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Photo Courtesy of Eagles Nation on X.
Ok, full disclosure. Aside from the fact that we are in the midst of a frightful Philly January weekend — with nearly a foot of snow for most of us and no meaningful Eagles football scheduled until next September — I really have no reason for all of us to re-live the Eagles and Commanders NFC Championship Game from a year ago.
Let’s do it, anyway.
The #2 seeded Eagles were in the NFC Playoffs after beating the Packers 22–10 in the Wildcard Round and the #4 seeded Rams 28–22 when they drew the #6 seed Commanders in the Championship Game in South Philly — who had throttled the top-seeded Lions in Detroit 45–21. The last time that the Eagles had faced a Division opponent in the NFC Championship was in 1981 —when they advanced to the first ever Super Bowl in franchise history by beating the Cowboys 20–7.
Now — it would be the Eagles who would put on offensive show.
Jayden Daniels and the Commanders would open the scoring with a field goal on the first possession. Then — Cooper DeJean forced a Washington fumble after a hit on Dyami Brown and Reid Blankenship recovered. Saquon Barkley then scooted off the right side and into the end zone for a 14–3 Eagles advantage. Washington then rattled off nine straight points to cut Philadelphia’s lead to 14–12.
After a pass interference penalty against the Washington secondary — preventing DeVonta Smith from catching a touchdown — Jalen Hurts plowed into the end zone from the one for a 20–12 advantage while Washington defensive backs Lattimore and Sainristil and A.J. Brown had a shoving match in the corner of the end zone. On the ensuing kickoff and a Jeremy McNichols fumble — the Eagles were on offense again and scored again thanks to a four-yard Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown connection.
In the third quarter — the Eagles padded the total by taking a 34–15 lead after a nine-yard Jalen Hurts touchdown run. Washington took momentum again and cut the lead to 34–23 with a Jayden Daniels touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion.
The Eagles stopped the Commanders comeback when Oren Burks stripped Austin Ekeler and Philadelphia recovered. Saquon Barkley then got tripped on the two yard-line to setup perhaps the most bizarre sequence of the game. The Eagles would run six Tush-Push plays with Washington jumping offsides a total of four times. The Commanders were advised by the referees that a touchdown could be awarded if the behavior continued — and subsequently Jalen Hurts scored on the sixth attempt for a 41–23 lead.
Saquon then added a four-yard touchdown run after a Washington turnover on downs. On the next possession — Quinyon Mitchell would intercept Daniels in the endzone. Eagles rookie running back Will Shipley would then run eighty yards on the next drive to put the Eagles in front 55–23.
The first person to greet him was Saquon Barkley.
Former Eagle Zach Ertz would haul in a total of eleven receptions for 104 yards for the Commanders. The Eagles would force four Washington turnovers before the game was over. And if you thought that this performance was impressive — the masterpiece of the Eagle’s season would be two weeks later — in Super Bowl LIX.
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