Jayden Daniels and the underdog Washington Commanders are one win away from the Super Bowl with a familiar roadblock standing in the way.
East division rivals meet in Philadelphia on Sunday to decide the NFC in the third meeting between the teams since the Eagles posted a 26-18 win on Nov. 14 with a 20-point fourth quarter. The Commanders have two road playoff wins in the same postseason for the first time in history, including a 45-31 dismantling of the Lions at Detroit last week.
But don’t tell Commanders coach Dan Quinn his team is an underdog.
“Internally, we have a lot of expectations about how we can play and what we do. We never went too far outside. Did we feel dismissed or put off? Yeah. That happened in the opening game. I felt dismissed, ‘Hey man, hang in there it’s going to be a long time.’ I was like, ‘FU. That’s not how it’s going to go down.’ It wasn’t disrespect. It was dismissive.
“It’s not a prove it to everybody else or an underdog stories. It’s about how we get down.”
Washington pulled the “upset” of the Eagles five weeks after their first meeting. The Commanders claimed the 36-33 nailbiter after Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts exited with a concussion five minutes into the game.
Kenny Pickett replaced Hurts on the fifth play of the second offensive possession and gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead on a 4-yard toss to A.J. Brown as part of Philadelphia’s 21-point opening quarter at Washington. The Commanders shifted into rally mode to hand Philadelphia its only loss since September.
Quinn said it’s Daniels’ in-the-moment skills that separate him from others. He led the NFL in completions (101) and touchdowns (12) against the blitz this season.
Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin said Daniels knows only one way.
“He doesn’t want to lose at anything. I told him (after losing to the Ravens), ‘Don’t ever lose that. You’re going to lose some games in the NFL.’ He doesn’t accept a bad rep out in practice,” McLaurin said. “Even at this point in the season, if he has a bad rep, we’re doing it again. In practice, or cards down in the weight room, he’s going to continue to compete.”
Hurts began the week with his status unclear because of a knee injury. Head coach Nick Sirianni said his quarterback and rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (shoulder) were attendees for a light walkthrough practice. Sirianni said beating Daniels won’t motivate Hurts, who commonly uses the phrase “keep the main thing the main thing.” On Sunday, the main thing is punching a ticket back to the Super Bowl.
“He’s the same guy all the time. No matter who we’re playing, when we’re playing, practice, game. He’s the same guy,” Sirianni said. “He loves football. Jalen’s pretty stoic and I love that about him. The same thing I say about Jayden Daniels, that he’s calm, cool, I say the same thing about Jalen Hurts.”
Daniels and the top-down regime change in Washington has changed the fortunes of the franchise, now sitting on a 10-win improvement over their 4-13 record in 2023. The No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft was 6 years old when the franchise last won a playoff game (at Tampa Bay in January 2006) before the current postseason. They’re appearing in a conference championship game for the first time since 1991 and sixth overall (5-1).
Quinn again puts trust in a player he calls “a rare dude” as the No. 6 seed in the NFC attempts to storm all the way to New Orleans with a third upset in these playoffs. Daniels can become the first rookie quarterback to win three postseason games and surpass Ben Roethlisberger (14 wins, 2004 Steelers) to claim the record for wins in a season, including playoffs.
“He’s a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape,” said Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. “The guy is playing extremely well. You can tell how much they think he’s playing so good by the volume of their offense and the things they trust him to do. He’s come through for them in a big way, and he’s tough to handle.”
The Eagles intercepted Daniels three times in two games in the regular season.
Washington had to make a change at right guard. Sam Cosmi left the win at Detroit with a torn ACL and Trent Scott, a 30-year-old on his fifth NFL team, enters the fire against All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter on Sunday. Carter had two sacks, five QB pressures, forced a fumble and batted a pass in a game-altering performance against the Rams last week.
He’s a player Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has been worried about since the teams first met in Week 11.
“They’re not giving anything easy,” Kingsbury said. “And then creating havoc up front, 98 (Carter) is as good a player as there is in the NFL right now. He wrecked us the first game, and they have some really good rushers.”
Outside linebacker Nolan Smith leads the Eagles with three sacks in the playoffs alongside linebacker Zack Baun, a finalist for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Washington has two of the NFL’s top three tacklers in the playoffs in Jeremy Chinn (19 total tackles) and Bobby Wagner, a tandem abundantly aware of their mission Sunday. Wagner, who has 16 postseason tackles, didn’t practice Wednesday. He plans to play through an ankle injury suffered late in the wild-card win at Tampa Bay.
Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne (knee, finger) missed practice Wednesday but said he wouldn’t miss the “dogfight” with the Eagles.
Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore didn’t attempt to mask his intent against Washington, saying the game plan would follow the same formula even if Hurts is limited or out.
Because of seven sacks, the Eagles had 65 net passing yards against the Rams. Hurts was not as explosive in the second half but had a 44-yard touchdown run in the first half.
“Your prep all week tries to account for everything you can encounter, from whether Jalen can go run or not, whether it’s snowing, whether it’s raining, whether it’s windy,” Sirianni said.
Barkley remains the essential ingredient for the Eagles’ offense otherwise playing more of a supporting role to Philadelphia’s No. 1-ranked defense in the playoffs. The Eagles rushed for more than 200 yards in both regular-season games, averaging 219.5 yards on the ground, and Barkley provided the big plays. He gained 146 yards on the ground in the first meeting, 150 in the second and scored four touchdowns highlighted by TD runs of 39 and 68 yards. He also caught a 43-yard pass in the November game.
Including the playoffs, Barkley’s historic season puts him third in single-season rushing yards (2,329) and fourth in total yards (2,638) by any player in NFL history. Broncos running back Terrell Davis had 2,476 yards in 1998 as part of a Super Bowl-winning run in Denver.
The recipe for winning two road games to open the playoffs has been simple for Washington. They have zero turnovers, six takeaways and outscored Tampa Bay and No. 1 seed Detroit by a combined 17 points with eight touchdowns in two games. The Commanders lead all teams in the playoffs averaging 34 points and are hogging the ball with a playoff-leading 142 offensive plays.
Philadelphia is hosting three playoff rounds for the first time in team history. The Eagles own a 4-4 record in conference championships since 1970 and won the NFC title game in 2017 and 2022.
“When you get into the third matchup with somebody, you want fresh eyes in the approach. It’s not the third game, it’s the first playoff game,” Quinn said.
Tight end Dallas Goedert (ankle) and center Cam Jurgens (back) did not participate in the Eagles’ walkthrough practice on Wednesday.
