For the third time in eight seasons, the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. In each of those instances, they’ve throttled their NFC Championship Game opponent by at least three scores, this time dispatching the rival Washington Commanders 55 to 23 on Sunday evening in South Philly.

Factoid aside, this wasn’t the same type of wall-to-wall beatdown the Birds put on Minnesota and San Francisco. They missed a field goal, blew a two-point conversion, and had some brain farts throughout. They weren’t truly able to put the Commies away until the 12:24 mark of the fourth quarter, despite having a +3 turnover margin at that point, which was mostly due to Jayden Daniels playing well and keeping his team in it. But at the end of the day, Kellen Moore’s offense could not be stopped and Vic Fangio’s defense made significant, game-changing plays throughout. Washington’s rookie QB could have played a perfect game and still would have lost.

The most satisfying thing about this one was the performance of one Jalen Alexander Hurts, who was rolled up last week and the topic of myriad questions about both his physical health and passing ability. He finished 20 for 28 for 246 yards and a TD, and ran for 16 yards and three scores, two from the shove. It’s gonna be a long two weeks for the national media, who now have to come up with new Hurts talking points ahead of the Super Bowl, since they can’t talk about the passing game any longer.

Oh yeah, Saquon Barkley had three touchdowns on 15 carries. He only touched it 16 times in the biggest game of his career and logged 124 yards. It feels like everyone on the roster made a play at some point on Sunday, and that’s the sign of a Super Bowl contender, which most Eagles fans started to realize in mid-October. This is a special team and they have one more game to win.

LET’S GO! TO THE SUPER BOWL!…


…AND TO THE OBSERVATIONS! –

1) There was some pregame confusion about whether or not Cam Jurgens was going to play. He ended up being listed as active, and was announced as one of six offensive line starters over the stadium PA, but did not play, with Landon Dickerson sliding over to center and Tyler Steen coming in at left guard. Dickerson looked like he was going through war in this game, hobbling around on the sideline, running multiple tush pushes, and trying to run a clean offense while clearly not being 100%. The Eagles gave up a sack on the third drive that forced a long field goal, and there looked like some confusion in protection before that. There was a touchdown called back because of a holding call against him, but otherwise he got the job done until Jurgens surprisingly came in to start the second half. It was all downhill from there.

RE: Steen, one false start on the third drive, but a clean game otherwise from him.

2) The Eagles’ defense had multiple opportunities to get off the field on that opening drive. Two third down conversions, two fourth down conversions. Maybe Zack Baun makes a play and that drive is over, but twice he was in the vicinity and there was nothing doing. Finally they got them to 4th and 3 and Washington backed off to take the field goal instead. Was that the right choice? The Commies were 2-2 on fourth down on that opening drive and had an opportunity to do it again, keep the momentum, and put it on the Birds to make a stop.

3) Big play by Will Shipley on the first kickoff return to create some good field position. He only returned six kicks in the entire regular season.

4) Saquon Barkley is inevitable. We all knew that. But on the first offensive play? It’s a crack toss to the field side, Dallas Goedert and Jordan Mailata throw some great blocks, and A.J. Brown is part of the pile of bodies that prevents Bobby Wagner from getting through and making the play:

5) If you wanna prevent the Commies from dinking and dunking all the way down the field, just force a fumble instead. What a play by Baun, who basically punched Cooper DeJean’s hand so hard that it jarred the ball loose and Reed Blankenship was there to fall on it. Maybe the violent punching was an apropos continuation of Saturday night’s Knucklemania at the Wells Fargo Center.

6) The second Eagles drive was a thing a beauty. Incomplete on 1st down, no problem, because they went to the pull-and-read game with Goedert on 2nd down to move the sticks. After that, a lovely toe-tap from DeVonta Smith, followed a quick run for Kenneth Gainwell to prevent Washington from challenging. Then some crucial YAC for Brown to pick up another first, followed by Barkley going in for his second touchdown with Lane Johnson making some guy on the edge look like a fool.

That’s how you punish a team after a turnover.

7) That fake punt was gross. It took them forever to snap the ball and you figured they were up to some absolute bullshit. Credit where it’s due; that was a nice design from Washington to send not one, but two receivers out there. Shipley was on it, he just went with the one guy and they didn’t have anyone else there for the second target.

8) What makes Daniels especially annoying is that one big play turns around 2nd long, or 3rd and long, as you saw following the big Oren Burks sack. Ending those Commie drives is like trying to kill off a cockroach. You stomp on it but it’s not dead. Then you set it on fire and try to drown it and it’s still there, kicking a field goal. It takes everything and more to get the damn ball out of their possession.

9) Eagles third drive – sure would have liked to see a replay after the entire sideline was calling for DPI against A.J. Brown.

10) Can’t say enough about Kenny G’s season. He really has done a great job backing up Saquon, and making the type of plays that keep drives moving and keep momentum going when Barkley is off the field. You saw in the second quarter of this game, when that catch and leap got the Eagles to 3rd and 1 and set up a tush push. Unfortunately they gave up a third down sack and a good drive ended with some ugliness.

11) The Jake Elliott of years past hits that 54-yard field goal. How much of that is on Nick Sirianni for kicking instead of punting, knowing Elliott’s struggles from 50+ this season?

12) Baun with a bad missed tackle on the Terry McLaurin touchdown. He makes that tackle what, 999 times out of 1,000? They’re playing outside leverage on 3rd and 3 and funneling everything inside, and that’s his play to make. Throw in a poor angle from Blankenship and it’s 14-12 after the stuff two-point conversion.

13) They opened with the Dana Holgorsen pop pass for Smitty on the fourth drive, then again in the fourth quarter. I could be wrong, but I don’t think they ran that play all season long.

14) That 4th and 5 conversion before halftime answered every question they had about this team. Could they throw it downfield? Could they pick up a blitz and could Jalen get rid of it quickly enough? They did all of that and more. Just a huge play, especially knowing it would take them to the 2-minute warning with possession to start the second half.

15) FOX showed a replay of Saquon picking up Frankie Luvu on that 4th down blitz. They think he got away with a hold, which, if true, the refs swallowed their whistles a few plays later, on the end zone target for Goedert, which you could say constituted a make-up call. There was a false start on 3rd down, then they flagged Marshon Lattimore for DPI on the next play, so a bit of a shit show there with the refs finally inserting themselves at a crucial moment.

16) You knew that Brown and Lattimore were gonna go off on each other at some point. It was simmering from the last game they played, down in Washington. They probably should have thrown flags on both guys during that melee, but Brown stopped and Lattimore kept going, which is probably why they only flagged Lattimore.

17) That opened the door for a tush push that got stuffed. It would have put the Eagles up 10 when an extra point would have made it a nine-point game. Need to see the analytics sheet for that one, because it seems like a no-brainer to kick the XP and go up two scores.

18) No matter, because Washington fumbled the ensuing kick off. Shipley just barreled right into Jeremy McNichols and the ball popped right out. What a randomly amazing game for the Clemson rookie, who almost took one to the house before scoring in garbage time. When people look back on this game, his performance will occupy a perfect little corner of niche Philly sports trivia.

19) Enough with Seven Nation Army, it’s a college football song and it’s played out. Seven Nation Army is amateur hour at the NFL level. Leave that shit up at Penn State.

20) That Mike Sainristil penalty was a backbreaker for the Commies. Rookie mistake. As close as it was, you gotta know that if you give the refs something, they’re liable to call that. They’ve been calling those types of penalties for years now, it’s not like it was an offseason emphasis going back to the summer.

21) Brown deserves all sorts of credit for his performance, especially coming off a divisional round game when he left a number of plays out there. Four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown at halftime. He finished with 6 for 96 and that score.

22) Poor defensive showing at the end of the first half. Can’t let these douchebags come down and get into field goal range in 26 seconds. They only went into halftime with a 12-point lead and it should have been anywhere from 15-20 considering the missed field goal and blown two-point conversion.

23) Good stat from Arcaini:

24) The aerial shots of the Linc were really sick, cool low-angle views, not your typical Goodyear Blimp stuff. Good production by Fox.

25) Wasted drive to start the third quarter. You’ve got a chance to put these jokers away and you come out with that? Give the ball to Saquon Barkley.

26) Imagine having Jordan Davis bearing down on you. Jeez. A drive-wrecking sack. Biggest play of his pro career, obviously.

27) This was the point when you started to think it was gonna happen. GREAT BLOCK by Saquon:

28) Bad drive by the defense after Hurts’ second rushing touchdown. Washington came all the way down the field, 8 plays, 70 yards, in less than four minutes. Didn’t force a third down until they were in the red zone, which Daniels ran in for a score. Then they conceded the two-point conversion to make it an 11-point game.

29) Not gonna complain too much about the ineligible men downfield on the Washington conversion since they have some iffy calls go against them. These things usually balance themselves out.

30) Barkley – excellent blitz pickup all night long. And even though there were some nail-biter play with Hurts scrambling for his life, he threw most of them out of play and didn’t take a ton of bad sacks.

31) When you talk about razor-thin margins, that Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo play is the perfect example. If Ringo knows he’s on the goal line, and leaves that ball alone, then Washington is pinned inside the five. Tough play, a bang-bang play, and not easy.

32) Oren fucking Burks! The punch out! These dudes don’t quit man. What a defense.

33) That tush push sequence was awesome. “Washington has been advised that at some point the referee can award a score if this type of behavior happens again.

34) Zach Ertz played really well. Eagles legend. Good to see him have a nice game while also losing. That’s the best outcome.

35) If that Nolan Smith sack didn’t get the juices flowing, you might be clinically dead. To start as wide as he did and chase down Daniels on 4th and long was something else. He’s come so far during his sophomore season.

36) Great season for the Commanders. Daniels is the real deal, and seems like a good dude also. You’re trying to find something to dislike about the guy, and it’s not possible. They’re gonna be a pain in the ass for some time, while the Cowboys and Giants continue to occupy the divisional basement. But this is the Eagles’ year, and Josh Harris is gonna have to wait.