Washington takes bite out of Eagles' playoff chances

Thanks to Kai Forbath's 26-yard field goal with five seconds left and two third-quarter touchdowns by fullback Darrel Young, Washington drove a dagger into the Eagles' playoff hopes with a 27-24 victory Saturday at FedEx Field.

"We needed this for the mindset of this team," said Young, an Amityville product who is well-known in Philadelphia because he attended Villanova. "There were a lot of questions surrounding this team about character. I can't say we proved it and shut everybody up, but we beat a good football team that was playing for a lot."

Washington (4-11) also benefited from two missed field-goal attempts by Eagles rookie Cody Parkey and a pair of long passes from Robert Griffin III to former Eagle DeSean Jackson. The Eagles (9-6) suffered their third straight loss. Their only hope is for the Cowboys (10-4) to lose to the Colts on Sunday and the Redskins next week.

Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin said the turning point came when Philadelphia, leading 14-10, failed to capitalize after recovering the opening kickoff of the second half at Washington's 16-yard line. The Eagles went three-and-out and Parkey, who already had missed from 34 yards, was wide again from 46. "We had a chance to extend our lead to 11 points right there and we came away with nothing," Maclin said.

"It's all me," said Parkey, who played at Auburn. "I let myself down and the team down."

Griffin (16-for-23 passing for 220 yards), set up rushing touchdowns by Alfred Morris and Young with passes of 51 and 55 yards to Jackson.

Former Jet Mark Sanchez was 37-for-50 passing for 374 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. His tight end, Zach Ertz, caught 15 passes for 115 yards.