The Eagles are heading back to the Super Bowl following a 55-23 victory in the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field. It was dominant. It was complete. It was an ambush. It was the fitting way to start the next chapter of a postseason run that the Eagles have trademarked: Let’s Hunt. They might be the hunted, but it doesn’t matter.
Jalen Hurts entered the game with questions about his injured left knee — the dual-threat quarterback wore a protective brace in this one, never really looking hobbled or in duress at any point — and answered all of them. He accounted for three rushing touchdowns, including a comical Tush Push that forced referee intervention. Hurts finished 20-of-28 for 246 yards, with a touchdown throw and three more on the ground. He was electric.
The Eagles are moving on due to a total team effort, in their house and on the biggest stage. Saquon Barkley rushed for 118 yards and three scores — buttressing them: a 60-yard scamper to open the scoring and a 4-yard touchdown to end it — while MVP chants rained down on him for all four quarters. He slapped at his green helmet and ate it up.
Meanwhile, A.J. Brown found that “Inner Excellence” that had been missing for three weeks. He made six receptions for 96 yards, with a huge 31-yard catch to keep an early drive alive, then a huge 4-yard scoring grab right before halftime. Like Jim Murphy, his favorite author, teaches — everything came together in perfect harmony.
Head coach Nick Sirianni is taking the Eagles to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years after a season that flirted with disaster early in the year. Not anymore. They are riding a 15-1 streak into New Orleans and a shot at the Lombardi Trophy.
“Business as usual,” Sirianni told reporters earlier this week. “Again, if you’re not preparing like you do for this game Week 10, what are you doing? Our job is to stay consistent. There might be a few more cameras, a few more people, but really our job is to try to get better during the week to give ourselves a chance to win each Sunday.
“That is how we go about our business. It’s all about the preparation, the work. I firmly believe you’re going to play how you practice. We’ve had a good week of practice. We’ve got to go out there and have a good day today. That’s all our intention is on.”
First Quarter
The Eagles deferred to start the game, handing the ball to Jayden Daniels and the upstart Commanders to show why the national media had been picking them to pull off the upset. Washington didn’t waste too much time proving they were built for the playoffs.
Going no-huddle offense, Daniels attacked the middle of the field by feeding the Eagles a steady diet of short passes and timely scrambles. The Commanders went 54 yards on 18 plays while taking 7:03 off the clock before Zane Gonzalez hit a 34-yard field goal. Vic Fangio’s defense was bent but never broken. That opening drive would set the tone for everything.
Commanders 3, Eagles 0
Will Shipley returned the Commanders’ kickoff 35 yards, nearly busting it open up the gut before getting clipped at the ankles, to set up the Eagles’ first offensive possession. Then, they did the most predictable thing they could do: Jalen Hurts handed it off to Saquon Barkley and watched him rip a 60-yard touchdown run. Predictably unbelievable.
Eagles 7, Commanders 3
The play was a master class in gamesmanship as Hurts audibled and checked back to the original call, yelling “reload” at the line of scrimmage, and force-feeding the best running back in football. The rest? Well, put it in the Louvre. Barkley ran like a man possessed as he slashed down the left sideline, briefly stutter-stepped and slammed on the brakes, then reversed gears and cut it inside to find paydirt. Unstoppable.
Five plays later, the Eagles’ offense was back in business following a turnover at the 48-yard line. Zack Baun and Cooper DeJean converged hard on Dyami Brown on a short completion, with Baun poking the ball out and Reed Blankenship recovering the fumble.
The Eagles went back on the attack. Hurts came out fired up, winking at Barkley on more than one occasion, and showed he can beat teams with his arm. He hit Dallas Goedert for a 10-yard gainer on a 2nd-and-10 to get things started, then found DeVonta Smith for a 20-yard completion on a perfectly lobbed ball. A.J. Brown hauled in an 11-yard catch, one that saw him double-plant his feet and almost take into the end zone.
Barkley put the Superman cape back on to finish it. He ran it into the end zone, untouched, from four yards out. The Eagles were up 14-3 with 3:47 showing in the first quarter.
Eagles 14, Commanders 3
Second Quarter
Washington wasn’t going to go quietly into that good night. No one expected them to just give up. Following what appeared to be a quick three-and-out from the Eagles’ defense — Baun made two crucial stops on that drive — the Commanders faked a punt when Tress Way hit Ben Sinnott for a 23-yard completion to keep things moving. Oren Burks sacked Daniels on the next play, but the rookie quarterback bounced right back by hitting Dyami Brown for a 24-yard gainer. That was enough to set up a 46-yard field goal.
Eagles 14, Commanders 6
Jake Elliott had never missed a field goal in his postseason career. Had never. The Eagles struggled with a few communication issues along the offensive line with starting center Cam Jurgens out due to a back injury. He was active, yet benched in favor of Landon Dickerson to start the game which made Tyler Steen slide in at left guard.
Steen incurred a 5-yard false start penalty on a 2nd-and-10, then saw Grant Calcaterra and Landon Dickerson mix their signals on a 3rd-and-6 play at the 27-yard line. That miscue directly led to a sack on Jalen Hurts and a nine-yard loss that took them out of easy field-goal range. The Eagles trotted out Elliott from 54 yards anyway and he went wide right.
Momentum shifted quickly to Washington as Daniels peeled off a six-yard run to start the next drive. Four plays later, Daniels fired a bullet to Terry McLaurin — a tight spiral that floated over the outstretched finger of Oren Burks — who took it 36 yards to paydirt. The Commanders failed on the two-point conversion. It was a life-breathing drive for Washington, silencing a stunned crowd and demoralizing the Eagles’ defense.
Eagles 14, Commanders 12
Hurts watched everything unfold with a wry smile on his face. The injured quarterback guided a 12-play, 72-yard drive to match Daniels touchdown for touchdown. Hurts hit A.J. Brown a beautiful ball that went for 31 yards, then watched Marshon Lattimore hold DeVonta Smith a few plays later. The Eagles were in business at the goal line thanks to a pass interference call. Hurts lined up behind his beefy offensive line and churned out for the Tush Push score. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Eagles 20, Commanders 12
There is a famous line from the movie “Moneyball” where Brad Pitt tells his team, “When your enemy’s making mistakes, don’t interrupt them.” Point taken. The Eagles hawked a turnover on the Commanders when Jeremy McNicholas fumbled the kickoff. Will Shipley popped the ball out, then Kenneth Gainwell jumped on it. Eagles ball.
A.J. Brown hauled in a four-yard with 39 ticks left in the first half and the tide was starting to run. You could feel it in the stadium despite the Eagles’ defense letting the Commanders tack on a 42-yard field goal right before the halftime.
Eagles 27, Commanders 14
Third Quarter
Welcome Back, AJ Brown. “Inner Excellence” or not, it had been a struggle for Brown in the playoffs as he dealt with a knee injury perhaps more serious than anyone is letting on. Give him credit. His 16-yard grab to start a key possession in the third quarter jump-started the offense, pacing a four-play, 58-yard drive that resulted in a nine-yard touchdown scamper from Jalen Hurts. Following blocks from Saquon Barkley and Cam Jurgens, Hurts wore a clean jersey into the end zone. Untouched.
Note: Dickerson left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury, forcing Jurgens and his bad back into action for the remainder of the game.
Eagles 34, Commanders 15
Not be outdone, Daniels marched the Commanders right back down the field to keep it interesting. He found Zach Ertz on a 21-yard pass play, then scooted his way for two big gainers including a 10-yard touchdown run. Washington converted the two-point try.
Eagles 34, Commanders 23
Fourth Quarter
Frankie Luvu knew the cameras were on him. A known trash-talker, with a penchant for playing dirty, soaked in his reputation early in the fourth quarter. He picked up back-to-back encroachment calls — jumping off the Eagles’ offensive line, tempting the refs to flag him — as Jalen Hurts attempted a Tush Push from the 1-yard line.
Commanders’ teammate Jonathan Allen picked up his own encroachment penalty on the next play, causing the refs to make an announcement that if it happened again then the Eagles would be awarded the score. The crowd erupted in laughter. Ditto for the press box.
Hurts didn’t need the freebie. He ducked down and ran it up the middle again. Another Tush Push. With no more dirty tricks up their sleeves, Washington was helpless to watch Hurts poke it in. Touchdown.
That was probably the death knell but the scoring wouldn’t stop. Saquon Barkley would carve up the Commanders on a four-yard touchdown run, with rookie Will Shipley adding a garbage-time score on a two-yard run which was followed by a Gatorade bath for Nick Sirianni. The Eagles outscored the Commanders 21-0 in the final frame as the green fireworks spewed from the stadium’s roof. It was a party in South Philly.
Nolan Smith bowed down and prayed to the Eagles’ faithful following a sack on Jayden Daniels. The stop — on a 4th-and-11 early in the fourth quarter — stopped the Commanders and gave the football back to the Eagles. It was his fourth sack of the postseason, giving him the new franchise record. Smith had all but punched the Eagles’ ticket in that moment.
Eagles 55, Commanders 23
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
