Eagles’ Darius Slay explains critical penalty in loss vs. Commanders

Nick Sirianni called it sloppy. DeVonta Smith showed up as “droppy.” And Darius Slay explained a critical penalty in the Philadelphia Eagles’ shocking last-seconds loss to the Commanders.

Slay said things didn’t fit together as they should have on the penalty for too many men on the field that turned into a touchdown, according to a post on X by Brooks Kubena.

Darius Slay on the 12-men penalty: “I saw Kelee (Ringo) come in, and then I just tried to run off because he was just locked in doing his job. Our coach told him to. … I was just running out there because I was ready to go back in.” He let one DB coach know, but not the other.

Jayden Daniels got the ball when the clock read 1:58, and he found Jamison Crowder in the end zone with six seconds left — Daniels’ fifth-touchdown toss of the game — to give the Commanders a stunning 36-33 comeback victory Sunday. It ended the Eagles’ winning streak at 10 game.

Eagles CB Darius Slay, teammates couldn’t stop Commanders

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. (2) reacts after his fumble recovery against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The defense didn’t help matters, but the loss turned into a team-wide failure, Saquon Barkley said, according to espn.com.

“We didn’t do enough,” Barkley said. “We left a lot of plays out there, including myself.”

Sirianni said the Eagles didn’t perform it a tidy way, according to athlonsports.com.

“Just sloppy,” Sirianni said. “Sloppy with penalties, (and) sloppy with too many men on the field. Sloppy with our fundamentals. When you play a good football team like we played today and you’re sloppy… it’s going to be hard to win. I said to those guys, ‘When it’s sloppy with every piece of that, it’s always going to be on me as the head coach.'”

The Eagles somehow lost a game where the opponent turned the ball over five times, including one in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Daniels said the Commanders made plays when desperately needed.

“You got those guys that came in on the win streak they were on, they were hot and they’re a very good team — rightfully so, good offense, good defense, all-around well-prepared team and you want to go out there and see where you match up against those type of guys,” Daniels said.

“I live those type of situations when it’s on thin ice and plays need to be made, that’s what you live for. If you really love this sport, you live for those big-time moments where it comes down to the end.”

Daniels became the Washington QB to throw for five touchdowns since Mark Rypien in 1991.