If their dominant victory in the NFC championship is anything to go by, the Philadelphia Eagles are either an overwhelming juggernaut heading into Super Bowl LIX, or Washington's hapless commanders simply made them look that way on Sunday.
Yes, Nick Sirianni & Co. will return to the NFL's biggest stage for the second time in three seasons thanks to their emphatic 55-23 victory over their division rivals at Lincoln Financial Field.
But unlike last week's tough 28-22 Divisional Round victory over the visiting Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles found themselves within an easy victory on Sunday. And all Sirianni had to do was rely on game-opener Saquon Barkley against one of the worst defenses in the NFL.
Philadelphia's biggest star forced himself by gaining 118 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries, including a 60-yard scoring run on his first touch of the game.
And for their part, the commanders did almost everything they could to spoil rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels' desperate attempts to keep Washington in the game. Three lost fumbles, premature penalties and Washington's continued problems defending the run were more than enough to doom the top commanders, who clearly have a ways to go before joining the NFL's elite.
“It was a different kind of season,” All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson said, contrasting the 2024 season with a disastrous 2023 campaign that ended with losses in six of the Eagles' last seven games. 'I feel like expectations were high, but we had a lot of motivation about how the season ended (last year).
Saquon Barkley opened the Eagles' first drive with a 60-yard touchdown run on Sunday
A dejected Jayden Daniels walks off the field in Philadelphia after his rookie season came to an end
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun continued his brilliant season on Sunday
“We made some adjustments,” Johnson continued. “We have a lot of great, talented players here.”
Specifically, Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman added Barkley, the rival giants' talented but often injured star, who has since put the Eagles on his back with a career-best 2,005-yard season.
The Eagles didn't play brilliant football in the first half, but they really didn't have to.
The Commanders were busy doing the exact opposite with three hit-to-the-head penalties in the red zone, two of which helped the Eagles push their lead to 27-15 at halftime.
And even without Washington's mistakes, Philadelphia's path to victory already looked improbably easy going into Sunday: Just give Barkley the ball and let him forge a battered run defense that ranked 30th in the NFL.
Additionally, Majors defensive tackle stretch Daron Payne was ruled out with a knee injury, giving Philadelphia another reason to rely on their All-Pro running back.
Barkley responded on his first touch, taking a run from the wounds down the left sideline and through a handful of tacklers en route to the spectacular 60-yard touchdown that nearly took down Lincoln's financial backfield.
Barkley later credited quarterback Jalen Hurts with a 'dummy' call at the line of scrimmage that may have helped confuse Washington's defense on the play.
“I'll give a shout out to Jalen,” Barkley said. 'He took control of that. We changed it first, then we went and gave them a dummy call because they had a beat on some of my stuff.
Head coach Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after their 55-23 victory
And the Eagles got even more momentum on the Commanders' next trip, as defensive player of the year candidate Zack Baun forced Washington receiver Dami Brown into a fumble that was recovered by Philadelphia safety Reed Blankenship.
Six plays later, Barkley returned to the end zone, this time on a four-yard run to the right pylon.
And Philadelphia's momentum carried into the second quarter, where Hurts orchestrated a miraculous fourth-down conversion with a 31-yard throw to AJ Brown down the left sideline.
That Philadelphia Drive was fueled by Washington cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, bringing the Eagles to the one-yard line. And when Hurts easily scored on a QB keeper the next play, Lattimore began shoving Brown, resulting in a close fight.
Lattimore's helmet came off during the altercation when Brown raised his arms to indicate to officials that he was not participating in the fracas. In the end, Lattimore was tagged with unnecessary roughness, moving the Eagles one yard closer to an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt.
And things got even better for the Eagles on the resulting kickoff, when Washington's Jeremy McNichols coughed up the football, which was recovered by Philadelphia's Kenneth Gainethwell.
Thanks to another unnecessary roughing penalty against Washington, this one a controversial late flag on Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil, Hurts ended his first half with a touchdown pass to Brown for a 27-12 lead.
Washington added a field goal to cut that lead to 27-15 before heading to the locker room.
Jalen Hurts entered the game with a knee issue, but still managed to lead the Eagles to a victory
But for all the commanders' struggles, their rookie quarterback was hardly to blame Sunday.
Facing a deep Eagles defense that limited opposing quarterbacks to an 82.5 passer rating (best than all but three defenses) and a league-low 2,961 passing yards, Daniels was strong in driving opening of the game. Not only did he convert a pair of third-down opportunities, but he also moved the chains twice down fourth to set up a 34-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez.
Washington later fouled Philadelphia by having Punter Tress Way dive to an open Ben Sinnott at fourth to extend a drive that ended with Gonzalez's 46-yard field goal to cut the Eagles' lead to 14-6 .
Daniels and the Commanders offense finally had their breakthrough moment in the second quarter when he found Terry McLaurin on a short route and the All-Pro took it 36 yards for a touchdown.
And the Heisman winner kept the momentum going after halftime with an eight-play scoring drive that Daniels limited with a 10-yard touchdown run and an impressive play-action pass to convert the two-point conversion.
But the Commanders' many mistakes would soon catch up with them, as their next drive was spoiled by their third fumble of the game.
The only remaining drama of the game would be Washington's attempt to anticipate Philadelphia's famous 'Tush push' at the goal line in the fourth quarter by continually jumping outside. Finally, officials warned that the Eagles would receive a touchdown if the commanders continued to send linebacker Frankie Luvu flying through the teeth of scrimmage before the ball was snapped.
In the end, however, it didn't matter. Hurts would score one of his three rushing touchdowns on the day as Philadelphia pushed its lead to 41-23.
Hurts, who had entered Sunday with his own knee injury, looked nearly indestructible against Washington. In addition to his three rushing touchdowns and his touchdown pass to Brown, the Eagles star passed for 246 yards against what had been a respectable pass defense.
And for a signal-caller who had been overshadowed by Philadelphia's hectic running game this season, Sunday served as a good reminder that Hurts and the Eagles can absolutely beat teams through the air.
'How's our quarterback? How about our quarterback! He's a stud,' Sirianni said. I knew he was going to play that way. I knew it. Don't doubt him. All he does is win.
And now he will have another chance to win a Super Bowl after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Arizona two years earlier.
And this time, he'll have Barkley by his side.