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Eagles take gritty win over ‘Skins

This defies belief. As if things weren’t tough enough for the Eagles, things got even harder this afternoon against Washington.

Eagles offensive lineman David Molk. (David Maialetti/Staff Photographer)
Eagles offensive lineman David Molk. (David Maialetti/Staff Photographer)Read more

THIS DEFIES BELIEF.

Eagles players keep reciting a tiresome refrain about "Next Man Up," and, given the militaristic nature of the NFL, distilling remarkable feats into a nonsensical chant follows the logic of the league.

Wade Smith, however, has not been in green long enough to be completely brainwashed. In his 12th NFL season, Smith realizes what the Eagles have done in the first 3 weeks is amazing.

In the first three games of the season, they have played nine offensive linemen, and played them extensively.

They have lost four Game 1 starters.

They finished Game 1 and Game 3 with no line substitutes; tight end Brent Celek would have been the Next Man Up.

In the spring, they thought they were all set on the line, going seven deep with five returning starters. By the end of yesterday's game, they had lost six of their top seven offensive linemen.

This season they twice have lost two starters in a game.

Yesterday, center Jason Kelce was lost to injury, and left tackle Jason Peters to idiocy. They already were without their top linemen entering yesterday's game.

Still, they beat Washington, 37-34.

Still, they are 3-0.

Kelce had been gone for almost a full quarter when Peters was ejected for fighting early in the fourth.

That forced the Eagles to totally reconfigure their offensive-line assignments.

Incredibly, they scored 10 points after that.

So, forget the Darren Sproles Show from the first 2 weeks.

Ignore rookie receiver Jordan Matthews' coming-out party yesterday.

If the deep-reserve linemen had not played like starters, Sproles and Matthews would not have gotten their chances and quarterback Nick Foles would be tenderized like a Ruth's Chris porterhouse.

"I haven't experienced anything like what's happened here," Smith said. "To lose two guys the first week of the year, then to lose two other guys in the third week, is extremely rare. Usually, the football gods will show you some kind of love. You don't get that many guys either hurt or out of the game."

Kelce gingerly walked through the locker room after the game with an air of resignation typical of a player who expects to be shelved for a long time. He is the team spokesman, but the team yesterday instructed him to not speak with the media about anything.

He obeyed.

Peters, who seldom embraces interviews, yesterday made a point to make himself available. After all, he had some explaining to do after the hallmark play of the game.

With the score tied at 27 early in the fourth, Foles threw an apparent interception. He got close to the returner and was leveled by Washington nose tackle Chris Baker. Peters was enraged, flew across the field and popped Baker in the face with his hand.

Both Peters and Baker were ejected.

Peters has been to six Pro Bowls and generally is considered the best tackle in football.

Baker was lucky to stay out of jail after two fights at Penn State, from which he was expelled in 2008. Without much pedigree, Baker is even luckier to be in the NFL.

Clearly, the Eagles lost the more crucial player.

"That wasn't scripted or planned. The guy just cheap-shotted Foles, and I reacted," Peters said. "I shouldn't have [done] what I did. I was just protecting my quarterback."

Not anymore, he wasn't. He was watching from the locker room, watching a unit featuring just one player - Todd Herremans - who was expected to play this season.

"I was just hoping we won. I wasn't trying to hurt my team," Peters said. "I know I need to be out there."

Or did he?

The Eagles regrouped, drove 76 yards and scored the clinching touchdown.

"It was late. Tie game. We just needed a couple of plays here and there," Peters said. "The backups just went in and took care of business."

Right. Like the way Bill Murray and Harold Ramis took care of business in East Germany.

They weren't perfect or dominant, and Foles did not go untouched, but they were good enough. By all rights they could have been awful.

Consider:

Andrew Gardner finished the game at left tackle. He began the game at right tackle. He began the season having played in eight games in 5 years. He had never started before last week, when he replaced Allen Barbre.

Wade Smith, 33, finished the game at left guard. He began the game on the bench. He began the season at home, cut by Seattle after 11 productive NFL seasons.

David Molk finished the game at center. He began the game on the bench. He began training camp hoping to beat out Julian Vandervelde, who got hurt. He spent the 2013 season out of the NFL after limited playing time as a rookie in 2012 with San Diego.

Dennis Kelly finished the game at right guard. He started the game at left guard, in place of Evan Mathis, who injured a knee in Game 1 and will miss at least half of the season. Kelly battled back injuries and did not play a snap last season.

Herremans finished the game at right tackle. He started the game at right guard. Herremans has played every line position except center.

He knew what would happen if Peters went out.

"I'd play tackle," Herremans said. "We'd been over that this week."

"I think everybody has a good enough grasp on the playbook, so there was no confusion," Gardner said. "Fortunately, everybody who had to pull a switch today went to positions they had played before. They were all very natural transitions."

Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur pointed out again that not only do Eagles backup linemen get plenty of repetitions in the preseason, they get a lot of reps during weekly in-season practices, and they get them at multiple positions.

Even Molk, who is a center, gets reps all over. In the opener, Molk was forced to play guard in place of Mathis because Kelly was deactivated. Now, for the foreseeable future, Molk will run the trenches.

"He's not Kelce, by far, but he can play," Peters said. "So, he's got to step up and take care of business next week."

It would be business as usual.

Unbelievable.

Email: hayesm@phillynews.com