The Eagles (9-5) will travel to Northwest Stadium on Saturday to face the Washington Commanders in a Week 16 matchup, their first of two contests between the teams in the next three weeks. The teams have not met since the Eagles eliminated the Commanders in last year’s NFC championship game, won by the Eagles, 55-23, at Lincoln Financial Field.
With a win on Saturday, the Eagles will clinch the NFC East — becoming the division’s first repeat champion since 2004. With the division up for grabs, they enter this week as 6.5-point favorites. Meanwhile, the Commanders are coming off their first win in eight weeks, a 29-21 victory over the New York Giants.
As both teams prepare for Saturday, here’s everything the Commanders are saying about the Eagles:
‘This is a really complete team’
Last year both teams became very familiar with each other, playing three times between the regular season and playoffs. Of course, the Eagles came out victorious in two of three contests — splitting their regular season matchups and defeating Washington when it mattered most to secure their spot in the Super Bowl.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn praised the Eagles.
“This is a really complete team,” Quinn told reporters. “Both special teams, ours and theirs, this is going to be a physical game on the team side of things, the way they can cover kicks, the way we can. That field position in this game is going to be big. I thought some playmakers in all spots along the defense. Both linebackers are very good blitzers and active, got an excellent defensive line. I’ve certainly been impressed by the young corners. They’re able to challenge and be aggressive right from the start. So, those are some things, defensively, that I’ve been impressed with.
The Eagles defeated the Commanders in two of their three meetings last season.
“Playing against us last year in the three games, they were exceptional at taking the ball away. I thought that was the biggest deal for us. … And offensively, I thought from a line standpoint, the size, the movement, the pulling, Jeff Stoutland is one of the best there is in the offensive line spot. … I think it’s a good balance of what they have from the run game and the shots down the field with Jalen [Hurts]. Those are kind of the yin and yang of a good offense.”
‘A tough matchup’
Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense continues to be dominant. In last week’s 31-0 win over the Raiders, the defense sacked Kenny Pickett four times and held the offense to 75 total yards. Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury understands the challenge.
“It’s certainly a tough matchup,” Kingsbury told reporters. “They’ve been playing at a super high level, defensively. I think they gave up less than 90 yards last week against Las Vegas. So, it’s going to be a great challenge. They can roll in five, six guys deep that all play at a pretty high level. They can rush the passer, can stop the run. So, you got to be creative in how you attack them and we’ll have our hands full, there’s no doubt.”
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s group has been dominant this season.
The Eagles are competing against another backup quarterback who formerly spent time in Philadelphia: Marcus Mariota. With Jayden Daniels ruled out for the rest of the season, Mariota will be under center for Washington’s last three games.
Mariota played in Philly for one season (2023) as a backup to Jalen Hurts and appeared in three games. Now he’s looking forward to seeing some familiar faces in a divisional matchup against one of his former teams.
“[They have] a great defense, Vic [Fangio] got them playing really well,” Mariota told reporters. “You can talk about every single player on that front and on the back end. They’re great players. Being there for a year and being around those guys, it’ll be fun to play against some of those old friends. I’m looking forward to it. It’s always a great atmosphere to play Philly. It’ll be a fun game on Saturday.”
The Eagles travel down I-95 for a Saturday evening road game in Landover, Md., against the Washington Commanders on Saturday.
One team has four wins and shut down its starting quarterback for the rest of the season. The other got back on track with a blowout win Sunday and is gearing up for another playoff run.
The schedule makers probably didn’t have this type of disparity on their bingo cards when they matched up the Eagles and Commanders for two games in the final three weeks of the NFL season, but here we are.
Yes, the Raiders stink, but the Eagles should be feeling pretty good about themselves after their 31-0 drubbing of Las Vegas on Sunday. The offense got back on track. The defense couldn’t have played much better. Jake Elliott finished a game without missing a kick for the first time since Week 11.
All is right at the NovaCare Complex, right?
Yes, at least for now.
But the Eagles should be ready to pounce Saturday. They’re facing another team starting a backup quarterback. They’re facing an even worse defense than the one they beat up on Sunday. And they can clinch the NFC East with a victory.
It’s hard to envision that not happening Saturday night. The Commanders can score, especially with Terry McLaurin back in the lineup. And Marcus Mariota will test what the Eagles have learned about trying to stop the quarterback running game. But the Eagles have way too big a talent advantage for this game to be much of a worry.
Three of Washington’s four wins this season are against the Giants (twice) and Raiders. The other came against the Chargers. But Jayden Daniels started that game, and the Commanders defense played its best game of the season. That was all the way back in October, though, and that defense is banged up.
Hang the banner. The Eagles will win their second consecutive division title, and their third in four seasons.
Even when Daniels was healthy enough to play, this Commanders team hadn’t been the NFC contender it was last season. While McLaurin is still one of the top receivers in the division, the Commanders have a shortage of playmakers overall. The season-ending ACL injury to Zach Ertz certainly doesn’t help matters. Jacory Croskey-Merritt has been a solid threat on the ground, but he’s prone to making rookie mistakes (including three fumbles this season).
The biggest concern for the Eagles defense is Mariota’s ability to use his legs to extend plays. The Eagles have conceded 329 rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks this season, the second-highest total in the NFL. If Vic Fangio’s unit can keep him contained, it will be in position to shut the Commanders down.
The big question facing the Eagles offense going forward: Can it sustain the success it established in the win over the Raiders? The Eagles ought to have a good chance of doing so against the Commanders in two of their final three games. Even with Dan Quinn taking over the defensive coordinator duties, Washington still has struggled against the pass and the run.
With a win, the Eagles will clinch the NFC East, making them the first back-to-back winners in the last 20 seasons. So much for the league back-loading these Eagles-Commanders games with the aspiration that they would have playoff implications for both teams.
Last year, Jordan Davis often was not in the room.
Reporters typically are inside the Eagles locker room three days per week for 45 minutes during the regular season, but Davis typically would be anywhere else in the building but at his locker stall. Who could blame him? He was a third-year defensive tackle whose playing time had been cut, who wasn’t in good enough shape.
Vic Fangio’s defense was ascending, but Davis, the 13th overall pick in 2022, mostly was an afterthought. The Eagles had Jalen Carter and Milton Williams leading the way in the interior, a group of edge rushers that got after opposing quarterbacks, revelations at linebacker in Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun, and two rookies in the secondary, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, who made an immediate impact.
Then there was Davis, who basically was just one of the guys, a rotational defensive tackle who wasn’t overly interested in talking about the ups and downs and all that comes with not living up to your perceived potential.
This year? It’s hard to miss Davis. He is often the loudest voice in the room, bouncing around and joking with his teammates. He holds court in front of cameras at his locker. He is one of the faces and voices of a defense that hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 20 consecutive drives.
Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis (right) walks onto the field before facing the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 10.
“I had to make sure that everything around me was good,” Davis said Wednesday. “Had to make sure my body was right, I was living right, before I could really speak my voice. I’ve been this way since I got here, but now I think everybody is kind of just rallying behind me because they’ve seen the work that’s been put in, they’ve seen the work that’s being put in daily, and they see the consistency.
“It’s one thing to just hear it from a voice. But it’s another thing when he’s really believing, when he’s really living it, and he’s making decisions, making progress in terms of the way he wants to live his life.”
This Davis, the one the public gets to see more, has always been there, Davis said.
“I’ve always been happy-go-lucky, always been jovial,” he said. “It’s just now everyone is seeing it because I’m so confident in the person I am.”
‘He’s able to be himself’
Baun can see the changes in Davis, and he recognizes where it has come from because he saw the same thing with his own path last year. Baun was at a crossroads when the Eagles signed him to a one-year deal. Was he an edge rusher? Was he a linebacker? Would he be a special teamer and backup?
Fangio thought he’d work best as an off-ball linebacker — and was right — but it wasn’t until Baun got into a groove that the then-27-year-old on a young defense felt comfortable being a leader.
“I think it happens to anyone, even not playing a sport,” Baun said. “As soon as you start feeling more confident in yourself — for him, whether it was playing better or losing weight and then playing better — then you start adding stuff to your plate. But you have to take care of yourself and do what you need to do first. Then you can be a leader.”
Zack Baun and Jordan Davis have found their voices as leaders on the Eagles defense.
Defensive tackle Byron Young said he began to notice a change in Davis toward the end of last year when he started to lose weight. Davis struggled for large stretches of the 2024 season. After Week 14, he played more than 18 snaps in a game just once, in Week 18, when the Eagles were playing their backups. Davis’ work on himself had already started, and his confidence, Young said, “was obvious.”
Despite his limited workload, Davis produced. He had three pressures and a sack in the NFC championship game, then another sack in the Super Bowl.
Davis then showed up for training camp with a new body, a new level of confidence, and a bigger voice.
“He always has so much more energy,” Young said. “He’s able to be himself out there because he’s not worried about being tired all the time. He’s been a lot more vocal, a lot more of himself, and that’s something that’s good to see. You want to see guys being confident and being themselves.”
Davis usually is joking around in the locker room, but he knows when to turn it off and get serious, Young said. Other times, he might need a gentle reminder from defensive line coach Clint Hurtt.
Davis’ energy has a domino effect, Young said.
“It feeds into everybody else because everybody else feels how confident he is in himself and how confident he is in everyone else,” Young said. “Then you see how much fun he has when he’s out there playing, it makes everyone have fun. I think it’s something that has helped our defense a lot this year.”
‘Reflection comes at the end’
Rewind to the start of training camp. Williams left in free agency for a big payday, and the Eagles didn’t do much in the way of backfilling. Now imagine Carter missing games in the homestretch of the season. Back then, scary hypothetical. Now, with Carter recovering from procedures on his shoulders, the emergence of Davis and Moro Ojomo has the defensive line barely missing Carter’s presence.
Nolan Smith sacked Kenny Pickett on Sunday, but he was one-on-one partially because of the bodies Davis occupied in the middle of the line. A week earlier vs. the Los Angeles Chargers, Davis tallied a career-high six pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. It was the first game that Davis registered more than four pressures in a game, and he’s already at 23 pressures on the season, eight more than he had in all of 2024.
Jordan Davis returns a field goal block for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sept. 21.
“I think he’s definitely taken a step,” Baun said. “He’s confident in himself and he knows the plays he can make, what he’s good at, what he’s not good at, and he’s taking advantage.”
Davis took a more intentional approach with him into the 2025 season, he said.
“This year,” Davis said, “I was like, ‘All right, I’m the oldest guy in the room. I got to do something different. I want to do something different so I can be different, so I can lead different.’ This was just the year to do it, and hopefully there are many more years to come.”
The Eagles picked up Davis’ fifth-year option in the offseason, keeping him under team control through the 2026 season. Davis has spent the 2025 season making that decision look like the right one, and probably earning himself a lot of money on his next deal in the process.
He’s played in all 14 games and has six pass deflections, 4½ sacks, 59 tackles (seven for loss), and six quarterback hits. He has played 62% of the defensive snaps after only playing 37% last season. All of those numbers are career-highs. Davis has a legitimate Pro Bowl case.
Has he stopped at all to ruminate in all that’s happened over the past year?
“Reflection comes at the end,” Davis said. “For right now, just keep chugging. Keep trucking.”
When the time to reflect comes, you’ll know where to find him. He won’t be hiding.
Nobody wants to hear this, but every football season is different, and the preceding season should never flavor its successor, and expectations of continued excellence from a team that is markedly different are utterly ridiculous. Super Bowl LIX is gone, just like six significant players from that championship roster.
Which brings us to the 9-5 Eagles, who, contrary to much of the commentary and punditry, are nearing the end of a very good season. Saquon Barkley isn’t going to break rushing records this season, and the passing game hasn’t equaled its pedigree, and the defense won’t finish ranked No. 1, but none of that matters. What matters is who they beat, who they lost to, and where they stand.
What? How? Why even consider such heresy as this? Isn’t there enough gaslighting going on during White House press briefings?
This isn’t fake news, and this isn’t pandering to the franchise (as if).
This is common sense.
The Eagles’ results through 15 weeks present a team that can become just the eighth franchise to win consecutive Lombardi Trophies.
They’ve beaten the Rams, Packers, and Buccaneers, all playoff teams. They also beat the 8-6 Lions, and they won in Kansas City against a Chiefs team that began the season 5-3.
More relevantly, if you view the season objectively, the negative isn’t very negative.
The Birds have one bad loss in 14 games. That bad loss came Oct. 9, to the Giants. That was one of the NFL’s idiotic, three-days-of-rest, Thursday Night Football games, and the Eagles were the road team. The Giants were riding a wave of hope in the form of a pair of dynamic rookies with names straight out of youth fiction sports novels, Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo. Still, it was a loss, and a bad loss.
The other losses are eminently explicable.
The week before they lost to the visiting Broncos, who, now 12-2, turned out to be the best team in the league.
They lost to the Cowboys at Dallas on Nov. 23 because Dallas came back hard, which was to be expected, since Dallas has the league’s No. 1 offense.
They lost to the Bears, a 10-win team that holds the No. 2 seed in the NFC, mainly because of an inability to stop the run game, an inability predicated on the infirmity of defensive tackle Jalen Carter’s shoulders, which were subsequently repaired. That also was a short-week game, played on Black Friday.
They lost on the road to the Chargers, another 10-win team, because Jalen Hurts had a catastrophically bad game. That’s allowed. It was his first catastrophically bad game since Dec. 18, 2023, when he and A.J. Brown went rogue. That means it was Hurts’ first disaster in a span of 36 starts. That’s not bad, considering Brett Favre averaged about two catastrophes per season in his first years as a starter.
Hurts hasn’t been great, but this season he has produced his two best games in terms of passer rating, which this season is 99.4, about 5 points higher than his previous four complete seasons as a starter. With 22 TD passes, he’s just two away from a career high.
Jalen Hurts and the offense have been frustrating to watch at times, especially during the three-game losing streak. But on balance, Hurts has had a good year.
And, while every team suffers in-season roster attrition, it’s only fair to factor in the Eagles’ most relevant absences, since they help explain some of the losses.
They recently lost three games in a row when Carter and right tackle Lane Johnson, the two best players on the team, were either playing hurt or not playing at all.
Guess which other game Carter missed because of injury? The bad loss in New York.
Further, the Eagles have had four short-week games: Games 6, 10, 12, and 14. They have a fifth, on Saturday, at Washington. They could have a sixth if the NFL decides Game 17 against the Commanders should be played on a Saturday.
Short-week games are an onerous burden. The long week that follows a short week never compensates for the shortened time for rest, healing, and preparation.
These are not complaints. These are explanations. This is how champions are forged. This is the price of greatness.
Have the Eagles looked great in the first 14 games? No. But when they’ve looked bad, or when they’ve lost, it either occurred against very good teams, or with extenuating circumstances, or both.
What, then, does Saturday portend? Nothing certain. The Eagles have lost once apiece to their other NFC East opponents, the Cowboys and Giants, each time on the road. The Commanders might be without some of their better players, but they are not without talent, however aged that talent might be.
They play hard for coach Dan Quinn, who worked as the Cowboys defensive coordinator for three seasons before taking over in Washington.
This game isn’t a walkover, and the rematch in Game 17 won’t be a walkover, either. But, assuming Johnson and Carter return soon, the Eagles should be regarded as a fearsome playoff foe.
This is a much more palatable argument coming off an impressive win, but it would be just as true had they not won by 31 points or shut out the Raiders.
Because they are a very, very good team. Does Jalen Hurts need to run the ball more? Yes. Does the offense need to commit fewer penalties? Yes. Did they endure a midseason lull? Yes.
But the Eagles are nearly a touchdown favorite Saturday, and likely will be favored by even more in the season finale against the Commanders. They’ll probably get points in Buffalo next weekend, but likely no more than a field goal.
Why? Because, again, they’re a very good team that has had a very good season.
For all the ups and downs the Eagles offense has experienced this season, they still reign at the top of the league in red zone percentage.
The Eagles have scored on an NFL-best 69.4% of their red zone trips this season, which is a 12% improvement over their success rate in their Super Bowl LIX-winning season. Dallas Goedert has accounted for eight of the Eagles’ 25 red zone touchdowns this season.
Two of Goedert’s touchdowns — nearly three, due to a drop — came in the low red zone in the Eagles’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Both 4-yard touchdown shovel passes were behind the line of scrimmage. Goedert now has five touchdown passes from behind the line of scrimmage this season, which is the league high, according to Next Gen Stats.
While Kevin Patullo said that there isn’t necessarily a concerted effort to draw up plays for Goedert in the low red zone, good things tend to happen when the 30-year-old tight end gets the ball in his hands.
“He’s such a physical guy,” the offensive coordinator said Wednesday. “His determination to just get yards and have an impact on anything, whether it’s in the pass game, whether it’s gadgets, whatever it may be, he’s really dynamic with the ball in his hands. So any time you can get the ball in his hands, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
But Goedert acknowledged that he’s the beneficiary of the Eagles’ shift in red zone philosophy this year. Last season, the Eagles ran the ball more frequently. Of the Eagles’ red zone touchdowns last season, 58% came on carries (34% of their red zone touchdowns were on the Tush Push).
Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert has scored eight of the team’s 25 red zone touchdowns.
This year, 48% of the Eagles’ red zone touchdowns have come on runs (20% on the Tush Push). Patullo said that there isn’t “anything specific” that has led to the shift from run to pass.
“The red zone, obviously, is a unique area where you can be creative and do different things,” Patullo said. “And I think that’s something where we all kind of have our own input on that. Throughout the years, we’ve done different things and just try to see whatever we need to do best.”
Smith soaring since return
When asked about Nolan Smith’s progress on Wednesday afternoon, Vic Fangio admitted he wasn’t sure exactly how many games the third-year edge rusher had missed this season.
When he was informed that Smith had missed five games on injured reserve to heal his triceps injury, Fangio was surprised.
“Wow,” the defensive coordinator said. “Felt like more.”
Perhaps his hiatus felt longer because of the pass rush’s inconsistency during that stretch. The Eagles defense registered three of its six lowest single-game sack percentages of the season in Smith’s absence.
But since Smith has returned and Jaelan Phillips was acquired from the Miami Dolphins, the Eagles’ pass rush has soared, even in the two-game absence of Jalen Carter. In their last three contests, the Eagles have combined for a league-best 13 sacks (which is tied with the Dolphins). Smith notched two of those sacks.
Smith returned after the bye week in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers. At the time, the 24-year-old outside linebacker was on a snap limit, as the Eagles sought to prevent reinjury.
Since his first couple of games back, Smith has gradually seen his playing time increase, culminating last week when he played 61.9% of the defensive snaps. Fangio acknowledged Wednesday that he is no longer on a snap count. With more playing time has come more confidence for Smith, Fangio said.
“He is getting better and more comfortable and I think he’s back to where he was,” Fangio said.
Eagles offensive tackle Fred Johnson missed Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury but expects to play Saturday at Washington.
Injury report
The Eagles held their first practice of the week on Wednesday at Lincoln Financial Field, with snow covering their practice field at the NovaCare Complex.
Lane Johnson (foot), Landon Dickerson (calf/rest), Fred Johnson (ankle), and Jalen Carter (shoulders) did not participate. However, Fred Johnson told The Inquirer that he expects to be available to play Saturday against the Washington Commanders.
Cam Latu (stinger) was a limited participant. Saquon Barkley (stinger), Zack Baun (hand), Tank Bigsby (illness), Jaelan Phillips (knee), and Cameron Williams (shoulder; injured reserve) were full participants.
The Eagles will practice once more on Thursday before Saturday’s game in Landover, Md.
The Eagles are going to win their division. They need just one victory to clinch first place, and they’re likely to get that victory Saturday night against the Washington Commanders. And even if, by some minor miracle, they manage to lose to a 4-10 team that will be quarterbacked by Marcus Mariota, they can still just wait until the Dallas Cowboys lose again, which would bring its own kind of satisfaction.
One way or another, the Eagles will end up atop the NFC East, becoming the first team to repeat as the division’s champion since they won it four straight times from 2001 through 2004. That statistic makes the last quarter-century of NFC East history sound more competitive and equitable among the Eagles, Cowboys, New York Giants, and Washington than it has actually been. In 2001, the Eagles won their first division title and reached their first NFC championship game with Andy Reid as their head coach and Donovan McNabb as their starting quarterback. That season was, really, the start of the general dominance that has followed. Here’s the breakdown of these 25 years, assuming the Eagles finish first again this season:
Eagles
Overall record: 240-160-2
Winning seasons: 18
Playoff berths: 16
Division titles: 12
Conference championship games: 8
Super Bowl appearances: 4
Super Bowl victories: 2
Nick Sirianni (right) has carried on the Eagles’ winning tradition that started with Andy Reid.
Whatever crises the Eagles might be undergoing are framed through a different lens from any other team in the division. They judge themselves and are judged by the answer to one question: Are we good enough to win the Super Bowl? Their divisional foes’ standard has not been quite as high: Are we good enough to keep from embarrassing ourselves again?
Quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders took a big step backward in an injury-plagued season.
Less than a year ago, for instance, the Commanders’ appearance in the NFC championship game was supposed to augur a new rivalry between them and the Eagles at least and a new era for the division at best. That’s why the teams’ two games this season were scheduled in the season’s final three weeks. Huge head-to-head matchups to decide the division, right? Instead, the Eagles trounced the Commanders by 32 points to reach Super Bowl LIX. Jayden Daniels, Washington’s wonderful young quarterback, has played just seven games this season because of injuries, and even if Daniels had remained healthy, the Commanders might be floundering anyway; their front office built the oldest roster in the NFL around him.
So what happened? How did the Eagles manage to create so much distance between themselves and the NFC East field? As with all big questions, there’s not just one big answer, but here are a few explanations:
Jeffrey Lurie, Joe Banner, and Howie Roseman have been forward-thinkers.
From strategic massaging of the salary cap to aggressive play-calling on fourth down, Lurie has empowered his executives (and, in that middle-management position, his head coaches) to be creative, to posit how the NFL would evolve and how the Eagles might get ahead of those changes.
Jerry Jones can’t put his ego aside for the sake of a Super Bowl.
Jones has been a true visionary when it comes to the NFL’s growth into the pop-cultural monster it is today. He recognized America’s insatiable appetite for pro football and has built one trough after another to feed us, and he does want to win championships. But he’s not willing to sacrifice the publicity and the credit, to stand aside and let someone smarter handle the Cowboys’ football-related decision-making. It is not enough that the Cowboys win. Jones must be perceived as the reason they have won, and it’s that very thinking that keeps them from matching the Eagles’ success.
Jerry Jones (right) and the Cowboys have not been able to keep up with Jeffrey Lurie’s Eagles.
Daniel Snyder.
That’s it. The man pretty much single-handedly destroyed one of the best and most popular franchises in the league. As just one example, Washington’s coaching staff in 2013, under head coach Mike Shanahan, included Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel, and Raheem Morris — and Snyder let all of them get away. (Or run away, as the case may be.)
Eli Manning retired.
Sounds crazy, right? It’s not. When Manning was in his prime, the Giants went through an eight-year stretch in which they qualified for the postseason five times, won two Super Bowls, and never finished under .500. The Giants haven’t been able to replace him, and that has been a bigger failure even than allowing Saquon Barkley to sign with the Eagles.
Jeff Stoutland has given the Eagles an edge in the trenches.
Yes, the Eagles have long maintained that games are won and lost along the offensive and defensive lines. Any franchise’s coaching staff can chant that mantra, though. Few, if any, can develop linemen like the Eagles, and Stoutland’s presence and expertise are invaluable in that regard. Ask yourself if Jordan Mailata would have become an elite left tackle anywhere else.
The Eagles value depth at quarterback.
They won one Super Bowl with their backup quarterback (Nick Foles), won another with a player who had been drafted to be their backup quarterback (Jalen Hurts), made a season-saving run to the NFC divisional round in 2006-07 with their backup quarterback (Jeff Garcia), and have generally hired head coaches who know how to implement and oversee quarterback-friendly systems.
On Sunday afternoon following the Eagles’ blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Landon Dickerson didn’t have the patience to entertain an iota of criticism about his quarterback.
Jalen Hurts, the Eagles’ fifth-year starter, was fresh off a near-perfect performance. He went 12-for-15 for 175 yards and three touchdowns in the passing game, plus he added 39 yards on seven carries.
It was a stark improvement over his performance in the previous two games of the Eagles’ losing streak, in which Hurts didn’t complete more than 56% of his passing attempts and turned the ball over seven times. When a reporter asked about Hurts’ showing against the Raiders in the aftermath of a “rough ride” during the losing streak, Dickerson bristled at the nature of the question.
“Oh, y’all just, like, dog him,” the Eagles left guard said.
But Hurts wouldn’t know that, or so he claims. The 27-year-old quarterback emphasized Tuesday that he tunes out the external criticism, making him impervious to the many opinions about his play that crop up in the media, locally and nationally.
His teammates, though, are more plugged into the discussions about Hurts that percolate online, especially during their string of losses. A reporter told Hurts on Tuesday that Nakobe Dean had said after the Raiders game that if hehad been seeing the criticism about the quarterback, then he would bet that Hurts had seen it, too.
“He’d be a broke man if we made that bet,” Hurts said.
Evidently, he didn’t tune into Nick Sirianni’s weekly radio appearance on 94-WIP, when the coach was asked whether Hurts would remain the starting quarterback. (“I think that’s ridiculous,” Sirianni responded). That Hurts didn’t hear a snippet on the radio or catch a glimpse of a chyron on a talking-heads debate show on one of the TVs at the NovaCare Complex over the last three weeks is an impressive feat.
How was he able to drown out the scrutiny?
“It’s who I am,” Hurts said. “It’s my focus. This isn’t my first rodeo, you know? So very unprecedented journey to be here. But unprecedented is unprecedented.”
Hurts has been here before. He often points to his benching at Alabama as one of the pivotal moments of his football career, one that taught him lessons of perseverance and determination.
He responded emphatically to that low point, leading Alabama to victory in the SEC title game the following season and finishing as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy after transferring to Oklahoma. Hurts was the fifth quarterback taken in the 2020 draft — and the first to win a Super Bowl.
The past month was a microcosm of Hurts’ football journey — you can doubt him, but you can’t underestimate his ability to respond, especially when the stakes are high. That’s part of the “clutch gene” that Jeffrey Lurie has said he identifies within Hurts. It’s a trait that the quarterback values, too.
“You work really hard to show up when your team needs you the most,” Hurts said. “All of the perceived pressure, whatever that is, just really preparing for a moment, preparing for an opportunity and knowing that resilience, determination, and perseverance can bring it home for the group. I’d say that’s pretty valuable for me, to take pride in showing up when my team needs me to the most.”
Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert celebrates his first-quarter touchdown with Jalen Hurts against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Soon enough, the stakes will be as high as they’ve been all season. The Eagles have a chance to clinch the NFC East on Saturday with a win over the Washington Commanders. They could be playing to improve their seeding in the NFC, too, depending on how the conference’s front-runners fare for the rest of the season.
Then, the playoffs will begin, providing Hurts with the stage to flaunt that “clutch gene” he has channeled throughout his career.
“I see it as an opportunity,” Hurts said. “That’s it. September, October [are] important games, kind of finding yourself. It’s a new team, you find your groove. But new things are found in December, January, and February. I think just being built off of perseverance, being built off of learning from all of my experiences and learning from everything, you definitely look forward to those moments.”
In those moments, the Eagles will try to build off the strides they took in the win against the Raiders. As the player with the ball in his hands on every offensive snap, Hurts will incur plenty more scrutiny. He is well-equipped to handle that job responsibility, according to Sirianni.
“I think that playing quarterback in the NFL, you’re going to get a lot of attention,” Sirianni said. “Positive, negative, all attention. When that happens — we talk about this a lot as a team — any little thing [that] distracts you [or] what can distract you, you need to block out.
“I think that why Jalen can handle it so well is because he’s so locked in and focused and not distracted by things to be able to lock in onto what he needs to do to get himself ready to play.”
Mike Golic still remembers standing on the sideline when quarterback Randall Cunningham fell to the grass at Lambeau Field. It was Game 1 of the 1991 Eagles season. In the second quarter, Packers linebacker Bryce Paup lunged at Cunningham’s knees.
The trainers rushed to his side. Golic and his defensive teammates were stunned. This was supposed to be their year. Now, as Cunningham rolled on his back in agony, that seemed less likely.
With Cunningham out for the season, the Eagles cycled through a litany of quarterbacks in 1991. It gave the defense virtually no room for error — but instead of faltering, it rose to the occasion.
The Eagles could not rely on quarterback Randall Cunningham in 1991, after Cunningham suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1.
Over the next 16 games, the group put together one of the best defensive seasons in NFL history — if not the best — surrendering the fewest passing yards and rushing yards along with the lowest completion percentage in the NFL that season.
“I know that group all too well,” analyst Troy Aikman said on Monday Night Football on Dec. 8. “Because I played against them. Number one against the run. Number one against the pass. I could name the roster for you, on the defensive side of the ball.”
The 1991 Eagles recorded the most sacks in the league (55) and ranked third in interceptions (26). They allowed an average of 15.3 points per game.
“We knew that we were going to go as far as the defense could carry us,” linebacker Seth Joyner recalled in late November. “And that just turned the intensity up.”
The current Eagles defense is not in quite the same predicament. Their quarterback is healthy. Nevertheless, through 14 games, Jalen Hurts’ offense has not performed relative to its talent level.
And while the 2025 defense has not been as consistent as the 1991 group, it has shown flashes of the same caliber of dominance, particularly since the bye week.
If the Eagles have any hopes of returning to the Super Bowl, such a run would likely have to involve an elite defense.With that being said, here is what three members of Gang Green — Joyner, Golic, and Clyde Simmons — are seeing from Vic Fangio’s group.
Buddy Ryan was gone by 1991, but his stamp was still all over the Eagles defense.
Aggressiveness
Buddy Ryan, the defensive guru who coached the Eagles from 1986-90, had a mantra: “Score on defense.”
This meant pitching the ball from player to player if you got an interception. Or, if you got a fumble, trying to scoop and score instead of falling on the ball. Or, if you didn’t score, giving the offense a shorter field.
Ryan’s philosophy wasn’t just about preventing a team from scoring; it was about putting that team’s offense on the defensive.
That carried over to the 1991 team, even after Ryan was fired following the 1990 season. The 1991 defense, coached by coordinator Bud Carson, brought this concept to a new level.
With Cunningham out, it was unlikely the Eagles would be scoring 20-30 points a game. So, the defensive players took it upon themselves to score — or, at a minimum, make things easier for the offense.
Golic, a former defensive tackle who now hosts a show on FanDuel Sports Network, said this message was largely player-driven. It was always reiterated, either on the sidelines or in defensive meetings.
“We played aggressively anyway, but we kind of even upped that,” Golic saidin November. “And it wasn’t disparaging to the offense. It was just, like, ‘Listen, we don’t have our starting quarterback anymore. We know we do a lot on this team, but we know we now have to do more.’ So it was more of an up-tempo, upbeat, ‘Let’s do more. Let’s help out more.’”
Added Simmons, a dominant defensive end: ”We’d always prided ourselves with being a really good defense, but we knew we had to be even better to win ballgames. It started really getting tightened down. Just try to be sure to give ourselves all the opportunities in the world to win ballgames, keep people off the scoreboard, and keep the yardage down.”
Golic and Joyner see a similar aggression in the Eagles’ current group — both in the play-calling and in the players. This has been especially true with the addition of Jaelan Phillips, the return of Brandon Graham, and Nakobe Dean playing above expectations after returning from a serious knee injury.
Bud Carson (with star cornerback Eric Allen) coordinated a unit that finished No. 1 against the run and the pass in 1991.
It has freed up the pass rush, allowing Fangio to be more unpredictable — a Ryan/Carson staple. Fangio isn’t blitzing as much as those teams, but he is mixing in different looks. One example is that he favors a simulated pressure in which at least one linebacker rushes and one lineman drops into coverage.
“Bud Carson as the D coordinator, he was a very aggressive coordinator, and certainly Vic’s a very aggressive coordinator,” Golic said. “And players love playing aggressively. You’d rather be attacking than reacting. So that’s probably the biggest comparison.
“I mean, obviously I’m biased toward my 1991 team. The stats were ridiculous. But I would say overall, yeah, the aggressiveness of the two units would be comparable.”
He added: “A lot of it is just trusting the person next to you, behind you, in the secondary, and them trusting us up front that we’re going to get there. Players know when they’re going to be on an island and understand that and accept the responsibilities of it. And coaches like Fangio and Bud Carson certainly weren’t afraid to be aggressive and put people on islands.”
Those who witnessed both play see similarities between current Eagle Jalen Carter and the legendary Jerome Brown (99).
Players who would fit on Gang Green
There was only one player whose name came up repeatedly as example of someone who evoked the 1991 team — and it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The family of Jerome Brown said in March that they see some of the late Eagles defensive tackle in current Eagles DT Jalen Carter,who has been sidelined the past two weeks with shoulder injuries. To the 1991 Eagles, the comparisons are obvious.
Simmons, the defensive line coach at Bowling Green, doesn’t have much time to keep tabs on the Eagles. But even in the limited games he has watched, Carter has stood out.
“I know they’ve got a couple good players in there, like a Jalen Carter, who is such a big man, and so explosive, and a game-controlling guy,” Simmons said last month. “He’s special. You don’t see a lot of people that big, who are that explosive.”
“He plays on the other side of the line [of scrimmage],” Golic added. “I mean, he just plays with leverage, with strength. You know, and the ends were bigger at that point. Reggie [White] was 315 pounds, Clyde was 290 pounds, Jerome was 300, I was in the 280s, 290, so was Mike Pitts.
“Jalen [Carter] is a 300-pounder who is quick off the ball and plays on the other side of the line. That’s what we always did. We always played on the other side of the line. And he would have, jeez … I mean, put him on that line, with Jerome [Brown] in the middle, would have been ridiculous.
“If there’s one player on that defense that would have fit in our defense, it definitely would have been Jalen [Carter].”
Clyde Simmons (96) draws comparisons to current Eagle Jaelan Phillips.
Joyner, a former linebacker who hosts pregame and postgame Eagles shows on YouTube, made a different comparison. In Phillips, he saw a bit of Simmons — a multifaceted player who could run different formations and be put in different spots.
“I probably would have to compare him to Clyde,” Joyner said of Phillips. “I definitely wouldn’t compare him to Reggie [White, a Hall of Famer] because there’s just no comparison to that guy. But I think when you when you think about Clyde, especially under Buddy … because under Buddy, we ran a little bit of everything. We ran 30 front and 40 front, unders, overs, swim package, with all three linebackers off the ball in an even front. We ran a little bit of everything.
“And in the 30 front, Clyde was pretty much the weakside outside linebacker. Like, we could line up in a four-man front, quarterback getting his cadence. We could shift to a 30 front, Clyde would kick his hand off the ground, and stand up as an outside linebacker. And sometimes even drop into coverage, believe it or not.
“Those are some of the intangibles that Jaelan Phillips brings to the table. Because like I said, I was shocked to see Vic actually drop him off in coverage out of that five-man front [against the Lions]. And in some of the zone blitzes where you brought a linebacker from the other side and you dropped him off into the flat. He brings a versatility.”
“It’s definitely possible” for the Eagles to win back-to-back, titles, ex-Eagles defensive tackle Mike Golic says.
A Super Bowl-caliber defense
All three former players looked at the 1991 season as a lost opportunity. They believe that if Cunningham had stayed healthy, they could have won a Super Bowl.
Instead, the 1991 Eagles went 10-6 and didn’t make the playoffs. But these Eagles are in a different spot, which leads Simmons, Joyner, and Golic to believe the outcome could be better for them.
Joyner sees the same confidence in the 2025 group that the 1991 group had. Golic sees it, too.
Now, it’s a matter of play-calling and playing with the same confidence on the offensive side of the ball.
“It’s definitely possible [for them to go back-to-back],” Golic said. “Listen, the offense, it’s tough to duplicate. The [offensive] line has not been what it was last year. They still run more than they pass. They still try and live off the run. But you can never negate a great defense. What a great defense will do will always keep you in the game, always.
“So you look at some of the top defenses, like Denver, like Houston, Philly, certainly is one of them, you’re always going to be in the game. And then you just need the offense to produce some. And certainly the Eagles offense has the ability to [do that].
“Statistically, they’re not what they were last year, but they have the ability to show it. But when you have a really good defense, you’re going to be in every game.”
The Birds remained in the NFC’s No. 3 spot, and if the season ended today they’d be hosting the No. 6 seed San Francisco 49ers (10-4) at the Linc during wild card weekend.
Here’s a look at the current playoff picture for the Eagles and the rest of the NFL:
When can the Eagles clinch the NFC East?
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In the NFC East, the Eagles’ magic number — combined wins and Cowboys losses — is now just one. That means the Birds could clinch both the division and a playoff berth with a win in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders (4-10).
The Birds would also clinch the NFC East with just one more Cowboys loss.
Even if Dallas manages to win their final three games — at home against the Chargers and on the road against the Commanders and New York Giants (2-12) — they would still need the Eagles to lose out overtake the Birds in the standings.
Considering the Birds face the Marcus Mariota-led Commanders twice in the final three weeks, oddsmakers see that as impossibly unlikely. As in less than a 1% chance, according to the New York Times.
Both the Commanders and Giants have already been eliminated from playoff contention, but both could play the role of spoiler in the coming weeks.
Can the Eagles still end up with the NFC’s No. 1 seed?
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You’re saying there’s still a chance?
Despite Sunday’s win, the Eagles still face an all-but-impossible chance to end the season in the NFC’s No. 1 playoff spot.
What would have to happen? For starters, the Birds need to win their final three games ― against the Buffalo Bills (10-4) and twice against the Commanders ― to even have a shot at the top playoff seed.
Now comes the tricky part. In all likelihood, the Eagles would need four of the NFC’s top teams to lose two of their final three games, according to Wharton professor and Eagles analytics nerd Deniz Selman — the Los Angeles Rams (11-3), Seattle Seahawks (11-3), San Francisco 49ers (10-4), and Bears.
All four teams won Sunday, so the Eagles already-slim odds got worst, despite the Birds’ win.
There are some even less-likely scenarios where the Eagles could win on tiebreakers, but it all points to the road to a Super Bowl repeat not going through the Linc.
Odds are the Eagles will win the NFC East and enter the playoffs at the NFC’s No. 3 seed, but the Birds could also end up as the No. 2 seed if things fall their way. Having tiebreakers against most of the top NFC teams helps, though not with the Packers because of that pesky tie.
The Birds entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed last year, and that seemed to work out well.
NFC playoff scenarios this week
Matthew Stafford and the Rams are in the driver’s seat for the NFC’s No. 1 playoff spot.
Entering Week 15, not a single team in the league had clinched a playoff spot. That changed Sunday, with the Rams officially becoming the NFC’s first playoff team thanks to a 41-34 win against the Detroit Lions (8-6).
The No. 1 seed will take a few weeks to sort out, thanks to a tight race in the NFC West featuring the Seattle Seahawks (11-3) and 49ers.
What’s wild is there’s a possibility a team like the Lions, Bears, 49ers, Seahawks, or even Rams could end the season with 12 wins and miss the playoffs due to tiebreakers for the final wild card. That’s never happened in NFL history, though two teams have missed the playoffs with 11 wins — the 1985 Denver Broncos and the 2008 New England Patriots.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7) moved back into the No. 4 seed and lead the NFC South thanks to the Carolina Panthers (7-7) loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Buccaneers and Panthers will face off next week in a game that will likely decide the division.
Just one NFC team faced elimination in Week 15. The Vikings will officially be booted out of the postseason race with a loss to the Cowboys Monday night.
AFC playoff picture and scenarios
The Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs for the first time during Patrick Mahomes’ career.
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The No. 1 seed Denver Broncos (12-2) clinched the AFC’s first playoff spot and their second-straight postseason appearance under head coach Sean Payton with a win against the Packers.
The No. 2 seed New England Patriots (11-2) could have clinched the AFC East, but blew a 21-point lead to Josh Allen and the Bills Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs (6-8) were eliminated from the playoffs Sunday for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era thanks to their loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Miami Dolphins (6-7) enter Week 15 on a four-game winning streak, but could be booted from the playoffs with a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6) Monday night.
When do the NFL playoffs start?
The Eagles have made four-straight playoff appearances under Nick Sirianni.
We’re a little less than a month away from the first playoff game, which will take place on wild-card weekend beginning Jan. 10.
Six games will take place in the first round of the playoffs, airing across Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC. Amazon will also exclusively stream a wild-card game on Prime Video for the second straight season.
Full 2025 NFL playoff schedule:
Wild-card round: Saturday, Jan. 10 to Monday, Jan. 12
Divisional round: Saturday, Jan. 17 to Sunday, Jan. 18
Super Bowl LX (or 60, for those who don’t like Roman numerals) is being held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of the San Francisco 49ers. NBC will broadcast this year’s Super Bowl.
Here are the sites announced for future Super Bowls:
The Eagles host the Las Vegas Raiders in a Week 15 matchup at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. Here’s what you need to know about the game:
When the Eagles have the ball: No defense in the NFL stacks the box as much as the Raiders, and it’s not close. Their 50.5% stacked box rate is 13% higher than the next team. What’s that mean for the Eagles? It’s pretty obvious, considering the success other defenses have had concentrating their efforts on stopping Saquon Barkley and the run game, and how Jalen Hurts has performed as a passer — especially over the last five games. If Las Vegas is going to stay in base personnel a lot, it’s imperative that Hurts and Co. use light numbers in the secondary to their advantage. And stop running into heavy fronts on first down! That said, I think Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo will have ample amount of short passing concepts to rebuild Hurts’ confidence after his five-turnover performance vs. the Chargers.
Raiders head coach Pete Carroll is one of the greatest defensive minds in NFL history, but his scheme hasn’t evolved as much as it should to counter modern offenses. He doesn’t have his safeties disguise pre-snap or rotate post-snap as much as they should, and his zone coverages lack matchup principles. Hurts should have chances to throw downfield vs. single-high looks, particularly Carroll’s preferred Cover 3. Post safety Isaiah Pola-Mao is no Earl Thomas — Carroll’s linchpin when he was with the Seahawks. Pola-Mao has a 20.3 missed tackle rate, per Pro Football Focus, and has allowed five touchdowns through the air. Carroll has a capable box safety in the Kam Chancellor role: Jeremy Chinn. He’s played more often on the line as the season has progressed. He also has another former safety in quasi-linebacker Jamal Adams to compensate for playing more base.
I like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith against most cornerbacks, but Carroll doesn’t have Eric Stokes and Darien Porter on islands much. Hurts is likely to see a lot of zone again. Can the Eagles build off the middle-of-the-field concepts that produced chunk yards in Los Angeles? The disparate numbers between shotgun and under-center runs suggest Sirianni and Patullo should lean more into the latter, especially considering how it’s set up play-action passes. Hurts completed both play-action throws for 48 yards vs. the Chargers. Let’s see more of that. The Raiders’ Devin White, who was briefly with the Eagles last season, would be the second-level linebacker I’d target in the pass game.
Maxx Crosby (98) is banged up coming into the Eagles game, but the Birds will likely have to account for him.
If there’s one guy who can wreck the Eagles’ game plan, it’s Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. Maybe I buried the lede with Fred Johnson starting in place of right tackle Lane Johnson for a fourth straight game. Crosby will line up over Fred Johnson most of the time. He has nine sacks and 18 quarterback hits this season. But with no one else of comparable talent up front, the Eagles should help Johnson enough to keep Crosby at bay. Crosby’s also banged up with knee and shoulder injuries, and no D-lineman has played more snaps (759) in the NFL this season. He was a full participant in practice on Friday.
When the Raiders have the ball: This will likely be the worst offense the Eagles have faced this season. The only variable that could hinder their chances is the new guy under center: Kenny Pickett. You may laugh, but injured starter Geno Smith is ahead of only Titans rookie Cam Ward in total expected points added (EPA) among quarterbacks. Pickett’s become a backup for good reason, but he also has 16 career wins as a starter, including the division clincher for the Eagles last season. In Smith’s defense, he’s played behind a bad offensive line and has few receivers who can get consistent separation. Tre Tucker (46 catches for 574 yards and five touchdowns) is his best downfield threat.
Old friend Kenny Pickett will try to extend the Eagles’ misery on Sunday.
Brock Bowers is easily the Raiders’ best skill position player. The tight end will fall short of his record-setting rookie season when he caught 112 passes for 1,194 yards, but he has 53 grabs for 619 yards despite missing three games and is on target for another solid campaign. He also has six touchdowns and will be Pickett’s best red-zone option. The Eagles have held tight ends to a league-low 428 receiving yards this season. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will use a combination of Cooper DeJean, Zack Baun, and Reed Blankenship — plus some bracketing — to contain Bowers.
As long as the Eagles are consistently out of third-and-short, I fail to see Las Vegas having much chance to put up points. The Raiders have been unable to do much on the ground for most of the season. Running back Ashton Jeanty averages just 3.5 yards a carry. It’s hardly the rookie’s fault his offense is last in the league in EPA/rush. The Raiders’ offensive line has been lacking at least one above-average blocker since left tackle Kolton Miller suffered an injury in Week 4. His possible return could offset an Eagles pass rush that has gotten better since the arrival of outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, but I see a repeat of what happened against a patchwork Chargers O-line.
Could Sunday bring a shutout opportunity for Vic Fangio’s defense?
Extra point: The Eagles are double-digit favorites (12½ points) for the first time this season — a telling number considering how poor their offense has been since the Week 9 bye. Of course, the spread has as much to do with the Raiders incompetency as it does the Birds’ recent struggles. This is as close to an ideal get-back opportunity as Hurts and the offense could have at this stage of the season. Las Vegas has a decent defense and I suspect all the problems on that side of the ball won’t be solved. But you can’t lose if the other team doesn’t score points, and an Eagles’ shutout is in play. Really.
Weather will be a factor. There might be some snow showers, but 15-25 mph winds will be more the concern. Hurts and kicker Jake Elliott have struggled at times in bad weather games, but also in pristine conditions. I anticipate an outcome that will end up a nothingburger — the Eagles win behind their defense with the offense not performing well enough to satisfy most. Chip Kelly’s expected return to Philly would have brought some drama to the proceedings, but he was fired as Raiders offensive coordinator last month. We now just have “Pickett’s Charge” to write about. I foresee an end similar to that of the Confederate army.
