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Halftime: Eagles 21 Redskins 20

By Joseph Santoliquito

PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — This was a little different. The Eagles trailed Washington for 29:51 of the first half, before taking their first lead in the first half this season, 21-20, on Sunday, despite Washington scoring on their first four drives.

Rookie receiver Jordan Matthews caught a pair of 11-yard touchdown passes, his first career NFL TD receptions, the second with :09 left in the half that gave the Eagles a 21-20 edge.

Nick Foles was 12-of-14 for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the half. That offset Washington's Kirk Cousins, who riddled the Eagles' secondary by completing his first eight passes and went 19-of-25 for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

Washington first four drives were 11, 12, 12 and 11 plays—keeping the Eagles off the field and shredding the Eagles' defense for 254 total yards (188 passing and 66 rushing).

LeSean McCoy left the field with a head injury, after Redskins' cornerback David Amerson went helmet-to-helmet with McCoy after a nine-yard gain with 1:12 left in the first quarter. McCoy later returned. Also, the Eagles also had what appeared to be an 80-yard touchdown, when Nick Foles hit Jeremy Maclin, but the play was called back at the Washington 30 when Jason Kelce made a rare error with a block in the back, hitting Resdkins' cornerback Ryan Clark.

Still, the Eagles managed to regroup and score on the drive, when Foles hit Matthews with the first of the two 11-yard TDs.

Over three games this season, opposing teams have now scored on five of their eight first-quarter possessions.

Getting off the field was a priority this season. Up until this game, it worked. The Redskins converted their first six third downs and were 7-for-9 on third-down conversions. That exceeded the total number of third-down conversions the Eagles have given up over their first two games (6-for-31: Jacksonville converted 2 of 19 third downs and the Colts were 4 of 12 on third downs).

BOX SCORE

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