Washington Commanders v Philadelphia Eagles
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PHILADELPHIA -- Brandon Graham won't sulk over a controversial call nor will he blame an official on why a particular call was made. The veteran edge rusher was the recipient of a penalty that ultimately cost the Philadelphia Eagles an opportunity at a 9-0 start, as he was called for unnecessary roughness on Taylor Heinicke in the final two minutes of the Philadelphia Eagles' 32-21 loss to the Washington Commanders. 

There was no reason to argue over the penalty. Graham -- like the veteran he is -- held himself accountable for the mistake. 

"I'm gonna take that one on the chin," Graham said immediately after the loss Monday night. "Of course, we all are gonna flush it and move on, but I'm definitely gonna take that one. I let the team down in a situation like that."

Heinicke gave himself up on a third-and-7 at midfield in a 26-21 game, sacked for a 12-yard loss that would have given the Eagles the ball back with 1:45 to play -- with one final opportunity to win the game. Once Heinicke slid and the sack was credited to Haason Reddick, Graham bumped the Commanders quarterback which drew a flag and a 15-yard penalty -- giving Washington a first down. 

"We can't put the game in the refs hands. In that position, I just gotta know. If he goes down, it's OK," Graham said. "For me, I was just hustling to the play trying to make sure he was down. I was just trying to get off the field."

The Eagles had just one timeout left at that point, allowing Washington to run out the clock until the final seconds. Philadelphia did get the ball back with five seconds left and actually fumbled a lateral into the end zone for the game's final margin.

Graham's penalty was the result of a hustle play that didn't go in his favor. 

"I was just trying to touch him. Touch him down. It just looked like he was gonna get up, you just never know," Graham said. "That's on me. I'll own that one. It's on me ... I'm just more sick I let the team down in the moment. I'm gonna get over that."

The mistake capped a night of uncharacteristic errors for the Eagles, plenty that occurred in the final quarter. Philadelphia had a fumble by Dallas Goedert that led to a Washington field goal followed by a Quez Watkins fumble after a 50-yard catch that would have pinned the Eagles at the Commanders' 20-yard line in a 26-21 game. Both fumbles occurred when the Eagles had an opportunity to take the lead. 

The trifecta was capped once Graham's penalty kept the defense on the field after a crucial third-down stop. Game over. Undefeated season over. 

"We wanna learn from it and we wanna make sure that we remember this feeling," Graham said. "We're only gonna lose if we beat ourselves. Washington came out and they came ready to play. I'm gonna give all the credit to them. They made us really earn it. Credit to them. 

"I'm ready to see how we bounce back from this. I know we gonna bounce back. I'm already ready just to get to work."