Division Champs!

The most annoying streak in sports is over. The Eagles have repeated as NFC East champs. They were the last team to do this back in 2001-2004. The Eagles defeated the Commanders 29-18 to clinch the division.

That certainly wasn’t a smooth game or great performance. The first half was the kind of sloppy football we’ve seen from this team all year long. There were dumb penalties, missed FGs, errant passes, missed blocks and sloppy coverage. And a fumble to open the game. Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff and I wondered if this was going to be a miserable night.

The Eagles trailed 10-7 at the half. They probably should have been up 13-7, but the mistakes bit them in the backside. Most concerning was Jake Elliott missing three field goals. Only two of them count. A penalty wiped out one of the misses, but Elliott then missed the retry. Ugh. Nick Sirianni said he’s not worried after the game, but we’ll see about that. This is a real issue.

Jalen Hurts led the offense on a long TD drive in the third quarter and the Eagles went up 14-10. Cooper DeJean picked off a pass on the next drive and set the offense up at the WAS 37. Hurt and company turned that into another TD and really took control of the game.

It helped that the defense knocked Marcus Mariota out of the game. Josh Johnson took over and didn’t fare well. It was his throw that got picked by Coop. Jordan Davis and the DL shut down the Commanders run game. There were a pair of 3 & outs before a late TD against the backup defense.

Saquon Barkley had a good game, going 21-132-1. He had a 48-yard run that set up another TD drive and really put the game away. Tank Bigsby scored his first TD of the season with a 22-yard run. The Eagles ran for 207 yards. They built up a 29-10 lead before the late TD made the score a bit closer.

Saquon Barkley is now over 1,000 yards on the season.

It’s his first time with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since his first two seasons. #Eagles
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— Quay L.Jones #FlyEaglesFly SBLIX CHAMPIONS!! (@QuayLJones3) December 21, 2025

Washington is a bad team. They lack talent. This is a game the Eagles were supposed to win. Blame the Eagles for the sloppy play early, but give them credit for dominating the second half. They haven’t done a good job of putting teams away this year. They did that to Washington. The offense made timely plays. The defense made the Commanders work for every yard.

It does feel like the offense is figuring some things out. They came out and used empty sets to attack Washington’s base defense. When they shifted to nickel personnel, the Eagles ran the ball more. Hurts was efficient and made a terrific throw to Dallas Goedert for a TD.

Dallas Goedert remains a redzone cheat code

What a throw & what a catch
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— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) December 21, 2025

Hurts also used his legs wisely, going 7-40 as a runner. He had some timely scrambles that hurt the Commanders defense. The OL had an up and down showing. I was hoping for a better performance. It sure would be great to see Lane Johnson come back next week. There was a late game slap-fight/mini-brawl. Tyler Steen got ejected. I don’t think this will lead to a suspension. There weren’t any real punches or vicious shots thrown.

Nakobe Dean left the game with a hamstring injury. Hopefully that’s nothing serious. Jihaad Campbell replaced him and the defense didn’t seem to miss a beat. Brandon Graham got another sack while playing DT. It is great to see him making a difference. The overall pass rush was a bit disappointing. They didn’t get as much pressure as I expected. Jordan Davis had 6 tackles and 2 TFLs. He made some big plays to clog the middle.

I do feel better about the team. They are now 10-5 and have won two in a row. They will get Jalen Carter and Lane Johnson back at some point. The offense is showing signs of life. The defense continues to be outstanding. They held Washington to just 220 yards. They needed some luck to get to 18 points. Next Sunday will be a real test for the Eagles. Going to Buffalo is never easy. That will give us a better idea of where this team is.

For now, enjoy being NFC East champs.

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