Eagles cash in on Commanders' turnovers, roll to NFC title
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 26: Reed Blankenship #32 of the Philadelphia Eagles recovers a fumble against Dyami Brown #2 of the Washington Commanders during the first quarter in the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 26, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Emilee Chinn
PHILADELPHIA — The Commanders used two squeaky-clean, turnover-free games to get to the NFC Championship Game with playoff wins over the Buccaneers and the Lions, but that recipe crumbled with four costly giveaways in Sunday’s 55-23 loss to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
“We knew that was going to be a big part of this game,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said. “We’ll give Philadelphia credit. They caused [the turnovers]. It wasn’t like a fumbled snap or something that was reckless.”
The Eagles did not turn the ball over and advanced to Super Bowl LIX against Kansas City on Feb. 9.
With a rookie quarterback, mistakes on such a big stage often are expected, but it wasn’t Jayden Daniels who coughed the ball up early on.
The slew of sloppiness began in the first quarter when Daniels hit Dyami Brown with a pass and Zack Baun knocked the ball free. The Eagles then scored on a 4-yard run by Saquon Barkley to make it 14-3.
The Commanders closed to 14-12 midway through the second quarter, but the Eagles scored on a 1-yard run by Jalen Hurts with 1:44 left before halftime. Jeremy McNichols attempted to return the ensuing kickoff for the Commanders but fumbled it to give Philadelphia the ball at the 24. A little less than a minute later, Hurts hit A.J. Brown with a 4-yard touchdown pass to go ahead 27-12.
Even with that, Washington made it interesting. Daniels’ 10-yard TD run and two-point pass made it 34-23 with 5:01 left in the third. But Austin Ekeler fumbled on Washington’s next possession — Baun, a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, recovered it — and the Eagles turned that gift into another touchdown and a 41-23 lead.
Washington was in desperation mode by the time Daniels threw his first interception of the postseason with 4:57 left. The Eagles turned that possession into a TD too, giving them 28 points off takeaways.
“Turnovers play a huge factor in a game, especially playing a good team like Philly,” Daniels said. “You can’t give those guys extra possessions.”
Washington also committed nine penalties for 47 yards, including four on one series of five snaps from their own 1-yard line when the Eagles were attempting to score on one of their “tush push” runs. Linebacker Frankie Luvu twice leaped over the line early for encroachment flags.
It got to the point that referee Shawn Hochuli warned Washington that if it continued to commit such violations, the officials would award the Eagles a score. Rule 12, Article 4 gives the officials such rare discretion for “a palpably unfair act.”
It didn’t get to that point. The Eagles scored on Hurts’ 1-yard run with 12:24 left.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
More football news
