December 20, 2025
Geoff Burke/Imagn Images
The Eagles relied on their two top tier receivers in Saturday's win.
A flawed Eagles squad won the NFC East on Saturday night in Washington, proving they are, indeed, the least flawed team in a pretty putrid division with a 29-18 win in Week 16.
The 10-5 Eagles will now be able to start turning their attention to seeding and resting their players as they look to defend their Super Bowl title in January (and maybe February).
If nothing else, the 2025 Eagles have shown they can overcome some pretty big deficiencies, from an offense leading the NFL in three-and-outs to missing their two best players (Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter) to Saturday's sloppy but convincing win over the lowly Commanders.
Before they trek north to face the juggernaut Bills next week, let's take a look at what was working, and what wasn't in Philly's most recent victory:
Prior to their dominant win against the Raiders last week the Eagles' offense had been extremely inconsistent. So inconsistent in fact, that they were out-gained in 10 of their 13 games leading up to the Week 15 thumping — that saw them out-gain Las Vegas by more than 300 yards.
Against Washington, Philly continued bucking an ugly trend by moving the ball comfortably against the Commanders, picking up 387 yards from scrimmage and out-gaining Washington by 167 — with a chunk of their yards coming in garbage time.
A sizable chunk of that offense can be attributed to Eagles receivers picking up yards after the catch. A.J. Brown was an absolute YAC monster, catching nine balls for 95 yards in the win, including this one:
A.J. Brown catching and running
— NFL (@NFL) December 20, 2025
PHIvsWAS on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/6LQeudoeeu
The Eagles have lost the time of possession battle a number of times this season too but not on Saturday night. Thanks in part to their second 10-plus minute drive of the year (they're the only team in the NFL with two of those) they held the ball for nearly 10 more minutes than Washington did.
Jalen Hurts had a really solid game, hanging tough in the pocket and making pretty good decisions all game despite the offensive line struggling (at times) to block for Saquon Barkley and special teams falling flat (more on that in a bit).
It also didn't hurt that the Eagles knocked backup quarterback Marcus Mariota out of the game for Washington and handled third-stringer, 39-year-old Josh Johnson pretty easily. It will be quite tough for Philadelphia to put up more yards than Buffalo next week but the momentum is there.
The very definition of beating yourself in the NFL is having bad special teams.
Despite a stout defense and an offense that was able to move the ball pretty well against Washington, the Eagles kicking and kick return units shot the team in its foot over and over. Thankfully, they had too much talent not to prevail anyway.
It all started when it all started, with the opening kickoff — fumbled and lost by Will Shipley, leading to a Commanders field goal. Not only did this place Philly behind early, but it also essentially gave D.C. opening possessions in both halves, not exactly a recipe for success.
Shipley made a lesser sin, but still a costly one, when he hesitated before running the ball out of the end zone following Washington's second quarter touchdown drive. The Eagles two-minute drill began inside the 20-yard-line as a result.
And a few minutes later, kicker Jake Elliott missed not one, but two kicks to end the first half. The first, from 57 out, didn't count, as the Eagles were gifted a five-yard defensive penalty. But when he reattempted a 52-yarder, he once again went wide of the goal.
The Eagles would have had a 13-10 lead, not 10-7 deficit, had Elliott made that kick, plus a 43-yarder earlier in the second that again gave Washington excellent field position as a result.
The next field goal situation for the Eagles came with a 4th and 7 in the third, but Sirianni elected to go for it instead of trotting Elliott back out there. Luckily for Hurts, who threw an interception on the play, Philly was awarded a first down after a Washington penalty. Will there be a new kicker in practice next week?
And though it's not technically special teams, the Eagles did false start on their first tush-push attempt (but later scored on a touchdown pass to Devonta Smith). On their second of two tries on the classic play, Hurts was stuffed on a first and goal at the 1, followed by a questionable false start on their next sneak try (Dallas Goedert would later score on an impressive third and 15 TD grab).
A play that, like Elliott kicks, is typically taken for granted and the Eagles' lack of success at formerly routine special teams (and tush push) plays is extremely troubling with the playoffs around the corner.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
