LANDOVER, Md. (AP) – Carson Wentz threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns as the second-year quarterback guided the Philadelphia Eagles to a 30-17 victory over the Washington Redskins 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 Redskins’ 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.