On Sunday, Jan. 26, Lincoln Financial Field hosted the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders for the NFC Conference Championship. The game marked an Eagles blowout against the Commanders, 55-23, allowing them to advance to the upcoming Super Bowl. In the previous week, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts injured his knee against the Rams during the divisional round of the playoffs, leading many to question his fitness for the Commanders game. Fortunately, he had an amazing game, throwing for three touchdowns and 246 yards. Running back Saquon Barkley also rushed for 60 yards in the beginning of the game and scored three touchdowns.
The Eagles’s first half was exemplary, as they led 27-15 against the Commanders by halftime. With just 39 seconds left in the second quarter, Hurts successfully passed the ball to wide receiver AJ Brown. This play led to a game-defining touchdown, extending the Philly lead 27-12 by halftime.
The game took a worse turn for the Commanders in the second half, when they were outscored by the Eagles, 8-28. In a notable play, the Eagles were a few yards away from scoring a touchdown when they called the “Tush Push” play, a signature Philly tactic. The Tush Push is essentially a quarterback sneak but with a twist—teammates line up behind the quarterback and literally push him forward to gain short yardage. Often used in critical situations like converting on 4th-and-1 or near the goal line, this was the perfect time to run the play. The Eagles employed the Tush Push. The Commanders players then got several penalties, one after the other. In response, the referees warned the team that they could give the Eagles the free touchdown if they committed another penalty. Consequently, the Eagles scored a touchdown with 12:24 left in the fourth quarter.
In a post-game interview, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni spoke about Hurts, saying, “I don’t want anybody else leading this team at quarterback other than him…He’s a winner.” When Hurts was later asked about his role as a leader, he told reporters, “In a sense, I think this game chose me and this position chose me.” He added, “To be able to come this far and have these opportunities in front of us, you just want to take advantage of them.”
The 55 points the Eagles amassed was historic, marking the highest scoring game by a team in the playoffs since 2000. The previous record was held by the Jackson Jaguars when they crushed the Miami Dolphins, 62-7, in the 2000 American Football Conference (AFC) second round of playoffs. This achievement underscores the Eagles’s offensive dominance and their ability to perform at an elite level in high-stakes situations.
The game cements the Eagles’s second Super Bowl appearance in three years. The last time they made the Super Bowl, the Eagles were narrowly defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in 2023. The Chiefs will be looking to three-peat this upcoming Sunday, having won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2023 and 2024. The Eagles squad will be looking to exact their revenge and break the Chiefs’s dominance. This matchup sets the stage for an intense showdown, as both teams aim to solidify their legacy in NFL history.The Super Bowl will be played on Feb. 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA.
