Quinyon Mitchell he didn’t know how many times he lined up in front of Terry McLaurin.

But the rookie cornerback was aware of a number from his standout performance in the Eagles’ 26-18 win over the Commanders.

“I knew,” Mitchell said, “that I wasn’t really thrown.”

How about never? Zero. Zilch. Nada. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels did not target McLaurin on the 20 routes the top wide receiver ran when he faced Mitchell on Sunday night, according to NextGen Stats.

” READ MORE: Eagles classes: Saquon Barkley, entire secondary deserves game balls vs. Commanders

On paper, Mitchell’s night didn’t look special. No pass breakups. No turnovers. Only one assisted tackle. But to those who witnessed him close out his side at Lincoln Financial Field, to the Eagles fans who watched knowingly on television and to the millions who got their first glimpse of the national broadcast, Mitchell was extraordinary.

It’s no longer a local secret. The rest of the country knows now, as does the rest of the NFL: Mitchell is playing as well as any cornerback in the rookie class. He may be playing as well as any first-year defensive player.

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

Mitchell didn’t stop McLaurin, who generally caught just one 10-yard pass by himself. It was a collective effort, as was keeping Daniels — another standout rookie — and the Washington offense in check for most of 60 minutes.

The Eagles’ defensive front sacked the quarterback three times and pressured him out of the pocket on multiple occasions. The off-ball linemen helped keep the mobile Daniels from looking for big gains. And Mitchell and the secondary kept McLaurin and Washington’s receivers from explosive catches.

“This is a team effort defense here,” the Eagles cornerback said Darius Slay said. “For the time I’ve been here, it’s been a D-line-led defense. But right now, I feel like we have a great front, great linebackers and a great quarterback, and we’re all playing together as one.”

Vic FangioHis defense has gotten better and better each week since the bye. It was often a “gift” that came after unit praise.

But the offenses they hit were weak. But the quarterbacks they stifled – apart from Joe Burrow – were subpar. But… but… but…

But now what about the Eagles defense? Washington came in with one of the league’s most efficient offenses. Daniels had played like a seasoned veteran and not like a rookie. McLaurin had 47 catches for 711 yards and six touchdowns through the first 10 games.

Surely Fangio’s young group would wither?

He didn’t. Until the Chiefs’ last possession, Daniels averaged just 5.9 yards per pass attempt. His receivers had just two combined catches for 13 yards. He was drawn into checkdown after checkdown as defensive backs denied opportunities down the field.

“I knew he was great at doing it,” Slay said of Daniels. “He has a strong arm, very accurate, as you saw on film. So when a quarterback gets good at it, you do your best to take him away. And that’s why you saw him checking.

” READ MORE: Fan-genius! Vic’s defense, Saquon Barkley’s greatness leaves Eagles as NFC’s second-best Super Bowl contender

It was a masterclass from Fangio and it was his much-imitated scheme at its best. Limit explosives when necessary with two high safety shells. Accept lightbox runs and short passes and trust your off-ball linebackers to tackle.

There were some early mistakes. Linebacker Zack Baun was late to cover Austin Ekeler a few catches behind. Several defenders struggled to bring down backling Brian Robinson.

But Fangio didn’t panic, even as the Eagles offense continued to stagnate or Jake Elliott missed field goals. He stuck to his plan, which was mainly to keep Daniels in the pocket and force him to throw short and up the middle.

“Have him play quarterback,” Eagles safety CJ Gardner-Johnson said, “and understand that when he becomes an athlete, he becomes very dangerous. And tonight, I think we did a great job of getting him to play quarterback.”

Daniels was essentially a non-factor on the court. He ran for just 13 yards on six carries before Washington’s meaningless end. Fangio didn’t dedicate a defender to spying on the quarterback, according to Baun, but defenders kept their eyes on him in their drops.

And yet, with the Eagles clinging to a 12-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Washington was just 1 yard short of another set of downs at the Eagles 25. But defensive end Brandon Graham and Baun teamed up to throw Robinson for a loss on third down.

And when Commanders coach Dan Quinn came up with a 44-yard field goal and went for it on fourth down, the Eagles made a stop. Defensive tackles Jalen Carter shot into the backfield as Daniels fumbled, safety Reed Blankenship forced the quarterback to the edge, and Baun was there to clean up.

“We’re an athletic defense that flies and hits,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “As the play was strung, you could see the effort of the football and you could also see the athletic ability of the football to make that play.”

The Eagles scored behind them as a running back Saquon Barkley motored into the end zone from 23 yards. And when Daniels finally threw the field on his next pass, Blankenship made a diving interception to essentially seal the outcome.

It was just the second pass thrown by the quarterback that traveled more than 15 yards. Fangio favored his deep shell. He also mixed up a cover with a man. But it kept coming back to a certain area.

“There was definitely a call we leaned on more than most in the area,” Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean said before declining to provide further details. “We just tried to match their routes in our zones with the guys underneath creating tight windows. And then there were a couple of drives where we mixed in a good amount of man.”

Mitchell said the secondary only included his coverage on McLaurin a few times. But he mostly played as a receiver, who had four 100-plus yard outings in 10 previous meetings against the Eagles. McLaurin’s only catch came with DeJean in coverage, but the slot corner was almost Mitchell’s matchup.

The two starters were a revelation. The Eagles have gone years without spending big draft picks on cornerbacks. That might partly explain why they’ve snorted more in recent rounds. But they selected Mitchell and DeJean in the first two rounds in April, and early results suggest they hit on both.

“Their ceiling is so high,” Slay said.

They don’t even enjoy the limelight.

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

Mitchell is still waiting for his first interception. He gave up a few potential picks early in 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

“Catch the ball,” Mitchell said.

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