- WHERE: Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
- WHEN: 3 p.m. ET | FOX, FOX Deportes, NFL+
With just one more win needed to earn a berth in Super Bowl LIX, the cream of the NFC crop face off on Championship Sunday.
The No. 2 seed Philadelphia Eagles will host the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders, the third and final time these NFC East opponents will face off for the most important game of their seasons so far.
After getting bounced from the playoffs early last year, the Eagles returned to the postseason with something to prove and a goal to get back to the Super Bowl, and have so far ticked off the necessary boxes. With their 16 wins, including two in the playoffs over the Packers and Rams, this marks the fourth time in franchise history that the Eagles have won 15-plus games in a season. They made the Super Bowl in each of the previous three instances, including as recently as two years ago in Super Bowl LVII. Philadelphia will hope to continue this streak as they vie for a chance at the Lombardi Trophy.
On the other side, the Commanders have risen to the top of the NFC in their first year under new head coach Dan Quinn, turning what was widely expected to be a rebuild year with a rookie quarterback into one of the best seasons in recent Washington history. On the back of multiple last-minute wins, including in the Wild Card Round, and an upset win over the No. 1 ranked Lions last week, the Commanders are in search of their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1991 season, when Washington last won it all.
These two teams have already faced off twice this year and split the series. The Eagles took the win in Week 11, 26-18, and the Commanders followed that up with a 36-33 win in Week 16, Philadelphia’ lone loss in its final 13 regular-season games. This is thus the decider of both the season series and, more importantly, who will face the winner of the Bills-Chiefs game in Super Bowl LIX in just over two weeks.
Though this NFC East matchup obviously has its history, with the all-time series leaning 90-86-6 in favor of Washington, this is only the second time the teams will face off in the postseason, with the first coming in the 1990 Wild Card round, won by Washington. In this postseason sequel and season threequel between these two teams, who will come out on top and head to New Orleans?
Here are four things to watch for in this Championship Sunday showdown between the Commanders and Eagles:
1) How high can Jayden Daniels’ star rise? When the Commanders selected Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in last spring’s draft, they were hoping for a franchise quarterback to build a team around for years to come, but likely few expected him to bring this level of success to the team in just his first season. Daniels is just the sixth rookie QB to start a conference championship game, and the first to do so without the assistance of a top-3 scoring defense (the Commanders defense is 18th). After breaking multiple rookie records in the regular season due to his running abilities and steady arm, Daniels has continued to do so in his two postseason games, racking up the accolades in a season that has put him in the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation. He is the first rookie to have a 100-plus passer rating in multiple playoff games, and his 4-0 TD-INT ratio, 34.0 PPG average and 116.2 passer rating in the postseason all put him first among rookie quarterbacks. He’s led his team to this point with his veteran mindset and penchant for last-second heroics, and now there’s only a few more goals in sight. Personally, with one more win and two more touchdowns, he’ll break the records for the most by a rookie QB in history, including playoffs. And more importantly, if he can lead his team to another upset win, he’ll be the first rookie to win a conference championship game and advance to the Super Bowl.
2) Eagles D seeks to continue dominance. Daniels comes into Sunday leading a potent offense that ranks No. 5 in scoring, but he and his teammates will now have to break through the Eagles’ No. 1 defense in order to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. Philadelphia has seen a complete turnaround of their unit from last season to this, going from 30th in scoring defense and 31st in passing yards allowed to now sitting at No. 1 in total defense, second in scoring and first in passing yards allowed with the emergence of multiple stars and under the tutelage of Vic Fangio. This resurgent unit now ranks first in the league in points per game allowed (17.6) and total yards per game (286.1), including playoffs, and is set to try to continue its impressive season by stymieing the Commanders. Up front, the pass rush led by Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith produced five sacks last week against the Rams, and will attempt to breach an offensive line that has allowed Daniels to be sacked once in the postseason. In the secondary, Darius Slay, Quinyon Mitchell, who's battling a shoulder injury, and Co. will need to limit Commanders WRs Terry McLaurin and Dyami Brown, who each have 85-plus receiving yards in both postseason games. In addition, while the Commanders have not had a turnover this postseason, the Eagles forced five in the teams’ Week 16 matchup, and have 16 takeaways total in their last five games, a trend they’ll want to continue as they look towards a title game win.
3) Commanders’ leaky run defense faces star RB. There’s not much doubt that Saquon Barkley is the Eagles’ foremost offensive weapon, the man they turn to game after game to get them the yards and points they need. And it’s no wonder why, when he has repeatedly shown his ability to change the game in a single play during this career year. After completing a 2,000-yard regular season, Barkley has run wild in the Eagles’ two postseason wins so far, rushing for 119 yards versus the Packers and 205 last week against the Rams for the highest rushing yards per game (162.0) in postseason history. That includes two explosive touchdowns of 62 and 78 yards against Los Angeles, adding to his season-season record of six rush TDs of 60-plus yards. Barkley's power has been difficult for anyone to contain this season, but the Commanders especially will face a tall task in limiting him. Washington finished the regular season ranked 30th in the league in rush yards allowed. And in last week’s upset over the Lions, they allowed 201 yards. The precedent is there for Barkley to have another big game Sunday, as he had over 150 scrimmage yards in each of the regular-season tilts between these two teams.
4) Can the Eagles pass game show up? Barkley’s extraordinary efforts have been needed at times to offset the Eagles’ issues with getting the air attack going. Last week proved to be one more such contest when Philadelphia didn’t have much of a pass game, as Jalen Hurts completed 15 of 20 passes for just 128 yards and the Eagles actually finished with just 65 net passing yards. That was their lowest total of the season, but the third time they’ve had under 100 net pass yards, and the seventh with under 150. This has been a season-long storyline that Eagles players have spoken on, with wide receiver A.J. Brown specifically pointing to the snowy conditions as the reason for last week’s low output. But it’s not just been last week when the pass game has been lacking, and it will only get more difficult to jumpstart what should be a formidable unit this week, with the Commanders’ No. 3 passing defense standing in contrast to its weak rush D. And for one more complication, it’s yet to be revealed to what extent Hurts’ mobility as a runner and in the pocket will be hampered by the knee injury he suffered in the third quarter of last week’s game. With a Super Bowl appearance on the line, this passing game question needs an answer.
