Game Recap: NFC Championship game – Commanders fumble the game away; Eagles win in a rout 55-23

Three forced fumbles doomed the Commanders; Eagles score 7 rushing touchdowns

Last week, the Commanders buried the top-scoring offense in the NFL in the divisional round playoff in Detroit, with the Jayden Daniels-led offense unaffected by deafening crowd noise or the ‘bigness’ of the moment.

Today, Washington goes to another tough environment, but one with which they are intimately familiar, as the Commanders travel to Philadelphia to face the league’s 2nd-ranked scoring defense and the NFL’s 2024 rushing champion, Saquon Barkley.

Like last week, the Commanders will be relying on their rookie phenom quarterback, Jayden Daniels, who threw 5 touchdown passes and led Washington to score 36-points in a victory over the Eagles just five weeks ago.

While the Eagles are the betting favorites today, that is most probably because NFL fans still haven’t figured out what this team in Washington is all about in 2024.

This is a new team, but not a young team. In fact, the Commanders roster is studded with super bowl champions like LB Bobby Wagner, LG Nick Allegretti, and the guy who caught a key TD pass in Philly’s only super bowl win, TE Zach Ertz. In putting together Washington’s 14-5 roster, GM Adam Peters clearly wanted to have key veteran leaders in every position group. Some, like S Jeremy Chinn, C Tyler Biadasz, RB Austin Ekeler, and QB Marcus Mariota, were added in free agency. Others, like WR Terry McLauri, DT Jonathan Allen, and All Pro punter Tress Way had been here a while and lived through the travails of Washington football over a number of years.

Head coach Dan Quinn never worried for a moment about that history. He focused on building a single high-performance team from the collection of old & new. Last week, Quinn described the “joyful intensity” with which this team now plays winning football.

The Commanders are in the midst of a 7-game winning streak — the longest in the NFL at the moment — that includes victories over the top 3 seeds in NFC playoffs, Detroit, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. That winning streak and the quality of these three playoff teams bolster team confidence and offer a vision of how 2024 is different from the quarter-century of frustration that preceded it.

In other words, this isn’t the Washington team that fans have known throughout the current century. This team harkens back to the glory years of Redskins football under George Allen and Joe Gibbs when the team won five NFC championship games and three Lombardi trophies.

Some will say that a rookie quarterback has never reached a Super Bowl, and that is true, but one rookie quarterback did win the NFL’s championship game. That rookie was the Washington Redskins own Sammy Baugh, who led the team, fresh off its move from Boston to DC, to a victory over the Chicago Bears in a game played in Chicago in 1937. In that championship game, Baugh passed for 335 yards, setting a record for an NFL playoff game that stood until 2012.

The 2024 Commanders offense is a highly efficient unit. In the regular season, it ranked:

• Second in drive score percentage (50.0)
• Tied for second in first downs per drive (2.2)
• Fourth in points per drive (2.72)
• Fourth in “successful play” percentage (50.9)
• Fifth in touchdowns per drive
• Sixth in time of possession per drive (2:59)
• Sixth in third down percentage (45.6)

Washington will face a Philly defense that is near the top of the league in most defensive measures and which will offer a very different challenge than the aggressive blitzing style employed by the Lions a week ago.

The Eagles are more likely to play 2-deep safeties, and rely on disciplined pass rush from a 4-man DL combined with strong secondary play from a unit that features two rookie DBs, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. The Commanders will find it hard to produce the kind of explosive offensive plays that were successful in Detroit, and will likely have to rely on sustaining long scoring drives.

One advantage that Washington enjoyed five weeks ago was an advantage in starting field position following kickoffs thanks to excellent coverage on kickoffs and outstanding returns when receiving the ball. Look for Philly to attempt to blunt this advantage by kicking the ball into the end zone, minimizing the opportunity for return man Austin Ekeler to break free against the Eagles’ coverage team.

Another feature of the last game between these two teams was an uncharacteristic 5 turnovers gifted to the Eagles by Washington’s offense, including 2 fumbles by Brian Robinson and a pair of interceptions thrown by Jayden Daniels. The Commanders, like the Eagles, are typically very good at protecting the ball (in the past 4 weeks, including two weeks of playoff games, Washington has 2 turnovers and the Eagles 0 turnovers). Protecting the football in today’s game will be critical to earning the win and advancement to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles are likely to lean into their dominant offensive line and the legs of Saquon Barkley when they take the field against Washington’s porous run defense. The Commanders, in two games against the Eagles in the regular season, did a good job at limiting Barkley for about 5 or 6 of the 8 total quarters played, but Saquon scored on runs of 23 yards and 39 yards in the final 5 minutes of the game in Philly, and he rushed for 122 yards and 2 TDs in the first half of the loss to the Commanders in Washington last month. It will be important for the Commanders defense to limit the damage inflicted by Saquon for a full 60 minutes.

Injuries will increase the difficulty level for Washington today. Specifically, with DT Daron Payne out with knee and finger injuries, the team’s run defense is weakened. On first-and-10 runs this year with Payne on the field, the Commanders had a 64.4% success rate on defense, which was about average. Over 97 first-and-10 carries without Payne, that dropped to 51.6%, which was last in the league. On the other side of the ball, Washington lost RG Sam Cosmit to an ACL injury suffered against the Lions last week. This will create an incredible handicap in controlling Philly’s defensive game-wrecker, DT Jalen Carter, who may be the biggest defensive challenge that Philly will throw at Jayden Daniels & Co.

Washington’s run game showed signs of life against the Lions a week ago when Brian Robinson, Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols combined for 25 carries, 132 yards and 3 touchdowns after having struggled to gain any traction since the Week 14 bye. One key element of the game will be the Commanders’ ability succeed against Philly’s 10th ranked rush defense with their starting right guard out for the balance of the playoffs.

In the Week 16 game, CB Marshon Lattimore struggled in coverage against the Philadelphia receivers, and left the game injured. A week ago against the Lions, he appeared healthy and effective, playing on just one side of the field and holding Lions receivers without a reception on only a single target thrown his way. If he can play at the All Pro level he is capable of, that could put a lot of pressure on the Eagles’ passing attack.

Of course, health is also a concern for Philadelphia. QB Jalen Hurts suffered a knee injury in the divisional round playoff game, and, despite positive reports from this week’s practices, outside observers will be keen to find out if the quarterback has his usual mobility or if he will be limited by the after-affects of the injury. Similarly, center Cam Jergens was listed as questionable on the Philly Friday injury report, and may either miss the game or be less than 100% if he does play. Reports have been more positive about CB Quinyon Mitchell, who was limited on Wednesday, but seems to be at or near full speed for today’s game.

Weather was a factor a week ago when the Eagles played the LA Rams in the falling snow. It appears as if the weather in Philadelphia today will be clear and mostly in the 40s, which should provide good football weather.

This is only the second time ever that these two teams have met in the playoffs, with Washington winning the only meeting (in the wildcard round, Jan 1991) by a score of 20-6.

Commanders fans have waited 33 years since their last NFC conference championship game (and super bowl). In a season of largely unexpected success, a win today to return to the super bowl would be another huge step towards a bright new future.

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First Quarter

Philadelphia kicked off to Washington, who started the first drive of the game at the 30-yard line following a touchback.

The team started in an empty set, with Jayden Daniels scrambling up the middle under heavy pressure for 1 yard. After a completion to TE Zach Ertz on 2nd down, they faced 3rd & 6, and McLaurin caught a slant for 7 yards to earn the initial first down of the game.

After a batted pass and a checkdown to TE John Bates, it was 3rd & 6 at the 45-yard line. On 3rd down, Olamide Zaccheaus was the checkdown player on the left side; he caught a pass that barely made it to him and then ran for a 7-yard gain and another first down.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 5 at the Philadelphia 43-yard line. Every play has been a struggle for yards so far, but Washington has moved across midfield. on the 3rd down play, under pressure and rolling right, Jayden loosed a pass that was broken up inside the 10-yard line. Dan Quinn left his offense on the field facing 4th & 5, and Daniels calmly, behind pretty good protection, hit Zach Ertz for an easy first down at the 36-yard line. It’s already been a 10-play drive.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 3, and on the money down at the 28-yard line, a screen pass to the left went through the hands of OZ. Quinn kept his offense on the field for 4th & 2, and Daniels, with an opening in the inside rush lanes, scrambled right up the middle for 5 yards and another first down at the 23-yard line.

Two plays later, Washington faced 3rd & 9. On the 3rd down play, Ausin Ekeler caught a pass on the left sideline for 6 yards. Facing 4th & 3 at the 16-yard line, Dan Quinn decided he wanted the early points and sent Zane Gonzalez out to kick a 34-yard field goal to give Washington the 3-0 lead.

The scoring drive lasted 18 plays and covered 54 yards, consuming just over 7 minutes.

Following the kickoff, the Eagles started their first drive of the game at the 40-yard line following a good return by Will Shipley.

The first defensive play was a disaster for Washington. Saquon Barkley took a simple pitch to the left, broke tackle attempts by Jeremy Chinn and Quan Martin and took the ball 60 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead!!!

Hopefully, the defense has got that over with and will play much better run defense for the rest of the game. We can’t trade field goals for 1-play touchdowns any more.

Following the kickoff, Washington started its second offensive drive of the game at the 27-yard line following a short return by Luke McCaffrey.

The Philly crowd was roaring at this point. Two plays later, the Commanders faced 3rd & less than a yard at the 36-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Brian Robinson took the handoff through the left side of the line for 3 yards.

On the subsequent first down play, Dyami Brown caught the ball and was working through traffic attempting to add yards to the play when Zack Baun punched the ball out of his hands.

Reed Blankenship jumped on the ball for the first turnover of the game — definitely forced by the Eagles defense.

Jalen Hurts came onto the field with the ball at the Washington 48-yard line. Things are not going well.

The Eagles earned a quick first down to the 38-yard line on a catch by Dallas Goedert, and then another to the 18-yard line on a sideline catch by DeVonta Smith.

The next play set the Eagles up with 1st & goal at the 4-yard line with a catch & run for 11 yards by AJ Brown.

It’s probably no surprise that the touchdown was scored by Barkley, untouched, on a 4-yard run to the right.

Following the PAT, the Eagles led 14-3 with less than 4 minutes remaining in the quarter.

So far, this is feeling a lot like the game in Week 16 when Saquon scored a pair of first half touchdowns.

Washington started its third offensive drive of the game at the 27-yard line following a 26-yard return by McCaffrey.

After two runs by Robinson, Washington faced 3rd & 6 at the 31-yard line. On 3rd down, Daniels passed deep downfield, targeting Terry McLaurin. The pass was very long and offered an interception opportunity for the Eagles defense.

Three & out; Tress Way on to punt — BUT NO!!

Fake punt (which, amazingly, I thought was likely) and which worked!

Tress Way threw a 26-yard pass to Zach Ertz for a dramatic first down.

On 2nd & 16 following a sack, Daniels hit Dyami Brown for a big 24-yard gain in the middle of the field.

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The quarter ended on a Brian Robinson run for no gain.

Second Quarter

After an incomplete pass, the Commanders faced 3rd & 10 at the Philly 28-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Daniels, under pressure, threw the ball away to bring out Zane Gonzalez for his second field goal attempt of the game. He hit the 46-yarder from the right hash mark, splitting the uprights to make the score 14-6 Eagles just 18 seconds into the quarter.

The Eagles started their 3rd offensive drive at the 29-yard line.

Jon Allen started things off with a 3-yard tackle for loss on Saquon Barkley, though Hurts followed that up with a 15-yard completion to AJ Brown on the right sideline with Jeremy Chinn in coverage.

On the next play, Johnny Newton nearly caused a strip sack on Hurts, but the QB held onto the ball, scrambled and got rid of the ball.

After a penalty, it was 2nd & 15 at the PHI 36-yad line. After a short pass completion, Philly faced 3rd & 7 at the 42.

On 3rd down, Hurts hit Goedert at the line to gain. The TE broke a tackle and ran for a 15-yard gain to the Washington 41-yard line.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 1 at the 32 yard line. On the third down play, Hurts got the yard on a tush push to get a fresh set of downs.

Two plays later, the Eagles faced 3rd & 6 at the 27-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Frankie Luvu broke the hearts of Eagles fans by sacking Hurts cleanly for a loss of 9 yards.

Nick Sirianni sent Jake Elliott out for a 54-yard attempt which was NO GOOD!!

After a 12-play, 35-yard drive, Philadelphia comes away with no points. The Commanders offense takes over at the Philly 44-yard line, trailing by 8 points.

After a Jayden Daniels scramble for 6 yards, the QB hit John Bates for 7 yards and a first down.

A 7-yd run by Brian Robinson was followed by a failed screen pass on a bunch formation right. Just not a good play call.

On 3rd & 3 from an empty formation, Daniels hit Terry McLaurin on an inside rout about 7 yards downfield, and Terry breaks a tackle and takes it to the house for a touchdown!

The Commanders tried a 2-point conversion, but, despite completing a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Ekeler, the RB was pushed out of bounds for a failed conversion attempt. The scoreboard reads PHI 14 – WAS 12 with just over 7 minutes remaining in the half.

Following the kickoff, the Eagles started their 4th offensive drive of the game at the 28-yard line. The Eagles scored all 14 of their points in the first quarter.

After a gain by DeVonta Smith on a pop-pass and a run by Saquon, it was 3rd & 1 at the 37-yard line. The Eagles lined up in tush push formation and got the needed yard for the first down.

The Eagles earned a first down with a short scramble by Hurts and a 10-yard run by Barkley. With the ball at midfield, a scramble by Hurts and a short run by Barkley brought up 3rd & 5 at the Washington 45-yard line.

On the 3rd down play, Hurts, under heavy pressure from a blitzing Jeremy Chinn, scrambled right but threw incomplete to Barkley.

On 4th down, Hurts broke the hearts of Commanders fans by hitting AJ Brown deep down the left sideline (covered by Lattimore 1-on-1) for a 31-yard gain as the two-minute warning was given.

Following the timeout, Washington started burning timeouts in hopes of giving JD5 a chance at another offensive drive before the end of the half.

An incomplete pass to Goedert in the end zone with tight coverage from Lattimore brought up 3rd & 8 with 01:51 on the clock. A false start penalty turned it into 3rd & 13.

On the key 3rd down play, from the 17-hard line, Hurts was under heavy pressure from the entire Commanders defensive line. DeVonta Smith was unable to hold onto the pass in the end zone, but the official flagged Marshon Lattimore for defensive pass interference in the end zone to give the ball to the Eagles 1st & goal at the 1-yad line.

Jalen Hurts, unsurprisingly, scored a touchdown on another tush push play, but Lattimore was flagged for unnecessary roughness after the play. Lattimore is having another rough day against the Eagles.

The Eagles lined up at the 1-yard line for the 2-point conversion attempt, which FAILED on the tush push play.

With 01:44 on the clock, the score is 20-12, and the Commanders will get the ball back with a chance to cut the lead or tie the game.

OR NOT.

McNichols was the return man, and he FUMBLED the ball when he was hit, and Philly recovered the ball at the Washington 24-yard line. What a disaster!!

It appeared as if Hurts scored a TD on 2nd & 3, but a holding call against Dickerson negated the run and forced 3rd & 13 at the Washington 24-yard line.

Hurts had to throw the ball away on first down under very heavy pressure from the Commanders defense. His 2nd down pass was complete to Saquon Barkley, but Mikey Sainristil hit him a yard out of bounds, drawing a personal foul penalty.

The Eagles got a fresh set of downs at the 10 yard line with 52 seconds on the clock.

Dan Quinn again used a timeout in an attempt to give his quarterback another shot at scoring before halftime, but things are feeling a little desperate — remember that the Eagles will get the ball to open the second half.

On 3rd & goal from the 4 yard line, with 43 ticks left in the half, the Eagles scored a touchdown on a pass reception by AJ Brown on the right side of the end zone with Sainristil in coverage.

Following the PAT, the Eagles had a 15-point lead, 27-12. The 7-play scoring drive covered 24 yards in less than a minute.

The Commanders offense will try to cut into the lead with 00:39 on the clock and the ball at the 30-yard line and no time outs.

The key play in the drive was a 19-yard scramble by Jayden Daniels to put the ball on the Philadelphia 35-yard line, in long field goal range for Gonzalez, leaving 13 seconds on the clock.

Zach Ertz caught the ball 5 yards downfield, then ran for another 5 and stepped out of bounds at the 25-yard line to give Gonzo a makeable field goal.

Gonzalez put the ball right down the middle to make the score 27-15 with 2 ticks left on the clock.

The half ended with a short return by Gainwell on the kickoff.

Washington’s two turnovers have been the difference in the game which Philly leads by 12 points.

Halftime Stats

Statistics via ESPN

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Third Quarter

The second half began with Washington kicking off to the Eagles, who started the initial drive of the second half at the 31-yard line. Gainwell was shaken up on the play when Colson Yankoff was blocked into him on the return.

The Eagles made a change at center, putting Cam Jurgens in for Landon Dickerson and Steen stepping on for Dickerson.

Washington’s defense has to get a stop here.

The Eagles lost 9 yards on two plays, as scramble out of bounds followed by a sack by Dorance Armstong for a 7-yard loss to bring up 3rd & 19 at the 22-yard line.

Goedert could get only 9 yards. Three & out; the Eagles send out the punter. Great job by Washington’s defense to force the first actual punt of the game.

Washington’s first drive of the half starts at their own 26-yard line.

A sack by the Eagles on 2nd down forced 3rd & 20 and Tress Way ended up punting for the first time in the game to give the Eagles good field position at their own 42-yard line.

The teams have opened the half by trading 3 & outs, which is not what the Commanders need.

Things didn’t get better, with AJ Brown catching a 16 yard pass on a stop route on the right sideline vs Sainristil.

Goedert caught two passes, the second one when he was wide open down the left sideline for 26 yards, to earn 1st & goal at the 9-yard line.

On the next play, Hurts scored a touchdown on a called run to put the Eagles over 30 points. Following the PAT, the score was 34-15. The drive covered 58 yards in just 4 plays.

Facing a 19- point deficit, the Commanders will need to play a more flawless version of football in the final 24 minutes of the game. They can’t keep letting the Eagles score touchdowns.

Washington started the next offensive drive at the 30-yard line after the touchback.

The offensive drive started quickly with a 12-yard completion to Dyami Brown, followed by a 6-yard run to the 48-yard line by Brian Robinson. Eagles fans held their collective breaths as start DT Jalen Carter was shaken up on the play, but it didn’t seem to be serious.

Ertz went for 21 yards on the next play, giving the Commanders 1st & 10 at the Eagles’ 31-yard line, and then the team earned another first down on the following two plays.

On 1st & 10 from the 19-yard line, Daniels scrambled for 7 yards, and then Robinson ran for 2 to bring up 3rd & 1 at the Philly 10. It seems sure that the offense has two plays to earn this yard.

On 3rd down, Daniels went to his right, stopped, juked, and ran right up the middle for a touchdown!

Dan Quinn called for another 2-point attempt. Daniels faked a handoff, faked a quick keeper, kept his feet moving, and found Zaccheaus in the end zone for a successful conversion to cut the deficit to 11 points at 34-23.

With 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Washington’s defense will need to step up with another stop.

The Eagles open up the next drive at the 31-yard line; the tv broadcast announced that Kenneth Gainwell is out with a concussion, so the Eagles will have to depend on Barkley the rest of the way.

The Washington defense swarmed Jalen Hurts on 2nd down, but the QB managed to ditch the ball out of bounds with Clelin Ferrell draped on him to bring up 3rd & 5, which the Eagles converted with a completion for 11 yards to DeVonta Smith.

Three plays later, the Eagles faced 3rd & 5 at the Washington 37-yard line. The Commanders defense need to get a big stop here.

A run blitz by Frankie Luvu right up the middle was just what the doctor ordered, tackling Barkley for a 3-yard loss just as he took the handoff.

It looked like the Eagles special teams unit did a great job to down the punt inside the 5-yard line, but officials ruled it a touchback, and the Commanders got the ball at the 20-yard line.

A pass to Zach Ertz in the middle of the field for 16 yards got the drive off to a good start, but the next pass was tipped at the line and incomplete and then Ertz couldn’t pull in the pass on 2nd down.

On 3rd & 10 at the 36-yard line, Daniel threw a laser to Zach Ertz, who slid into second base on the completion at the 49 yard line for another 1at down.

On the next play, disaster appeared to struck AGAIN, as Austin Ekeler caught a pass, went to the ground, got up, and then lost a fumble punched out by Burks. Philly recovered the ball at their own 49-yard line, killing what appeared to be a promising drive by the Commanders.

The Eagles gained 19 yards on the subsequent play as time ran out on the 3rd quarter.

Fourth Quarter

On 2nd & 1, Saquon Barkley broke off a 21-yard run to the 2-yard line.

On a tush push play on 1st & goal, Hurts dropped the ball, but picked it back up to save the play. Frankie Luvu leaped the line on 2nd down, but the Eagles hadn’t snapped the ball. He did it again and the ball was again moved half the distance to the goal, and received a warning that a 3rd time will result in a personal foul.

The Eagles did draw another offsides penalty on hard counts by Hurts to put the ball on the 1-inch line. Unsurprisingly, Hurts scored on the next snap to make the score 40-23; after the extra point, the score was 41-23.

The three turnovers by the Commanders have been killers, resulting in three touchdowns by the Eagles.

With 12:24 on the clock and an 18-point deficit, things look grim for the good guys.

Jayden Daniels and his offense started the next drive at the 30-yard line, needing some magic. Don’t expect many called runs in the final quarter from Washington.

Three plays later, it was 4th & 6 at the WAS 34-yard line. Desperate for points, Quinn kept the offense on the field. Amazingly, Daniels hit Zach Ertz for 7 yards under tight coverage from Blankenship. First down at the 42-yard line.

Two plays later, on 3rd & 12, Darius Slay made a good pass breakup against Luke McCaffrey near midfield to force 4th & 12. Daniels was sacked at the 31-yard line, and any hope that the Commanders had for staging an improbable comeback appears to be erased.

At this point, the Eagles will simply try to score points and burn time off the clock.

On 3rd & 4, Jeremy Chinn was flagged for defensive pass interference at the 8-yard line, giving Philly 1st & goal.

Two plays later, Saquon Barkley ran in his 3rd touchdown of the game to complete the rout.

When Washington got the ball back with about 8 minutes remaining, it was 48-23 and the NFC Championship had been decided. Philadelphia would go to New Orleans and Washington would go home to lick their wounds.

Good season, bad game. There’s a lot to be proud of, but today is not a game any Washington fan is going to want to remember. In the end, it was defined by three turnovers forced by the Eagles that simply killed the Commanders. It’s gonna be a long offseason of Washington fans having to listen to Philly fans trash-talking and having no real come back. The Eagles won this game handily, with no help from injuries, officials or luck. This was a trip to the woodshed for the Commanders with poor ball security.

Washington drove downfield against soft defense from Philly, converting a 3rd & 6 with a pass to Ertz, who actually hurdled a tackle on his way to a 10-yard gain.

The drive ended on a 3rd down interception in the end zone by Quinyon Mitchell, who out-jumped Terry McLaurin, putting an exclamation point on the win with the 4th takeaway of the day.

With less than 5 minutes on the clock, both teams are likely to simply want to finish the game without injury.

The Eagles put Will Shipley in at running back and he gashed the Commanders on two runs, gaining 16 yards and then 57 yards to the cheers of the home crowd as the Commanders defense simply seems to be dispirited.

Kenny Pickett took over at QB at some point in this drive. On 2nd & goal from the 2-yard line, Shipley ran the ball in for the first touchdown of his career and the 7th rushing TD on the day for Philly.

Jake Elliott made it 55-23 with his extra point.

The Commanders offense returned to the field with 3 minutes remaining and all swagger stripped away.

Marcus Mariota took the field for Washington and started handing the ball to Austin Ekeler. Neither team was calling any time outs.

When Ekeler was unable to make the line to gain on 4th & 3, the Commanders turned the ball over on downs, and Kenny Pickett just had to kneel down a couple of times to run out the clock.

Full Game Stats

Statistics via ESPN

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