needed to do to get back into Elliott's range and the kicker delivered the game-winning boot on the next snap.

Elliott went 4-for-4 on Sunday to move his season field goal tally to 13-for-14. He made every kick inside the 50 yards. The only miss was longer than 50 yards.

Elliott's accuracy is a huge asset to the reigning NFC champion, and it will be even more important when the Eagles get into tight games with fellow Super Bowl contenders later in the year.

Lack of Secondary Depth Exploited By Sam Howell

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 01: Terry McLaurin #17 of the Washington Commanders makes a reception against Josh Jobe #28 of the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on October 01, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Everyone thought Brown's second touchdown would be the game-winning score, but Sam Howell had another plan.

Howell drove the Commanders 64 yards on 10 plays in one minute and 43 seconds to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Howell repeatedly exploited the Eagles' lack of cornerback depth throughout the game, and that culminated in the game-tying drive.

The first-year starter went after Josh Jobe, who started the last two games on the outside due to injuries, and he isolated Darius Slay and James Bradberry on a few occasions as well.

Howell threw for 290 yards and his only touchdown pass came on the perfectly-placed game-tying touchdown throw to Jahan Dotson.

The Eagles secondary got bailed out by some incredible pressure from the front seven on Washington's lone drive in overtime, but the performance of that unit displayed the biggest concern about the team at the moment.

Philadelphia must find a solution, whether it be internal or external, to make up for the injuries in the secondary so that the Dolphins do not do the same thing at a higher level in Week 7.

The challenges posed by Puka Nacua and Garrett Wilson in the next two weeks should help the Eagles test themselves and fix their secondary issues before the showdown with Miami.