In Week 15 of the 2025 NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders both secured wins, albeit in very different ways.
For the Eagles, their home showdown against the Las Vegas Raiders was the opposite of a trap game, with the better team imposing their will on an undermatched squad desperate for the regular season to end. When all the dust had settled, the Eagles ended up scoring almost half as many points, 31, as the Raiders had total yards in the game, 75, leading to a 31-0 victory the likes of which Las Vegas fans hadn't witnessed in their lifetimes if they were born after the Vietnam War.
The run game was effective, as was Jalen Hurts as both a rusher and a passer, and the Eagles' defense tee'd off on Kenny Pickett all night, making his return to the East Coast an afternoon to forget after a series of sacks, hard hits, and rough sledding down the field.
And as for the Commanders? Well, they faced off against a New York Giants team that also wasn't particularly interested in winning, as doing so would take them out of the 1st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The two teams exchanged blows with a collection of players young and old, and in the end, the Commanders outlasted New York, affording Jaxson Dart another taste of defeat while better setting his team up for success in the future.
With the fate of the NFC East on the line, as if the Eagles win, they become the first team to go back-to-back since 2004, both teams will have their eyes on the future, only one is looking toward January and the other to April. Unless Marcus Mariota decides to get even against his former team and throw the game of his life in a true trap game upset, this feels like the less eventful matchup on Week 16's Saturday slate.
The Eagles' offense keeps rolling against Washington's defense
The last time the Eagles played the Commanders, Philadelphia dominated Washington to an incredible degree, scoring 55 points on 459 total offensive yards to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
In Week 16, it's hard to imagine a world where the Eagles put up 55, as their season-high is only 38, and if the game gets out of bounds, they will likely turn to Tanner McKee once more in order to guarantee nothing horrible happens to Hurts.
And yet, the Commanders are not what you would call a dominant defensive team after showing plenty of promise last season, ranking 29th in passing defense and 28th in rushing defense through the first 15 weeks of the season. The Eagles, too, have taken a step back in 2025, with their usual potent rushing offense falling to 19th but their passing offense improving to 22nd overall. While the results haven't exclusively been positive, the Eagles have gone for at least 200 passing yards and 130 rushing yards in their past two games, and have seemingly recaptured the formula they've used to win games in the Hurts era.
The Commanders, by contrast, have allowed at least 140 rushing yards in four of their last five games, with two of those opponents, the Denver Broncos and the Detroit Lions, throwing for at least 300 yards in their games too. If the Eagles can really lean on the run both with Saquon Barkley and with Tank Bigsby, they should be able to control the clock, move the chains, and get on track against the most crucial contest left on the schedule: the Buffalo Bills in Week 17.
The Commanders try to dash the Eagles on the ground
While the Eagles would be smart to lean on the run in Week 16, the Commanders should probably follow that strategy too, as they have been one of the better rushing teams in the NFL in 2025.
At the time, some questioned the decision to trade Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers after establishing himself as a solid lead back in the nation's capital, but Washington has seemingly struck gold with seventh-round pick Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who has formed an impressive one-two punch with Chris Rodriguez in the offensive backfield. Factor in Jeremy McNichols and the team's quarterback duo, who can both run the ball well on the ground, and Kliff Kingsbury has found a way to keep his offense in games even if they don't often win them, using the same strategy that resulted in major success last season to admittedly different results.
On paper, the Eagles' rushing defense has been fine, having allowed the 22nd-most rushing yards of any team in the NFL, but there have been games where the levvy broke in spectacular fashion, most notably on Black Friday, when both Chicago Bears runners recorded at least 100 yards and Philadelphia surrendered 281 overall on the way to a demoralizing 15-24 loss at home.
Could the Commanders make things interesting by punishing the Birds inside? Sure, especially if Jalen Carter remains out, but considering how well Zach Baun and Nakobe Dean are playing at linebacker, it will be interesting to see if Vic Fangio has figured out a way to overcome that deficiency, or if opposing teams in the playoffs will rely on a heavy dose of the ground game when they go toe-to-toe with Philly's finest.
The Eagles punch their tickets to the postseason
Though the Eagles technically haven't punched their ticket to the postseason just yet, they are about as close to having done so as a team can be. If they simply win one more game, or if the Cowboys suffer anything less than a victory in any of their next three games, they automatically get in regardless of how everything else shakes out.
On paper, this is a major advantage, one the Eagles masterfully took advantage of last season to win the Super Bowl, but it also creates interesting questions about how much stress they should place on their starters, or if it would be better to avoid the risk and play largely backup regardless of how it impacts their final seeding.
In the opinion of most fans, seeing the Eagles' 1s face off against the Bills' starters is a paramount test before the playoffs begin, a benchmark of what the team does well and poorly against a team they very well could face in the Super Bowl, depending on how the rest of the season shakes out. But playing in Buffalo is no joke, even for a fully healthy team with everything to gain and nothing left to lose. Would the Eagles risk placing Hurts, Barkley, or a returning Lane Johnson in harm's way if it would have minimal impact on their playoff future?
While fans will have plenty of time to debate those questions in the future, first the Eagles need to officially win the NFC East, which, fittingly enough, might just come against the team they beat to make it to the Super Bowl.
