No. 12 Villanova was out-played at home on Saturday night by unseeded Illinois State, resulting in a 30-14 loss in the FCS semifinals.
Villanova’s loss ended its 23-game home win streak, which was the longest active streak in college football. The Wildcats found the end zone once in the game’s final minutes and managed to knock in two field goals while in the red zone. Illinois State totaled 426 yards of total offense, in comparison to Villanova’s 300.
Illinois State (12-4) won the first down battle, 30-14. It tied a season-low for Villanova (12-3) on first downs in FCS play. The Wildcats’ semifinal appearance marked their first since 2009, when Villanova won its first and only FCS championship.
For Illinois State, Saturday’s 16-point margin win marked the largest semifinal victory by a road team in the last 30 seasons. The Redbirds are also the first team in FCS history to win four consecutive road wins in the postseason. They will face Montana State in the championship on Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
Illinois State celebrates after defeating the Villanova, 30-14, in the FCS semifinal at Villanova Stadium on Saturday.
Passing game struggled
While Villanova’s passing attack guided the offense through its three playoff wins, the Wildcats were held to just 68 yards in the first half.
Graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide threw for 199 yards on 13-for-30 pass attempts. On the opening drive, he threw an interception in the end zone while attempting to extend a play. Illinois State scored off the turnover.
THE UNSEEDED REDBIRDS ARE HEADING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER THE LARGEST SEMIFINAL WIN BY A ROAD TEAM IN THE LAST 30 SEASONS 🤯@RedbirdFB defeats (12) Villanova, 30-14, to advance to the National Championship of the 2025 @NCAA DI FCS Football Playoffs ‼️ #FCSPlayoffspic.twitter.com/lsYSFKFyZo
It wasn’t till the end of the fourth quarter when McQuaide connected with his primary target, graduate receiver Luke Colella, one time for six yards.
“Pat looked like he was a little off today with some of the throws,” Ferrante said. “[Illinois State] blitzed more than, I don’t want to say more than we anticipated, because we kind of had a feeling that they we’re going to. They play fundamentally sound football.”
Penalties prove to be costly
After giving up nine penalties against Tarleton State last weekend, Villanova was called for six on Saturday and gave Illinois State a crucial 46 yards.
Three of Villanova’s penalties came from the same Illinois State scoring drive in the second quarter. Villanova got a stop on 3rd and 11, but an offsides call gave Illinois State five yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.
Then a Villanova pass interference and facemask added on, giving Illinois State 35 yards on the drive. The Redbirds capitalized on the free yardage with a 2–yard rushing touchdown by Victor Dawson. The scoring drive stretched Illinois State’s lead to 21-6.
In the second half, Villanova picked up its second pass interference penalty, but held Illinois State to a field goal.
“We gave them a little extra yardage on some penalties, which keeps those drives alive,” Ferrante said. “I say pretty much each and every week, we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties. We had too many of those that either slow drives down for us on the false start or extended drives for them, on the roughing the kicker, and those types of things.”
Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante watches the action during the third quarter of his team’s 30-14 loss to Illinois State on Saturday.
Battle of third downs
Both teams had opposite outcomes on third downs.
Villanova completed a season-low one of 10 third downs. It was the lowest since the Albany game on Oct. 25, when Villanova converted two of 12 third downs.
The inability to convert third downs forced Villanova to punt and settle for two field goals.
For Illinois State, it converted 11 of 20 third downs. Some were converted with the help of Villanova’s defensive penalties.
“I think it was a combination of multiple things,” said senior linebacker Shane Hartzell. “One, I think we weren’t able to get enough pressure on the quarterback, and then that made the [defensive backs] have to stay in coverage longer.”
Up next
With its season over, Villanova will prepare to move from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) to the Patriot League next season.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). The vibe: The list of things you could be doing is long, but there’s only one thing you want to do. The only thing keeping you from it is that you don’t know where to start. Dare to choose what you want. That’s when the path starts to take shape.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). It’s a day to avoid taking things literally. That will limit your understanding, as well as your capacity for emotional connection. Before you consider the words someone is saying, you’re wise to get an overall feel for the intent and then go from there.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). The problem is not you; it’s the load. You are a single human carrying way too much responsibility for one person. But this is only a season. Believe this: You are already mid-transformation. Keep going.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ll be reminded how having a front-row view of events doesn’t necessarily mean you can see everything. Every seat in the house has only one point of view. So, in a sense, everyone is seeing a different show.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It would be easy to indulge or accumulate too much, but a simple rule will keep the balance: Let everything be an exchange. For everything you bring in, give something away. It keeps you streamlined, focused and in control.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). A situation that feels risky to you isn’t really. The only thing on the line is your emotions. Sure, you could get a “no,” which will sting only for a moment. The best-case scenario? A door opens, and it’s life-changing.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). It’s one of the many ways you show love — you extend hospitality to the people they care about. Today, that will be fun, and maybe a little challenging, but you’ll handle all with grace and your famous diplomacy.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’ll be reminded that your ideas are not entirely self-generated. They come from somewhere. Everything you create is influenced by what you’ve absorbed. The world sends you signals, clues and nudges, and you’ll be responding as much as you are initiating.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You’ll play your cards right, and luck has nothing to do with it. Your wins come from knowing the rules, studying the game and committing to steady improvement. That persistence pays off now, turning skill and discipline into victory.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Even when you think you’re inconsistent, you never abandon the dream. You always circle back to it. And devotion wins over time. Stop worrying about perfect output. Your long-term commitment is the thing that will change your life.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Protect unstructured time like a dragon guards treasure. Your creative flow depends on long, empty spaces. So, if saying yes would shrink your creative world, it’s a no. Don’t explain your choices. The moment you justify, you lose mystique.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’re a tall ship on the mighty ocean of life, with the winds of responsibility in your sails speeding you along. But what if you want to go another way? You can, but only if you have your own motor.
TODAY’SBIRTHDAY (Dec. 21). This is your Year of Magnetism. You walk into rooms differently — not performing confidence but embodying it. You’ll also pick up a new skill that changes how you work, play and love. More highlights: luxury experiences you didn’t plan for, friendships that feel like soulmate connections and financial wins that let you breathe easier. Scorpio and Gemini adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 2, 18, 27, 38 and 44.
As much as the 76ers may want things to change, they’ve remained the same. Yet it has yielded positive results.
Meanwhile, VJ Edgecombe and Dallas Mavericks guard Cooper Flagg are far from ordinary rookies. But on Saturday, Edgecombe shone brighter.
And Joel Embiid is, once again, wading into the dangerous territory of being disqualified for regular-season awards.
Those things stood out in the Sixers’ 121-114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
According to the script
Coming off Friday’s 116-107 statement victory over the New York Knicks, the Sixers (16-11) were expected to have a comfortable win over the Mavs. But they once again struggled in the third quarter and needed to mount a fourth-quarter comeback.
The Mavs shot 78.9% (15-for-19) in the third quarter to outscore the Sixers, 35-23, and take a 97-91 advantage into the fourth. In addition to not getting stops, the Sixers hit just 8 of 23 shots.
But the Sixers opened the fourth quarter with a 24-7 run to take a 115-104 lead on Tyrese Maxey’s three-pointer with 6 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the game.
Maxey scored 16 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter on 6-for-10 shooting. The Sixers went with a lineup of Jared McCain, Jabari Walker, Adem Bona, Edgecombe, and Maxey for the final 13:11. That grouping shot 50% from the field in the fourth quarter while holding the Mavs to 30.4%.
Coach Nick Nurse stuck with that lineup because he felt his trio of guards in McCain, Maxey, and Edgecombe were all impacting the game.
“As far as the two bigs, I felt Jabari was playing Flagg super physical,” the coach said. “And the other thing, we started doing some switching between the four and five. Jabari also would get switched onto [Anthony] Davis and was playing him physically to get him off the block and battle him.
“I don’t know how many rebounds Jabari got. But it sure seems like he snatched a bunch of them down there, that was also critical.”
Adem Bona played all of the fourth quarter when the Sixers rallied for the victory.
Walker, a power forward, grabbed six of his eight rebounds in the fourth quarter. He also scored his only two points and recorded his steal in the quarter. On a two-way contract, Walker also helped hold Flagg to four points on 2-for-6 shooting in the final quarter.
“We got a great scout report,” Walker said. “ … I think [Dominick] Barlow started off on him. Big credit to him. He had a great night tonight also. I want to show him some love with that. I think either one of us could have finished the game. We both understand that about each other. So, some games it is going to be [like that]. So I just tried to feed off the energy he had tonight.”
He also studied how Barlow forced Flagg into certain spots defensively, and implemented that in the fourth quarter.
Barlow, the starting power forward who is also on a two-way contract, tied a career high with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting.
The Sixers have won seven games this season while trailing at the start of the fourth quarter, which is tied for first in the NBA.
Not your ordinary rookies
Sixers fans know Edgecombe is special. And they were aware of all the hype surrounding Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick, coming into the game.
The 19,056 in attendance found out Saturday that the hype surrounding Flagg is legit. At 6-foot-9, Flagg, who turns 19 on Sunday, is a mix of explosiveness, power, and a solid basketball IQ.
Before Walker kept him in check late, Flagg had his way with Barlow through three quarters, scoring 20 of his 24 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He also went 8-for-8 from the foul line and recorded all three of his assists during that time.
But even before the fourth quarter, Flagg took a backseat to Edgecombe.
The 6-5 , 195-pound shooting guard got things going early for the Sixers, scoring 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first quarter.
“He’s making all kinds of plays,” Nurse said. “I think that’s the big thing. Where do you want to start? Big rebounds? Knocking the ball away? But probably the offensive rebounds [three], the biggest ones are you get a tough stop. It’s a fairly close game. We get the ball out, he takes it coast to coast and moves through for an easy bucket when scoring is pretty hard in the fourth, right? Those are like super momentum plays.”
Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks lays the ball in as the 76ers’ Andre Drummond looks on.
He and Flagg don’t play like rookies, which has been indicative of how several of the league’s top rookies have performed this season.
“It’s amazing,” Nurse said. “You are right on with your point. The rookies that have impacted in a big way is really something. Especially considering those two guys are really young. I guess they’re really good. I think most rookies, you will see flashes. You will see one great game, then six go by. These guys are starting to do it like night in, night out. And to me, that’s like what the NBA is.”
No awards for Embiid
Saturday marked the 16th game that Embiid has missed this season because of left knee injury management, right knee injury management, right knee swelling, and an illness.
He sat out Friday and Saturday because of right knee injury management and an illness.
Nurse was asked whether Embiid had a setback with his health.
“Nah, he went into last night with both of those things,” the coach said of the knee and illness. “He just didn’t have a great week with the illness and a little bit of soreness in the right knee. And fortunately, we can get through the week and … get another couple of days, and hopefully get him going.”
The NBA, in cooperation with the National Basketball Players Association, instituted a 65-game rule two seasons ago for players to qualify for awards, hoping it would deter players and teams from relying on load management.
Sixers center Joel Embiid missed his 16th game of the season on Saturday.
Embiid was disqualified in each of the last two seasons. He played in 39 games in 2023-24 and 19 in 2024-25. The most games Embiid can play this season is 66 if he doesn’t miss another game, starting with Tuesday’s home game against the Brooklyn Nets. But his availability for many of those games is doubtful since Embiid is not expected to play back-to-back nights.
Nurse’s first season was in 2023-24. Embiid was playing better than his MVP season before having the first of two left knee surgeries in 14 months.
“He had a serious injury and hasn’t quite been able to get back,” Nurse said. “You asked me if I’m empathetic, absolutely. You know, I thought we were going [upward] for a bit. I think we’ve got to try to keep going that way.”
We are football followers, Eagles followers, so … no lies between us.
The Tush Push had its moments. Yes, it did. You remember the first touchdown of Super Bowl LIX, the ease with which Jalen Hurts slipped through the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive line and into the end zone? The Tush Push was the first sign of the rout to come. And the fourth-and-1 from the Eagles’ 26-yard line against the Miami Dolphins two years ago? In a one-score game? That was the Tush Push at its best. And the NFC championship game in January. The two Hurts TDs from the Washington 1-yard line. The Frankie Luvu leaps. The high comedy.
The Tush Push took a lot of close games and put them away. Yes, indeed. It won more games for the Eagles than it lost, as much as any strategy or ploy. Did it tick off an NFL coach or three? No doubt. I think the league actually kind of got used to it, thank God. Did it cause controversy and enrage owners and get people in the media saying silly things about “nonfootball plays?” Hell, yes. Was it as much a fad, a passing fancy, as the run-and-shoot and the Wildcat and an RPO-based offense? Abso-freaking-lutely. But the Tush Push stood against that dark tide, and it helped make the Eagles of Philadelphia a great team. A championship team.
♦ ♦ ♦
LANDOVER, Md. — Here at Northwest Stadium, just 35 miles from the city that was the setting for David Simon’s magisterial series The Wire, it is only fitting that, as if attending a barstool wake among Baltimore po-leece, we eulogize the Tush Push. The play that once gave the Eagles a physical, psychological, and strategic edge over every opponent they encountered is, by all available indications, dead.
Three times during their 29-18 victory Saturday over the Commanders, the Eagles tried to run their unique and once-unstoppable version of the quarterback sneak. Three times, it failed. Once, tackle Fred Johnson committed a false-start penalty. Once, Hurts gained no yardage. Once, guard Landon Dickerson committed another false-start infraction. And with his offense facing a (relatively long) fourth-and-1 on its first possession, coach Nick Sirianni had the Eagles punt from their own 41 instead of attempting the play.
This was the flat line across the electrocardiogram screen. In 2023, the Eagles led the NFL in fourth-down conversion percentage, at 67.9%. Last season, they were third, but their efficiency rate (71%) was higher. This season, they entered Saturday at 61.1%, seventh-best in the league — good, but not dominant, not close.
“Teams adjust; we’ve got to continue to adjust,” Sirianni said. “Credit to them. They did a really good job of stopping us there. … We have to get this play working the way it’s been in the past, which we’ll work our butts off to do. But we were really able to overcome.”
They were. They got Hurts’ 15-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert late in the third quarter — a nifty bit of improvisation after Dickerson’s penalty and a holding call against Johnson had pushed them back from the Commanders’ 1. They got Saquon Barkley gaining 132 yards and running like all the members of Washington’s defense had insulted his mother. And they got the benefit of playing a bad team that started its backup quarterback (Marcus Mariota) and had to turn to its third-stringer (Josh Johnson).
But the demise of the Tush Push is real, and it has to be a worry as the Eagles look ahead to the postseason. Hurts has made it clear that he had grown tired of running it anyway, and the league officials had raised their level of scrutiny of it, calling more penalties against the Eagles this season. It has gone from an automatic first down to an unreliable chore. They will have to find a new way to remain aggressive, and to succeed, in fourth-and-short situations.
“The play might not even be around next year, to be honest, the way they’re officiating it,” tackle Jordan Mailata said. “Last week, it was that our shoulders have to be parallel to the line of scrimmage. They can’t be angled in. Great. They’re officiating us a little harder. If this is the last year that we can run it, we’ll just run it till we can’t run it anymore.
“The history that we have with that, we’re pretty successful, so when we lean on that play, you expect us to convert. One-yard line — we just didn’t do it. I was pretty happy that Dallas and Jalen could bail us out on that one, but sometimes, that’s just how it goes. Teams this year have done a great job of stopping that play, so we’ve got to do a better job of executing it and go from there.”
Understand: The Eagles brought these challenges upon themselves, in the best way possible. They pioneered the Tush Push, then perfected it, then used it so frequently in the course of winning a Super Bowl that they inspired a campaign against it. Teams are better prepared for it now, and the officials are eyeballing the Eagles every time they line up to run it. And yet, like mourners over a casket, they spoke Saturday as if they haven’t reconciled themselves to the hard, heartbreaking truth. “It’s in a good place,” Hurts said, and center Cam Jurgens insisted, “It’s still our bread and butter. It might get a little dry at times, but bread and butter is bread and butter.” But these words seemed the bittersweet valediction for a play that will send an opposing defense to its knees no more.
The Tush Push worked, and now its prime has passed. Raise your glass. It was called. It served. It is counted.
LANDOVER, Md. — There is an isolating nature to Jake Elliott’s job.
Hundreds of micro moments impact a given game. There are passes and runs and blocks and tackles and situational coaching decisions. All of those things can work in harmony on a given day and success or failure could still hinge on your swinging foot.
The Eagles won going away, 29-18, over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night and clinched the NFC East title along the way. But inside a happy locker room was a frustrated kicker who missed two field goal attempts, who has missed five over the last five games, who also missed a point-after attempt during that stretch.
It is not the isolating part that is getting to him, Elliott said. In fact, the soon-to-be-31-year-old kicker in his ninth NFL season wishes it were a mental thing at this point.
“It would be easier to fix,” Elliott said.
“It’s just frustrating.”
Saturday’s frustration was amplified by the fact that Elliott struck the ball well during warmups, he said. He hit from 52, 55, 58, and 60 yards during pregame. He entered the game, he said, with a good plan, “and when they don’t go through in the game it’s no one to blame but yourself. That’s where we’re at. I got to figure some stuff out.”
Elliott’s first miss was a 43-yard attempt with the Eagles leading, 7-3, six minutes into the second quarter. He was “a little quick” on his swing and hooked it left. It was just his second miss of the season inside 50 yards.
The next, with the Eagles trailing 10-7, came near halftime. There were two, but only one of them counted. He first missed from 57 yards but Washington was offside, which gave the Eagles a first down. The Eagles could not get any positive yardage on the next play and they sent Elliott back on the field to kick from 52 yards out. Elliott was happier with his kick, but he thought the wind took it late.
Elliott is now 17-for-24 on the season. His success rate of 70.8% is the worst of his career.
Jake Elliott kicks an extra point after a Dallas Goedert touchdown during the third quarter against Washington.
Elliott, a two-time Super Bowl champion, a second-team All-Pro in 2023, and a Pro Bowler in 2021, is under contract through the 2028 season. He came back after the All-Pro selection in 2023 with an inconsistent 2024, when his make percentage dropped from 93.8% to 77.8%. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the Eagles explore other kicking options after the season. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Eagles explore bringing a kicker in for the homestretch here, either.
“I understand it’s a production-based business,” Elliott said when asked if he was worried the Eagles could bring in a new kicker. “You see it all the time. That’s out of my hands, that’s out of my control, all I can do is kind of put my head down and keep pushing.”
Nick Sirianni said he has the “utmost confidence in Jake.”
“I have a ton of confidence in him that he’ll respond and rebound from this because he’s mentally tough and a great kicker,” Sirianni said.
Punter and holder Braden Mann does, too.
Mann said Elliott has consistently carried the right mindset into his job. His next-kick mentality has been a constant.
“He’s got the history,” Mann said. “His confidence is through the roof. Everyone here, all of our confidence is high for him. He’s just a consistent guy. He doesn’t get too high or too low in big moments, and he’s come through in big moments a lot in the past. It’s easy to rely on a guy like that who really wants the big moment.”
Jake Elliott reacts after his missed 52-yarder.
Elliott hit a similar rough patch late in the season last year. He missed four field goals over the final five games of the regular season, then missed an extra point in a wild-card round win over Green Bay. Then, in the snow, he missed two extra points but was 3-for-3 on field goals in a divisional-round victory over the Rams. He then missed from 54 yards in the NFC title game but made seven point-after tries.
It was a bumpy ride that ended with perfection in the Super Bowl: 4-for-4 on field goals, including two makes from 48 and another from 50, and 4-for-4 on extra points.
Will he lean on that experience?
“It’s all the same thing,” Elliott said. “It’s dealing with success, it’s dealing with failure. It’s all the same. I feel proud that I’ve handled all that kind of the exact same over the years. I’ve had a long career and have learned a lot throughout that on both sides of it.”
Elliott wasn’t interested in getting overly philosophical about the mental part of the game, the isolation of being a kicker, and what happens next.
“I just got to put the ball through the uprights,” he said. “That’s my job, man. That’s it. It’s not any deeper than that.”
If you want to relive the big win, here were the best and worst moments from the broadcast:
Tush Push
Surprisingly, on an early fourth-and-1 near midfield, the Birds didn’t line up for their signature Tush Push play. Instead, Jalen Hurts set up in shotgun, and the Eagles unsuccessfully attempted to draw the Commanders offside.
Analyst Greg Olsen didn’t hate the decision to fake the fourth-down attempt — but thought the Birds tried it with the wrong formation.
“If you’re going to do it, make it look like quarterback sneak,” Olsen said. “Get under center. Those defensive linemen are champing at the bit trying to defend the Tush Push. Maybe a little more likely. You line up in the gun, you do some shifts and motions, it doesn’t have the same effect.”
After the Birds’ successful two-point conversion made it 29-10 with 4 minutes, 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter, we got a full-scale brawl worthy of the Broad Street Bullies.
“This has turned into a full-blown shoving match,” play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis said. “Tyler Steen is throwing punches.”
After Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez appeared to gain a first down on a second-quarter rushing play, replay review overturned it, forcing a fourth-and-1. Dan Quinn elected to challenge the call anyway.
“They’re going to challenge the challenge!” Davis said. “Replay, take a look at the replay that you just replayed.”
After a commercial break, the call stood, as expected.
“Replay room saying, ‘Did we stutter?’” Davis said, after returning from commercial to the call standing on the field.
The Commanders still converted the fourth down and scored a touchdown on that possession, though.
Tush Push Part 2
There’s never been more attention on the Tush Push than this season, after the NFL spent the offseason debating whether to ban the play.
But as the season began, the conversation shifted toward the Eagles’ offensive line, and whether the Birds were gaining their advantage by jumping early on the play. Since then, it’s been officiated pretty harshly, including two false-start penalties on Saturday.
“These officials have incredible eyes, because we’re looking, I don’t know the fancy terms of frames per second, but we’re looking at super slow-mo, and he is moving a frame early,” Olsen said after Landon Dickerson’s third-quarter false start. “That’s how they want this enforced. If they’re going to let Philly continue to run this, which I am a huge proponent of the quarterback sneak and the way Philly does it, I think it’s a huge weapon and they should be allowed to do it, but obviously they’re going to officiate it very tightly.”
Has the discourse over the play moved it too far in the opposite direction? Olsen wasn’t sure.
“That is a fraction, I think we can get carried away trying to overdo it, but his hands do move,” Olsen said. “That official’s got good eyes.”
Marcus Mariota’s injury
Josh Johnson, famous to Eagles fans for his appearance in the NFC championship game for the 49ers following the 2022 season, made an appearance of his own after Marcus Mariota suffered an injury.
Footage later showed that Nolan Smith accidentally stepped on his hand, and Mariota was seen with a bandage on his right hand on the bench later in the game.
Josh Johnson was pressed into action after Commanders starting quarterback Marcus Mariota went down. Here, he’s being tackled by Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith.
Road warriors
After the Birds’ third touchdown, Davis remarked on the game as a reflection of their 2025 season.
“This game is kind of emblematic of the whole year for Philadelphia — not easy, but they’re in front,” Davis said. “They’ve grown this lead, silenced this crowd.”
The first part is mostly true, but Joe, I don’t know what stadium you were in, but it sounded pretty darn loud every time the Eagles did anything on the broadcast. The “COOP” after the Cooper DeJean interception spoke for itself.
The Eagles also hit a great celebration afterward.
Cooper DeJean and the #Eagles defense just hit a Five Knuckle Shuffle celebration after their INT. 🔥
2025 has been Jordan Davis’ breakout year, but Joe Davis said Saturday was “the game of his life,” with six tackles and two tackles for losses.
“He’s having an unbelievable season,” Olsen said.
“I don’t know if he’s making that tackle in previous years,” Joe Davis said. “He dropped about 25 pounds this offseason, and he’s been a different guy. He thanks Peloton and Ally Love rides for helping him drop all that weight.”
If you haven’t read this great Alex Coffey story about Love, you’re missing out.
The last team to win a Super Bowl with as large a disparity between the defense and the offense was the 2015 Denver Broncos, who rode an elite defense to victory.
But Olsen is not as concerned with the offense as it seems like a lot of the fans are.
“This offense is better than people give it credit,” Olsen said. “There’s something about this Eagles offense that, I think they’re better than their stats; I think they’re better than their trends. The talent, the fact that they just went on a historic run just a year ago.”
LANDOVER, Md. — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 29-18 win over the Commanders:
Quarterback: B
Jalen Hurts got it done with his arm, legs and mind and has looked more like the “triple threat” quarterback he once described himself as. In the passing game, Hurts completed 22 of 30 throws for 185 yards and two touchdowns. As a runner, he gained 40 yards on seven carries. And with his mind, he operated the offense efficiently and avoided turnovers.
There were some misses, and moments when he held the ball too long. Hurts overthrew a wide-open A.J. Brown on a 15-yard out in the second quarter. And before halftime, he fumbled in the pocket and took a sack. But he more than got the job done against one of the lesser defenses in the NFL.
Hurts had a beautiful touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert in the third quarter. After the Eagles shot themselves in the foot with multiple penalties after starting at the 1-yard line, the quarterback stepped up on third down and hit his tight end on the move for a 15-yard score. Hurts didn’t have much success on his one designed non-Tush Push run, but he scrambled five times for 40 yards.
Running back: B+
Saquon Barkley went over 1,000 yards rushing for the fifth time in his career. It’s been a slog, but he deserves credit for perseverance. Barkley finished with 132 yards on 21 carries. He broke three tackles and carried a defender into the end zone on his 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Barkley had maybe his best run of the season on a 48-yarder that cemented the outcome. But there were again too many rushes that netted little to no yards for various reasons. His blitz pickup was inconsistent, but he got enough of Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner on a third down that Hurts converted with a scramble.
Tank Bigsby scored from 22 yards out in the fourth quarter.
A.J. Brown continued his strong second half of the season against the Commanders.
Receiver / tight end: B
Brown was again Hurts’ favorite target and caught 9 of 12 attempts for 95 yards. In the first half, he matched a career high with eight grabs for 86 yards. Brown picked up yards after the catch on his first two receptions on the Eagles’ opening scoring drive. He also made a fingertip grab over the middle in the second quarter that resulted in a 24-yard pickup.
DeVonta Smith caught 6 of 8 targets for 42 yards and a touchdown. He couldn’t pull in a pass on a fade route in the end zone, but he rebounded later on the same first-quarter drive and scored a 5-yard touchdown on an out route. Smith also dove for a 9-yard grab in the third quarter and drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone in the third quarter.
Goedert didn’t see a pass come his way until the first drive of the second half. Later, he drew an illegal contact penalty on fourth down that negated a Commanders interception. And Goedert capped the drive with his team-high 10th touchdown catch.
Offensive line: B
The Eagles didn’t lean as much into the run game with the Commanders just as susceptible through the air. It was an up-and-down 60 minutes in terms of O-line run blocking. Right guard Tyler Steen had a good block to the second level on a Barkley 9-yard run to the right in the second quarter. He later tossed Washington defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw to the side when Barkley gained 8 yards up the middle.
Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen were involved in a brawl against the Commanders late in the game but were solid for the bulk of the contest.
Left guard Landon Dickerson led the way on a Barkley 8-yard rush in the fourth quarter. On Barkley’s first carry, which resulted in no gain, it looked like left tackle Jordan Mailata and Goedert messed up their blocking assignments.
Right tackle Fred Johnson continued to fill in for the injured Lane Johnson (foot). He failed to sustain a block when Barkley was dropped for no gain in the third quarter and held on third down in the red zone later in the series. Center Cam Jurgens had a nice win at the point of attack on a Barkley 10-yard bolt up the middle.
The pass protection, as usual, was mostly sound. Dickerson and Barkley were late to pick up the blitzing Wagner, who sacked Hurts in the third quarter. Dickerson and Johnson each had false starts on Tush Push tries near the goal line. It may be RIP time for the play.
Defensive line: A-
Commanders running backs averaged just 2.8 yards on their first 20 carries — some late meaningless runs improved their numbers — and the Eagles’ front had a lot to do with that. Jordan Davis was a monster in the middle and led the Eagles with six run stops. He had several run tackles near the line and almost kept running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt from crossing the goal line from the 1-yard line, until reinforcements helped push him across. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo had a relatively quiet game but got good push up the middle.
Jordan Davis and the Eagles front seven left very little room for the Commanders running backs.
Nolan Smith appeared to step on Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota’s right hand, which knocked him out of the game. The Eagles probably would have won anyway, but backup Josh Johnson had no chance vs. the Eagles defense. Jalyx Hunt had a strong second series. He dropped into coverage, defended a swing pass for a minimal gain, and drew a holding penalty while rushing the passer on third down.
Brandon Graham continued to play inside with Jalen Carter still nursing shoulder injuries. He picked up his third sack in two games — thanks to tight coverage on the back end — on a third-down rush late in the first quarter. Defensive tackle Byron Young picked up a late sack.
Nakobe Dean left during the second possession with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Jihaad Campbell. Campbell played solidly in his first extended action in some time. He was targeted on a Deebo Samuel choice route that resulted in a 14-yard catch and run. But he later drew a holding penalty when he blitzed on third down in the third quarter.
Zack Baun led the Eagles with nine tackles. He gets a share of credit for the run defense.
Cooper DeJean had one of the big plays for the Eagles defense on Saturday.
Cornerback: B
Adoree’ Jackson had a few leaky moments. He got toasted by Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin on the outside for a 40-yard catch. And early in the second half, Treylon Burks caught a 24-yard pass over the middle and in front of Jackson. But once Mariota left, the Commanders had no chance through the air.
Quinyon Mitchell stayed on the boundary side of the field and didn’t trail McLaurin. Mitchell broke up a pass to Samuel in the third quarter.
Cooper DeJean was in coverage when Samuel caught a third-down toss over the middle for 20 yards in the third quarter. But DeJean bounced back as he often does with a stellar play, this time an interception of Johnson. It was his second pick of the season.
While he might have gotten away with pass interference on Mariota’s third-down throw into the end zone on the Commanders’ first drive, DeJean had a breakup on the next series.
Safety: B
Reed Blankenship and Marcus Epps weren’t tested much on deep routes in the middle, but they kept everything in front. They both assisted in stopping the run and finished with a combined five stops. Blankenship missed an open-field tackle on a 13-yard run up the middle in the first quarter.
Concerns about kicker Jake Elliott only intensified on Saturday.
Special teams: D
Kicker Jake Elliott had a brutal first half. The stat sheet will say he missed only two field goal attempts, but Elliott hooked three wide left: from 43, 57, and 52 yards when a Commanders offsides penalty gave him a second chance. He did make all three of his extra points, though.
Elliott has made just 17 of 24 field goal tries this season for a career-low 70.8%.
Punter Braden Mann averaged a solid 43.5 net yards on two punts. Britain Covey had an 11-yard punt return and fair caught three others. Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff when Mike Sainristil stripped the ball. The Eagles defense had his back and forced a field goal, thanks in part to 4-10 Dan Quinn’s inexplicable decision to not go for it from the 4-yard line. Shipley had another goof when he hesitated coming out of the end zone, which resulted in a short return.
Coaching: B
Coach Nick Sirianni‘s team won back-to-back NFC East titles — the first time that’s been accomplished in 21 years. Despite a topsy-turvy 3½ months, Sirianni’s Eagles prevailed. They’ve made the playoffs in all five of his seasons at the helm.
Nick Sirianni guided the Eagles to another playoff appearance.
The Eagles aren’t close to perfect, as a sloppy first half against an inferior opponent indicated. Sirianni again had some questionable game management moments. On the first possession, he tried to get the Commanders to jump on fourth-and-1 at his own 41. The Eagles took a delay and punted instead. Before the half, Sirianni letting the clock drain down and taking another unnecessary timeout after another fake attempt to draw the defense offside was aggressively passive.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo had a solid day. He shifted quickly from run-heavy play-calling and used empty backfields to make the Commanders’ pass coverages more predictable. He never got too far away from the ground attack, and in the end, was rewarded when Barkley broke off big gains.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio‘s unit was stellar once again. It held Washington to a field goal after Shipley’s fumble and the first unit allowed only one touchdown. Mariota’s exit made his job that much easier, but the Eagles mostly dominated.
LANDOVER, Md. — It seems ungrateful to complain about any win, particularly a win that ensures a fifth consecutive trip to the playoffs, and the team in question won the latest Super Bowl.
It seems doubly thankless to whine about the coach and staff that largely have been responsible for this windfall of January football, delivered with an NFC East title earned Saturday with a 29-18 win over the Commanders.
So yes, it seems ungrateful, and even thankless, to wish for better.
But we are Philadelphia, aren’t we?
“We’ve raised the expectations of what to expect,” Nick Sirianni said.
He gets it.
Sirianni shepherded his Eagles into Northwest Stadium to face a 4-10 Commanders team that played without its starting quarterback for the first two-thirds of the game, then played without its backup the rest of the way.
Sirianni’s offensive line was overwhelmed for the first three quarters. His quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was confused most of the evening, typical of Hurts’ meetings with Commanders coach Dan Quinn, the former defensive coordinator for Dallas.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs past Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
Sirianni’s curious decision to try a two-point conversion instead of kicking a PAT with a 27-10 lead with 4 minutes, 46 seconds to play was the cherry on top. Sirianni said it was simple math, but his postgame handshake with Quinn was very brief. So they got the 19-point lead, but at what cost? A scrum broke out as the scoreboard turned to 29-10. The scrum immediately followed the successful conversion, and it led to the ejection of two Commanders and one Eagle, right guard Tyler Steen. All could face suspensions.
The scrum was precipitated, at least in part, by what some Commanders perceived as Sirianni running up the score against a hapless team using its third-string quarterback. Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner certainly seemed to be expressing those sentiments to Hurts as the fighting subsided.
Asked afterward what he thought of the two-point try, Wagner replied tersely, “I didn’t understand it.”
Was it a diss?
“Was it disrespectful? Maybe,” Wagner said. “We’ve got to stop them. We’ll see them in a couple of weeks.”
Quinn was less gracious.
“Hey, man, that’s how they want to get down? All good,” he said. “We play them again in two weeks.”
So yes, the hosts were not happy with Sirianni, and that animosity will linger when the Commanders visit Philadelphia for the season finale in two weeks.
The fight (loosely defined; there was no damage done) was the oddest incident of the Saturday, 5 p.m. start, which was itself an oddity. Maybe the unconventionality of the game produced the overarching atmosphere of weirdness.
There was more strangeness in a first half that ended with the Eagles in a 10-7 hole.
Jake Elliott missed field goal tries of 43, 57, and 52 yards, all wide left, the last two almost consecutively. (The 57-yarder was wiped by an offsides penalty and didn’t officially count as a miss, but still mattered.)
Hurts missed A.J. Brown with an easy third-down pass.
Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff, which gifted the Commanders three points. He then brought another out of the end zone; kneeling would have given them the ball at the 35, but it wound up costing the Eagles 16 yards.
Near the end of the half the Eagles had to call a timeout … coming out of a timeout.
This is not the stuff of champions.
Well, maybe NFC East champions, but the NFC East stinks this season, and besides, the NFC East championship is not the goal, is it? Super Bowl LX is the goal, and it seemed unrealistic after Saturday.
There were just too many glaring mistakes and omissions.
Cornerback Cooper DeJean celebrates his interception in the third quarter against the Commanders.
Chief among them: Tight end Dallas Goedert, who had 14 catches for 148 yards two touchdowns the previous two weeks, was not even targeted until the second half.
When the Eagles finally deigned to include the best postseason pass-catcher in their history, it worked out. He caught passes of 8 yards, then 9 yards, drew a penalty on third-and-8 (unaccepted due to a more penal, simultaneous penalty), and then, on third-and-goal from the 15 thanks to offensive line penalties, caught a 15-yard TD pass that gave the Eagles a 14-10 lead.
The TD pass gave Goedert 10 this season after catching a total of eight the previous three seasons combined.
This is the guy who hadn’t been targeted.
Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota left the game with a hand injury after the first series of the second half, which left the Commanders with Josh Johnson and no backup. They might better have gone with the no backup.
Johnson threw an interception on his first series, a floater across the field to Cooper DeJean at the Commanders’ 37-yard line. The Birds turned it into a touchdown, but it took them seven plays, the last two of which were Saquon Barkley runs of 8 and 12 yards — tough, punishing, bell-cow runs behind a line that finally asserted itself properly.
Barkley finished with 132 yards on 21 runs, his second-best game of the season, and left him at 1,072 for the year, the fifth 1,000-yard season of his eight-year career.
Tank Bigsby added a late TD, which led to the two-point scrum, which minimized the late Commanders’ TD, with 1:10 to play.
Glass half full: A good win — on the road, against a division opponent, with no offensive turnovers, but with a defensive turnover. Also, a win having lost linebacker Nakobe Dean, who left early with a hamstring injury. Also, a win with right tackle Lane Johnson and defensive tackle Jalen Carter likely to return for next Sunday’s game at Buffalo.
Glass half empty: Another ugly win — against a poor team, a win despite a skittish $5 million kicker who has missed five of his last 11 kicks; a win in which Hurts continued an inconsistent season; a win in which the coaching staff seemed unprepared with a game plan that seemed uninspired.
A win is a win is a win, but, really, is it too much to expect a greater degree of consistency and professionalism from the reigning Super Bowl champions?
Is it ungrateful to believe a 10-5 team should look more like a 10-win team than five-loss team?
LANDOVER, Md. — For the first time in 21 seasons, the NFC East has a back-to-back champion.
The Eagles clinched the division in a 29-18 victory over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night at Northwest Stadium, officially punching their ticket to the playoffs. Despite falling behind, 10-7, in the first half, the Eagles blew the game open in the second, scoring touchdowns on three of four possessions with the starting offense.
It wasn’t pretty early on for the Eagles. Jake Elliott missed a pair of long field goals, one from 57 yards and another from 52. But the offense rebounded, in large part thanks to Saquon Barkley’s dominance on the ground. The 28-year-old running back rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Barkley eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season for the fifth time in his career.
Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ Week 16 win over their division rival:
Commanders’ defensive struggles
The Commanders went up, 10-7, in the first half on a 20-yard field goal and running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s 1-yard touchdown run. Then, the Washington defense committed an abundance of mistakes that ultimately cost it the game.
On fourth-and-7 from the Commanders’ 38 halfway through the third quarter, the Eagles opted to go for it, keeping a struggling Elliott off the field. Hurts tossed an interception to Commanders safety Quan Martin on a downfield pass intended for A.J. Brown, but it didn’t stand. Dallas Goedert drew an illegal contact penalty against Commanders safety Will Harris, extending the drive.
A.J. Brown had a big night with nine catches for 95 yards.
Six plays later, on third-and-8 from the Commanders’ 20, the Washington defense committed another pair of penalties to keep the Eagles alive. Martin’s holding call was declined, but a pass interference call on Commanders cornerback Noah Igbinoghene was enforced.
The 26-year-old cornerback attempted to cover DeVonta Smith in the back of the end zone, but the officials had determined he grabbed the Eagles’ standout receiver.
The Eagles made the Commanders pay for their mistakes. On third-and-goal from the Commanders’ 15 — the Eagles backed up due to a Fred Johnson holding penalty — Hurts completed a touchdown pass to Goedert while on the move.
Goedert leapt up over Martin to snag Hurts’ pass, making it 14-10 in favor of the Eagles. The 30-year-old tight end has reached a team-high 10 touchdowns this season, which is double his previous career high (five touchdowns in 2019).
The Commanders had some tackling issues throughout the evening, especially when it came to attempting to bring down Brown (he finished the day with a team-high nine receptions for 95 yards). Barkley benefited from the Commanders’ poor tackling, too, when he added to the Eagles’ scoring total in the fourth quarter.
Barkley forced five missed tackles on his 12-yard touchdown run up the middle, putting the Eagles up, 21-10. He helped put the dagger into Washington later in the fourth quarter with a 48-yard carry, featuring a spin move in the backfield and another slew of missed Commanders tackles.
Tank Bigsby built on Barkley’s explosive play, scampering into the end zone on a 22-yard touchdown run. Barkley picked up the ensuing two-point conversion on a carry, making it 29-10, Eagles.
The under-center runs and the play-action passes married with them that the Eagles incorporated last week against the Las Vegas Raiders weren’t an emphasis on Saturday. Instead, the group utilized more tempo, empty sets, and plays from the shotgun.
“I think we can go down every game this year and see a difference in approach,” Hurts said of the Eagles’ identity. “I think that’s OK for that to be who we are. We’ve just got to be very smart with what we do and when we do it and sequence it in the right way and then ultimately go out there and execute and make the plays.”
Eagles defense catches a break
Early in the third quarter, Marcus Mariota exited the game with a right hand injury, effectively quashing the Commanders’ chances at a victory.
The Josh Johnson experience was horrific. On third-and-13 late in the third quarter, Cooper DeJean picked off the 39-year-old quarterback on a pass intended for Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks.
With Johnson struggling, the Commanders attempted to run the ball to no avail. On the Commanders’ following possession, running back Chris Rodriguez was stuffed by Jordan Davis and Zack Baun on third-and-1 for a loss of 3 yards. Their play forced the Commanders to punt, marking Washington’s first three-and-out of the evening.
Davis was a force against the run. He finished with six tackles, included two for losses and two for no gain. The other two were on carries of 1 and 3 yards.
“That dude is a monster,” Baun said of Davis. “A monster of a human being and a monster on the field. Super impressive, because you think he’s just a stout run-stuffer, and then we throw in a stunt and some movement, and then you see how fast he is and he gets a TFL.”
The Eagles defensive front gave Johnson fits. On third-and-6 halfway through the fourth quarter, Nolan Smith beat Commanders right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and pressured Johnson, forcing him to throw an incomplete pass intended for running back Jeremy McNichols.
Rodriguez scored a garbage-time touchdown on a 3-yard carry with Eagles backups in the game on defense to make it 29-18. Johnson finished the game 5 of 9 for 43 yards and the interception (28.7 quarterback rating).
Jake Elliott’s uneven year continued at Washington on Saturday.
More issues for Elliott
After the Eagles went up, 7-3, in the first quarter on a 5-yard Smith touchdown reception, the self-inflicted wounds that had tormented the team for most of the season cropped up once more.
Elliott had a nightmare outing. Early in the second quarter, the Eagles offense sputtered at the Commanders’ 25-yard line. Late in the drive, Hurts overthrew a wide-open Brown on second-and-11, eventually forcing the Eagles to settle for a 43-yard field goal attempt.
However, Elliott missed the field goal wide left, which would become a trend for him as the quarter continued. After the two-minute warning, the Commanders up 10-7, the Eagles decided to attempt a 57-yard field goal on fourth-and-4 from the Commanders’ 39 with 18 seconds remaining in the first half.
Elliott missed that wide left, too. But Commanders safety Tyler Owens was flagged for being offside on the play, giving the Eagles offense a fresh set of downs and 5 yards.
Hurts’ ensuing pass for Smith sailed incomplete, bringing Elliott on the field for yet another attempt, this time from 52 yards. Again, Elliott missed the kick wide left to end the first half.
Not including the failed 57-yarder, Elliott has missed five field goal attempts in his last five games. He has also missed an extra point attempt in that span.
Elliott stabilized in the fourth quarter. After Barkley’s fourth-quarter touchdown run, the Eagles kicker made the extra point. Regardless of the kicker’s recent shortcomings, Nick Sirianni emphasized his faith in Elliott after the game.
“I have the utmost confidence in Jake,” Sirianni said. “I think like any team, you have ups and downs, and that’s just not offense, defense. That’s special teams. That’s your kicker, too. I have a ton of confidence in him that he’ll rebound from this, ’cause he’s mentally tough and a great kicker. We have the utmost faith in Jake moving forward.”
Injury report
Nakobe Dean sustained a hamstring injury halfway through the first quarter when he was attempting to tackle Burks. Jihaad Campbell took his place. Dean was ruled out in the third quarter.
Tyler Steen was ejected late in the fourth quarter following the Eagles’ two-point conversion for his involvement in a scuffle that broke out between the two teams.
One person was killed and at least seven others, including a firefighter, were injured as a fire tore through an Upper Darby apartment Saturday, officials said.
Firefighters were called about 10:30 a.m. to a three-story building on the 3200 block of Township Line Road, in the Drexel Hill neighborhood, where the blaze had broken out in a second-floor apartment. The flames were contained to the apartment, but the heat, smoke, and water damaged nearby units, Upper Darby Township Fire Chief Nicholas Martin said in a news release.
Martin said one person died from their injuries after being hospitalized, and another was critically injured. Their identities have not been made public.
A firefighter was also hospitalized, but later released, for burn injuries sustained while rescuing two people from the apartment. At least five others suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, and about 75 people were displaced from their homes, the news release said.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of this fire and their families during this tremendously difficult time,” Martin said in the statement.
