Usually, the Eagles are the kicking team to begin an NFL game and are the receiving team to begin the second half. Coach Doug Pederson has his reasons for doing so and they make good sense. But on Monday night,  it was the Eagles who received the opening kickoff and it worked to their advantage in front of a packed house  of 69,696 onlookers at Lincoln Financial Field.

They went on a 12-play, 75-yard drive to score a touchdown on their opening drive in a 28-13 win  over the Washington Redskins in a pivotal NFC East Division matchup. This  takes their season off life support and allows it to breathe on its own. At least, for the time being. It was their first touchdown on their opening drive in over a month and only the third time this season the opposition hasn’t shut them out in the opening quarter.

It came from the six yard-line, quarterback Carson Wentz dropped back to pass and started to maneuver in and around the Washington defense. As he was about to go down, he found newly acquired receiver Golden Tate open in the end zone. He rifled the pass and Tate had his first TD as an Eagle. He celebrated his first score by doing an excellent worm. Jake Elliott provided the kick and the Eagles were off and running.

But not so fast. The Redskins took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter when Adrian Peterson exploded through the interior of the defensive line and took it 90 yards for a score. The defense didn’t hang its head for long. The Eagles allowed only a field goal before the halftime intermission and shut out the Redskins in the second half.

They took the lead for good when Darren Sproles scored from 14 yards on a run in which he refused to be tackled late in the half. The kick came from Elliott for a 14-10 lead. This was the first game Sproles had played since the opener due to nursing a pulled hamstring.

The life in the Redskins left them when Wentz drilled a four-yard TD pass to wide receiver Jordan Matthews early in the final stanza. Tate made his presence felt again when he caught the two-point conversion for a 22-13 advantage. Elliott added two field goals that weren’t needed.

Not with Mark Sanchez at quarterback for the Redskins. He had to come in for the regular backup Colt McCoy who broke his leg in the second quarter. McCoy started his second game in place of starter Alex Smith who broke his leg in two places two weeks ago.

The Eagles won games back-to-back for the first time this season and evened their record at 6-6. They moved into a tie with the Redskins (6-6) for second-place in the division. Leading the way and in control of their destiny are the dreaded Dallas Cowboys at 7-5. The rival Cowboys have won four in a row and beat the Eagles 27-20 earlier this season. That game was played at Lincoln Financial Field.  On Sunday,  the Eagles play the Cowboys on their home turf.

A loss to the Cowboys, and the Eagles can kiss their postseason hopes bye-bye. But a win puts them in a first-place tie in the division and above .500 since they beat Indianapolis in their third game.