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Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders: A Tale of Two Teams
By Tim Reilly
Published:
When the NFL unveiled its 2025 schedule in May, it was difficult to avoid wondering what kind of gauntlet the Eagles would face as they approached the last weeks of the season. After welcoming back to Lincoln Financial Field former coach and new Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the Birds were scheduled to fly down to D.C. to take on the Commanders and then host their division rival in the final game of the regular season. Sandwiched between those contests with Washington was a clash in Buffalo against Josh Allen and La Salle College High School wrestling legend and tush push hypocrite Sean McDermott.
It seemed like the Eagles were in for an uphill climb, as a challenging regular season slate culminated with a brutal stretch of games that might make or break their chances to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
But a funny thing happened on the way to December. Chip Kelly was fired before he could make his triumphant return, and the Commanders stink. At least we can still rely on McDermott’s duplicity if the Bills face a 4th and short situation next week.
We can also depend on the Eagles. In a league defined by parity, they have become a model of sustained success. A Saturday win guarantees them a ticket to the playoffs, a trip they have taken every year of the Nick Sirianni era. Their roster, arguably the deepest and most talented in football, has endured despite last year’s extended campaign and the rigors of this one. While they might not stand as the favorite to emerge from the NFC, I don’t think anyone would be surprised if Philadelphia represented the conference at Super Bowl LX.
There has been adversity, to be sure. Defensive linchpin Jalen Carter remains sidelined with injuries to his shoulders. Lane Johnson is out of the lineup as well, historically an ominous sign. Center Cam Jurgens and left guard Landon Dickerson have both struggled with injuries and inconsistent play, while left tackle Jordan Mailata has scuffled at times as well, perhaps as he tries to compensate for the issues along the interior of the line. Saquon Barkley’s production has dipped as a result of the instability in front of him. A.J. Brown wants the ball but isn’t getting it enough. Grant Calcaterra can’t block, no matter how much the Eagles seem to think so. Depth in the secondary is concerning, if not alarming.
And then there’s the issue of Jalen Hurts, the reigning Super Bowl MVP whose inconsistency has caused the “I Told You So” brigade to strike up the band again. Last week, WIP Morning Show host Joe DeCamara asked Sirianni if he would consider benching Hurts. Longtime Hurts hater Chris Simms also crawled out of his “weasel den” to attack the quarterback, employing his trademark myopic focus as he scrutinized Hurts. No one wants to blame the quarterback, Simms insists, as he zeroes in on the quarterback alone at the expense of everything else. Simms never could see the whole field, not like Texas Longhorns legend Major Applewhite.
There’s been drama, some of it orchestrated by Brown and then amplified by a media hungry for storylines. There was a two-game losing streak, and then a three-game skid. There was even a “Positivity Rabbit,” which was presumably sent to an upstate farm after the Monday Night meltdown in Los Angeles.
Above all, there have been wins, enough to place the Birds on the precipice of another NFC East crown. A win in Washington or a Dallas loss this week cements the Eagles’ place at the top of the division.
Say what you will about the Birds, but this team is battle-tested and primed to make a run in January. The same cannot be said for the Washington Commanders, not this year.
2025 began so well for the Commies. They marched into the postseason and promptly took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions. Led by Heisman winner and eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels, the offense was humming. His dual-threat capabilities fully unlocked coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s playbook and compensated for holes in other areas of the roster. While their Cinderella run ended with a thud in the NFC Championship game in Philadelphia, Washington’s future looked bright. On the surface, anyway.
There were cracks in the glossy facade. Eagles analyst Fran Duffy of PHLY Sports noticed the problems early, pointing out the last-place schedule Washington enjoyed, the age of their roster, and their good fortune with injuries, among other advantages:
Daniels, unable to stay healthy, has been shut down for the season. Standout receiver Terry McLaurin has missed extended stretches as well, victimized by a quad injury that he might have avoided if his training camp reps weren’t disrupted by a contract dispute and subsquent hold-in. Tight end Zach Ertz, who’s experienced a career renaissance in D.C., went down with a devastating ACL injury. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil, acquired to protect Daniels’ blind side, will miss the game tomorrow. His fellow tackle, rookie and first round pick Josh Conerly Jr., has struggled in his transition from college to the pros.
At 29, Frankie Luvu is the youngest member of a starting linebacker corps that features Bobby Wagner and Von Miller. Marshon Lattimore, their splash acquisition at last year’s trade deadline, is on injured reserve.
They were a team built to win now, to take advantage of the championship window a franchise quarterback on a rookie contract offers. Unfortunately for the Commanders, the presence of Daniels cannot paper over the years of organizational dysfunction wrought by their former owner, Daniel Snyder, and the roster deficiencies that emerge as a result of front office and coaching turnover. Players whose skillsets aligned with the philosophies and schemes of previous coaching staffs might be miscast in the new regime. New general managers might want to put their own stamp on the organization as they navigate the complexities of the salary cap and decide which areas of the roster to prioritize.
In this volatile climate, fortune might favor the fortunate in the short term, as it did for the Commanders last year. In the long run, however, teams that create consistency in the front office and stability on the sidelines are the real winners. In Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles have an owner who expends significant capital to build out the depth chart. These resources empower executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman to offer generous deals with hefty signing bonuses that can then be spread out on the books, mitigating the cap hit.
After a few setbacks in the draft, Roseman has hit on a number of prospects that have formed the foundation of this team. Every Eagles starter on the offensive and defensive lines is a homegrown talent, as is the quarterback. Nakobe Dean, Cooper DeJean, and Quinyon Mitchell are all Roseman picks.
Roseman has identified some hits in the trade and free agent market as well. Reed Blankenship was an undrafted free agent who’s now an anchor in the secondary. Zack Baun, a special teams contributor in New Orleans, has morphed into an All Pro in Philly. The 2022 acquisition of Brown elevated the offense, and the signing of Barkley in 2024 took the unit to another level.
Moreover, the Eagles’ brain trust has demonstrated a willingness to stray from the comfort of conventional wisdom, as they did when they hired Sirianni as head coach. The Eagles were the only team to interview Sirianni in the 2021 cycle, just as they were the only team to consider Doug Pederson in 2016. Sirianni didn’t have the reputation of an offensive wunderkind like Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan, but he’s demonstrated an ability to keep his team together through the ups and downs of a long season. And he wins, frequently.
The upshot has been a run of excellence in Philadelphia that Commanders fans haven’t seen since the first Joe Gibbs era. They very well might get there again, but it’s not a sure bet. That’s why teams need to cash in when they have their chance, a lesson the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers have all painfully learned in recent seasons.
If they don’t raise the Lombardi Trophy during the Daniels era, the Commies will always have the Center City Hard Rock Cafe takeover and the Fake Punt. Enjoy those memories, Commies fans, because it will be at least a season before you have a chance to make new ones.
Tim Reilly is a freelance writer from Northeast Philadelphia. He can be reached at reillyt7@gmail.com.