Against all odds, the Washington Commanders (4-10) are leading 10-7 at halftime against the Philadelphia Eagles (9-5).

Washington owes a special thanks to Philadelphia kicker Jake Elliott, who missed a 52-yard field goal to tie the game with nine seconds left in the half.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota got the start for Washington again, after Jayden Daniels was ruled out for the remainder of the season due to his left elbow injury. He has completed 6 of 10 passes for 71 yards and has been sacked once for a loss of two yards.

The Commanders‘ defense has half Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to 112 passing yards on 12 of 17 attempts, and linebacker Jacob Martin got home for a five-yard sack, Washington’s lone sack of the game.

While Washington is already eliminated from playoff contention, it has the opportunity to play spoiler for Philadelphia’s postseason hopes with a win over its divisional rival.

Here are three quick takeaways from the field half.

Washington is winning the turnover battle

After Washington won the coin toss and chose to defer, it immediately got the ball back thanks to cornerback Mike Sainristil. On the game’s opening kickoff, Sainristil forced the Eagles’ running back and kickoff return man to fumble, which Kain Medrano recovered on the Eagles’ 26-yard line.

Sainristil, who leads Washington in takeaways with four interceptions, recorded his first forced fumble of the season.

The fumble recovery put the Commanders in plus territory, leading to an eight-play, 24-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal from kicker Jake Moody. Washington took an early 3-0 lead over its division rival.

Since the start of the 2024 season, the Commanders are 11-3 when they score first, per The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala.

At the half, Washington is leading the turnover battle 1-0

Terry McLaurin continues to look more and more like himself

After missing seven of Washington’s first 11 games with a quad injury, McLaurin is now playing in his fourth consecutive game for the Commanders and continues to look more and more like himself.

The veteran wide receiver has caught three passes for 53 yards, including a 40-yard gain, and leads all Commanders pass catchers in receptions and receiving yards.

The catch helped Washington drive 67 yards down the field on nine plays to set up a one-yard touchdown run from rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt to take a 10-7 lead over Philadelphia.

McLaurin has caught a touchdown in two of his last three outings and now has his third 50-plus receiving yard game since Nov. 30.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt found the endzone

If there were any game to test the Croskey-Merritt scoring theory, it would be against the 9-5 Eagles.

Entering Week 16, Croskey-Merritt has recorded 646 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, and has scored in all four of Washington’s wins in 2025. The Commanders have not won a game this year when Croskey-Merritt fails to find the endzone.

Tonight, it took him just eight carries and 25 rushing yards to score his first touchdown, a score that retook a three-point lead over Philadelphia.

Croskey-Merritt is coming off his third Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week performance this season, after he tallied 96 rushing yards and a score in a 29-21 win over the New York Giants.