NFC Championship a battle of familiar rivals in Eagles, Commanders

It has been 37 years since two teams from the NFC East met in the NFC Championship game. That will happen again Sunday, Jan. 26, when the Washington Commanders travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles.

This will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The Eagles won the first game at home in week 11 of the season, 26-18. The Commanders returned the favor in week 16 during a wild game. They scored 22 fourth-quarter points to win at home, 36-33. That loss to Washington was the only one the Eagles suffered in their final 14 games this season.

However, the Commanders will lean on their confidence playing on the road. They have already won playoff games in Tampa Bay and Detroit.

“I think you put some different wrinkles into your game plan –– I’m pretty sure they will too –– but at the end of the day it’s about execution and fundamentals,” said Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels. “That’s a very good team we’re going to face for a third time again, and so they got a lot of good players, we know them, they know us, so it’s going to be a fun matchup going up against them on Sunday.”

On the other side, the Eagles rolled over both the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams at home, riding the rushing dominance of MVP finalist Saquon Barkley. He finished with a 2,000-yard regular season and garnered an additional 324 yards from those two playoff wins. Now he’ll face a run defense that ranks 30th in the NFL.

“From here on out, any team going against us, the explosive plays that we had throughout the season, running the ball –– statistically, I think we’re one, or one of the best rush teams –– so we know that it’s gonna be a key focus on a lot of teams, especially Washington coming up,” said Barkley. “Whatever they want to do, we’re ready for it.”

If Philadelphia sticks to that game plan, the Commanders may need to keep pace on the scoreboard, though a back-and-forth game is a style they are familiar with. The Commanders rank fifth in the NFL in points scored behind Daniels. He will most likely be named Offensive Rookie of the Year. And while the Commanders scored 45 points against Detroit, they’re about to meet the top defense in the NFL.

Nevertheless, Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin is not intimidated.

“It’s a no-excuse mentality and when he says this is just what we do, we’re living that right now,” McLaurin said. “This is a huge game, the biggest game I know I’ve played in my career, a lot of us have played in our careers. But my emotions about this game is, this is just what we do, this is what we’ve been doing all season.”

The Eagles are 6.5-point favorites Sunday. The game kicks off at 3 p.m. EST on Fox. The winner will punch their ticket to the 2025 Super Bowl and a Feb. 9 date with either the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs.