December 20, 2025
Geoff Burke/Imagn Images
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second half at Northwest Stadium.
It might have not have looked really pretty for the better part of three quarters, but that's nothing new for the Eagles.
But what is new – at least for two decades – is the NFC East having a repeat champion. By defeating the Commanders on Saturday in a 29-18 win, the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles repeated as division champs, something that hadn't been done since the 2003-2004 Eagles accomplished the feat.
Finally, the Eagles ended the drought, and they can thank the Commanders for loading up on a bunch of aging veterans, many of which were injured and on the sidelines, for aiding in this one-sided rematch of last year's NFC Championship.
Like most Eagles-Commanders games throughout the year, this one was ugly for both teams, as the Eagles watched their kicker implode and had trouble covering third downs early. They actually trailed 10-7 at halftime. But an injury to Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota laid the groundwork for veteran third-stringer Josh Johnson to enter the game, and there went Washington's chance to play spoiler.
Long touchdowns runs by Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby in the fourth quarter gave the Eagles the separation they needed to make this week a merry Clinchmas, and to ensure the Eagles will be one of the top four seeds in the NFC playoffs. The NFC East has been long dominated by the Eagles, and is again.
Let's get on with the observations:
• Without FB/TE Cam Latu, who practiced Friday but was inactive with a stinger, the Eagles' run game looked nothing like it did against the Raiders, formationally. The Eagles went from running a slew of three-tight end packages to scrapping them altogether. Saquon Barkley had some decent runs in the first half, but didn't really hit his stride until later in the game. He finished with 21 runs for 132 yards, and averaged 6.3 yards per game. It's either a major step in the right direction, or getting hot late against a worn-down defense.
• In the pass game, the Eagles featured a barrage of spread empty formations, something they did more against the Raiders than any other time, and kept going against the Commanders. The result was Hurts looking comfortable getting the ball out quickly on consecutive completions of 16, 14 and 15 yards on the opening drive and a fourth pass that should've been caught but was dropped in the end zone by DeVonta Smith, but Hurts completed his next two passes, including a 5-yard touchdown to Smith.
• In general, Hurts made some terrific throws from spread empty, but it's also noticeable most of his best passes came on early downs. The Eagles were 0-for-3 on third down in the first half and didn't covert a third down through the air until his 15-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-goal on the Eagles' first drive of the third.
• The Tush Push has become such an afterthought for the Eagles, another unpredictable plot twist that nobody could've seen coming. Even when the Eagles do convert from the play, they don't get the generate the same forward momentum they have in the past. They'll get one yard now, and Hurts will have to fight for it. They were also called twice for false start on their signature play, as referees continue to legislate the play with a hawk's eye.
• Let's be honest. The game was over when 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson came in to replace Marcus Mariota, who was checked for a concussion and didn't return. At that point, the Eagles were up just 14-10. They had played well defensively against a bad Commanders offense although they did allow a couple of big completions against Adoree' Jackson. They weren't nearly as dominant as they were Sunday against the Raiders.
• The pass rush was OK, but again, not as dominant as the prior game. Even on Johnson's awfully thrown ball that got picked off by Cooper DeJean, the QB3 had plenty of time in the pocket. There were surely some good pass rushes, and Brandon Graham picked up another sack, but they didn't house the Commanders up front the way they did against the Raiders. Next week's game against the Bills will be interesting because they'll need to be very disciplined in the pass rush.
• This must have felt like deja vu for Johnson, who last had to play in the regular season against the Eagles on Dec. 30, 2018, as the Eagles were rallying late in the season to make another playoff run. Washington started four different QBs that year – Alex Smith, Colt McCoy and Mark Sanchez were the others. Johnson was 12 for 27 for 91 yards, an interception, and 37.7 passer rating in the 24-0 loss in Landover. Johnson, who has played for seven teams since 2009 including two stints with Baltimore and Washington, has only started one game and thrown 60 passes since that game against the Eagles before replacing Mariota, although he did play against the Eagles in the 2022 NFC Championship for the 49ers after Brock Purdy got knocked out.
• It's not every day you see a fumbled kickoff return, three missed field goals, and a bad decision to return a kickoff from the end zone all in one half, but the Eagles accomplished that in the first 30 minutes of the game, and paid a price for it. The missed field goals appeared to be more on Elliott than anything wrong with the snap exchange. Could be in his head, but he's missed too many field goals this year to be considered the automatic "Jake The Make" that he once was.
• Still, Elliott's struggle doesn't validate Nick Sirianni's decision to go for two after a fourth-quarter touchdown that put the Eagles up 27-10 before the conversion. All that did was infuriate a division rival that couldn't wait to start a fight afterward, which is what happened and at one point led to seven different Commanders on top of right guard Tyler Steen. Three players were ejected, two Commanders plus Steen. Was that two-point conversion really worth it?
• A great tackle came from Sydney Brown on Braden Mann's first punt, drilling returner Jaylin Lane for no gain at the end of a 49-yard punt after the Eagles went three-and-out on their first possession. The Commanders started at their 15. Might have been the only positives from Eagles special teams in this game. Mann had a pretty meh 38-yard punt in the fourth.
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