Last Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles punched their ticket to their second Super Bowl appearance in three years with a dominating win over the Washington Commanders, 55-23. The Eagles set a conference championship game record scoring 55 points in the victory, ending the spectacular season of the Commanders. According to CBS Sports, the Commanders were predicted to finish third in the NFC East after winning measly 4 wins last year.
Washington would draw first blood on their first possession with Zane Gonzalez converting on a 34 yard field goal to end a methodical 18 play drive.
On the Eagles first possession they immediately ran a play for their all-pro running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley got the toss left running behind their 365 pound all-pro left tackle Jordan Mailata and tight end Dallas Goedert. They picked up their blocks as Barkley streaked down the sideline, untouched until he was 15 yards past the line of scrimmage.
But wait there’s more!
Barkley would break through an arm tackle and spin out of another and break it 60 yards, popping the top off of Lincoln Financial Field. That would be the first of many times fans would have a reason to cheer throughout an offensive masterclass put on by Philadelphia. Led by quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts went 20/28 (71.4 %) for 246 yards, passing for 1 touchdown and rushing for 3. Hurts eclipsed 200 passing yards for the first time this postseason, finding AJ Brown in the end zone in the process. Brown had his first big game of the postseason with 6 receptions, 96 yards, and a touchdown in a fierce matchup with former Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
Hurts has continued to take care of the football throughout his postseason career. In the last 7 postseason games Hurts has completed 69.2% of his passes, tossing 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions with a QB rating of 100.9. Hurts has taken care of the football at a historic pace in his postseason career. In 2021, Hurts threw an interception in the third quarter of his first career playoff game against the eventual Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since then, he has not thrown an interception in 206 consecutive postseason passing attempts. He is currently 9 clean passing attempts away from setting an NFL record, surpassing Drew Brees’ 215 postseason passing attempts without an interception.
Hurts does not light up the stat sheet, but gets the job done. Eagles’ Head Coach Nick Sirianni backed up his quarterback saying “Don’t doubt him! All he does is win.” This was a direct shot at the critics of Hurts in the post game press conference last Sunday. Since being named a full time starter in 2021, Hurts has led the Eagles to the playoffs every year. Hurts is a proven winner and his selfless attitude is what coaches and teammates have raved about since he was drafted in 2020.
The Eagles take the season series from the Commanders and most importantly become NFC Champions for the second time in three years. Super Bowl 59 will be a rematch of Super Bowl 57 as the Eagles fly down to New Orleans to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. Anticipate the Eagles doing anything it takes to win as they look for their second Super Bowl victory in 5 years.
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