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It's as historic and rare as a matchup as they come in these NFC playoffs. The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles have only met once in the playoffs, and that was way back in the 1991 NFC Wild Card round. In that game, the then-Washington Redskins beat the Eagles, 20-6. They haven't met in the postseason since, but they'll meet in the NFC Championship Game this weekend for the right to play for Super Bowl 59. It's going to be heated. These are two NFC East teams whose rivalry goes all the way back to 1934.
Washington is the upstart team in this one. It's head coach Dan Quinn's first year on the job and he's trotting out a rookie quarterback. Jayden Daniels is not your average rookie, though. He's as cool, calm and collected as they come and he's a dual-threat in every sense. The Detroit Lions found that out the hard way in the NFC Divisional Round.
Daniels went into a loud and rowdy Ford Field and threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns while moving the chains on 16 carries for 51 yards — an average of 3.2 yards per carry. On the season, he threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns with nine interceptions while also rushing 148 times for 891 yards and six touchdowns.
The Commanders may be young and inexperienced, but their young and hungry. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field are the home team Eagles, who will be looking to use Lincoln Financial Field and a rowdy and passionate fanbase to their advantage.
Oh, and they also have this guy named Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. His yardage total was 100 short of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, and he likely would have broken it had head coach Nick Sirianni not rested his starters in the final weekend of the season.
Daniels and Barkley are the two big names in this one and either one of them can tip the game in their team's favor. Whichever of these two players better will likely find themselves playing in Super Bowl 59, but they are just two of the four most important players in this NFC Championship Game.
Commanders will win if Jayden Daniels plays like a star
The playoffs have been no problem for Daniels, which goes to show you just how special he's been as a rookie. In fact, there are thoughts out there that he could be having the best rookie season of all-time.
Making the Super Bowl as a rookie will likely seal that deal, but the Commanders can't get ahead of themselves. Thankfully, Daniels is unflappable.
Going into the literal Lions den in Detroit and coming away with the upset win would lend even the casual observer to believe that playing at “The Linc” in the NFC Championship game is going to be no big deal for Daniels.
He's thrown for 567 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in his two playoff games so far. Expect more of the same against the Eagles in this one.
AJ Brown could be a catalyst for Eagles
You know the Eagles are going to lean on Barkley and they'd be stupid not to. He's rushed for 324 yards and two touchdowns in his two playoff games for Philly and if he has another big game in the NFC Championship, there's a great chance the Eagles are going to Super Bowl 59.
With that said, you just know a defensive-minded head coach in Quinn is going to devote a ton of attention to stopping Barkley, so expect the Commanders to be focused on stopping Philly's run game.
As such, if the Eagles can even get decent production of the passing game, they could end up being too much for the Commanders to handle.
AJ Brown is the Eagles' most dangerous and consistent receiver but he's only caught three passes for 24 yards in these playoffs. Brown is due for a big game and if he can get 50-plus receiving yards and find the end zone once, it will be tough for the Commanders to keep pace.
Saquon Barkley could cement his Eagles' legacy in Year 1
It's been talked about ad nauseum but it's worth repeating time after time because riding Barkley is how the Eagles got to this point. Asking him to get them over the hump is also going to be in their game plan against the Commanders.
The bad news for Washington is that for as good as an upstart team as they've been this season, they have struggled against the run. They've given up 151 yards per game on the ground in the playoffs and they gave up 126.8 yards per game on the ground in the regular season, which was the sixth-worst mark in the NFL.
If Barkley gets going once again, look out.
Bobby Wagner needs to be the Commanders defensive MVP
Bobby Wagner has been doing this a long time as a middle linebacker. He's a nine-time Pro Bowler, a six-time All-Pro and a Super Bowl Champion. If there's anybody who can take this Commanders defense and calm its nerves against Jalen Hurts, Barkley and the Eagles, it would be Wagner.
He led the team in tackles this season by a large margin with 132. So far in these playoffs, he has 16 tackles (seven solo), a half sack and two stuffs.
Wagner can slow down Barkley and give the Commanders defense a chance. If he can't, nobody will be able to.
