quinyon mitchell He didn’t know how many times he lined up opposite Terry McLaurin.

But the rookie cornerback was a home run from his breakthrough performance in the Eagles’ 26-18 win over the Commanders.

“I knew it wasn’t actually forced on me,” Mitchell said.

But what about never? None. Zilch. Nada. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels did not target McLaurin on the 20 routes the top wide receiver ran against Mitchell on Sunday night, according to NextGen Stats.

” READ MORE: Eagles notes: Saquon Barkley, all secondary deserve game balls against Commanders

On paper, Mitchell’s night didn’t look special. There is no transition interruption. No turnover. Only one assisted game. But for those who witnessed him lock down his side at Lincoln Financial Field, for Eagles fans who watched knowingly on television and for the millions who caught a first glimpse on national broadcast, Mitchell was extraordinary.

It’s no longer a local secret. Now the rest of the country and the rest of the NFL know this: Mitchell is playing as well as any cornerback in his rookie class. He may be playing as well as any top-notch defender.

“He’s a good corner,” McLaurin said. “I think he’s playing well. He’s not really playing like a rookie.”

Mitchell did not single-handedly stop McLaurin, who caught just one pass for 10 yards overall. It was a collective effort to keep Daniels, another standout rookie, and the Washington offense in check for most of the 60 minutes.

The Eagles’ defensive front sacked the quarterback three times and pressured him on multiple occasions. Off-ball defenders helped keep the lively Daniels from challenging for big gains. Mitchell and the secondary protected McLaurin and Washington’s receivers from explosive catches.

Eagles cornerback: “There’s some teamwork defense here.” Massacre of Darius in question. “It’s been a D-line focused defense the whole time I’ve been here. “But at the moment I feel like we have a great front end, great defenders and a great back four and we are all playing together as one.”

Vic Fangio‘s defense has gotten progressively better each week since the bye. After praising the unit, a “but” would often follow.

However, the attacks they implemented were weak. However, other than Joe Burrow, the quarterbacks they pushed were inadequate. But… but… but…

So how is the Eagles’ defense doing now? Washington entered with one of the league’s most productive offenses. Daniels was playing like a seasoned veteran, not a rookie. McLaurin had 47 catches for 711 yards and six touchdowns in the first 10 games.

Surely Fangio’s young group was going to weaken, right?

It didn’t happen. By the Commanders’ final possession, Daniels was averaging just 5.9 yards per pass attempt. His receivers had just two catches for 13 yards. He was pulled into check after check as defensive backs denied opportunities downfield.

“We knew he was great at doing that,” Slay said of Daniels. “As you see in the movie, he has a very strong, very accurate arm. So if a quarterback is good at doing that, you do whatever you can to take it away from him. That’s why you saw him checking out.”

” READ MORE: Fan genius! Vic’s defense and Saquon Barkley’s greatness have positioned the Eagles as the NFC’s second-best Super Bowl contender

This was Fangio’s master class, his much-imitated scheme at its best. Limit explosives with two high security rounds when necessary. He accepts runs and short passes into the light boxes and relies on your defenders to tackle off the ball.

There were some early mistakes. Linebacker Zack Baun was late covering Austin Ekeler on a couple of catches out of the backfield. Several defenders struggled to take down running back Brian Robinson.

But Fangio didn’t panic as the Eagles’ offense continued to stall. Jake Elliott missed field goals. He mostly stuck to his plan, which was to keep Daniels in the pocket and force him to throw short and down the middle of the field.

“Have him play quarterback and understand that when he’s an athlete, he’s going to be very dangerous,” Eagles safety CJ Gardner-Johnson said. And I thought we did a great job of getting him to play point guard tonight.”

Daniels was actually a player who was not effective on the field. He rushed for just 13 yards on six carries before Washington’s last pointless snap. According to Baun, Fangio did not assign a defender to scout the quarterback, but the defenders kept their eyes on him.

But with the Eagles leading 12-10 midway through the fourth quarter, Washington was just 1 yard away from new downs at the Eagles 25. Brandon Graham and Baun teamed up to pin Robinson for a third down.

And when Commanders coach Dan Quinn missed a 44-yard field goal and went on fourth down, the Eagles got the stop. defensive tackle jalen carter Daniels took a shot into the backfield while bobbing the ball, safety Reed Blankenship forced the quarterback to the sideline and Baun was there to clean up the mess.

“We’re an athletic defense that flies around and hits,” the Eagles coach said. Nick Sirianni in question. “As the game went on, you could see the effort that was put into making the football, and you could also see the athletic ability that the football showed to execute that play.”

Eagles running back scores on their next drive Saquon Barkley He motored into the end zone from 23 yards out. And when Daniels finally tipped his next pass out of bounds, Blankenship made a diving interception to essentially seal the result.

The second pass the quarterback threw traveled just over 15 yards. Fangio preferred deep crust. He also mixed up some men’s news. But it kept coming back to a particular area.

“There was definitely a call that we had more confidence in than most in the area,” the Eagles cornerback said. Cooper DeJean he said before declining to provide further details. “We were trying to match their routes in our own zones with the guys underneath creating tight windows. And then there were a couple of drives there where we mixed in with a good guy.

Mitchell said the secondary bracketed its coverage of McLaurin only a handful of times. But for the most part, he directly played four receivers who had thrown for 100-plus yards in the previous 10 matchups against the Eagles. McLaurin’s only catch came in coverage by DeJean, but the slot corner was nearly Mitchell’s game.

The two rookies had an epiphany. The Eagles went years without spending high draft picks on cornerbacks. This may partly explain why they mostly whiffed in the final rounds. But they drafted Mitchell and DeJean in the first two rounds in April, and early results suggest they accomplished both.

“Their ceilings are huge,” Slay said.

Neither of them are the center of attention.

“My approach is to stay the same every day, come to work, work on my own, work with coaches,” Mitchell said. “I feel like everyone on the team is very hard on me. They expect better from me and I appreciate that.”

Mitchell is still awaiting first aid. He dropped several potential picks at the start of the season. Before the game, he had a long conversation with future Hall of Fame cornerback Richard Sherman, who was part of the Prime Video broadcast team. What did he say?

“To catch the ball,” Mitchell said.

He didn’t get many chances tonight. And that was a good thing.