Eagles return to Super Bowl for second time in three seasons after routing Commanders
Goforitradio Staff
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The Philadelphia Eagles will play in Super Bowl 59 after defeating the Washington Commanders 55-23 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.
The 55 points is an NFC Championship record.
With the win, the Eagles will go to the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons and the third time in eight seasons.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate Philly’s ‘Big 3’ and their outstanding performances on Sunday:
-All we heard all week was about Jalen Hurts’ left knee. Well, that wasn’t an issue. He was able to move around and make plays for the Eagles. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown. Also, Hurts ran for 16 yards and three rushing touchdowns. According to Elias Sports, Hurts is the eighth QB in NFL history to reach multiple Super Bowls in their first five career seasons, and the only Eagles quarterback in team history to make the Super Bowl two times. He was everything the team needed and more.
-Saquon Barkley was Saquon Barkley on Sunday. He had 118 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns, including a 60-yard touchdown run on the team’s opening play from scrimmage. The Eagles finished the game with 229 yards rushing.
In the postseason, Barkley has rushed for 442 yards and five touchdowns.
-Zack Baun had another big game. He had 12 tackles, one tackle for loss, and a forced fumble. The defense forced three turnovers, and special teams created one turnover, which led to 21 points for the Eagles.
Honorable Mention:
-A.J. Brown had six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. He had three catches for 24 yards in the first two playoff games and broke out on Sunday.
-Dallas Goedert also had a strong game, with seven catches for 85 yards and two carries for 13 yards.
-Nolan Smith Jr. has turned into a solid pass rusher. He had a big sack on Jayden Daniels on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Smith has four sacks in the postseason
End of the Day:
The Eagles are in the Super Bowl. Hurts was big-time, Barkley was elite, and the defense was flying around on Sunday. Philadelphia was better than the Commanders from top to bottom, and it showed.
The only way the Commanders could have beaten the Eagles was if Jayden Daniels(29/48, 255 yards, touchdown, interception, 48 yards rushing, touchdown) had a big game, and the Philadelphia kept him under wraps>
After a 2-2 start, the Eagles took the bye week and reinvented themselves. The defense became big-time, and Barkley took off—credit Nick Sirianni for fixing this team when things were going wrong.
Now, they have two weeks for center Cam Jurgens’ back to heal, two weeks for guard Landon Dickerson’s knee to get healthy, and two more weeks for Hurts’ knee to look even better.
This team is more talented than it was in 2022, and that was a talented team. However, for the 2024 season to be a success, the Eagles have to win the Super Bowl.
What’s Next:
The Eagles will go to New Orleans to play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons.
One more thing…
-The Eagles are one of three NFL teams with four Super Bowl berths since 2004, joining New England (seven) and Kansas City (four) during that stretch.Notably, one third of Philadelphia’s seasons since 2001 have resulted in NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl appearances (eight in 24 years). Since 2017, only the Eagles and Chiefs (four) have played in three-plus Super Bowls.
-Howie Roseman is just the 14th general manager in NFL history to build three Super Bowl rosters with the same franchise. He is the fourth general manager in the league’s salary cap era (since 1994) to do so, joining Bill Belichick (nine), Brett Veach (four) and Kevin Colbert (three).
According to Elias Sports, Sirianni is the third NFL head coach to advance to multiple Super Bowls in their first four career years, joining Joe Gibbs (1982, ‘83) and Mike Tomlin (2008, ‘10).
In addition, Sirianni became the first Super Bowl Era head coach to make the playoffs in each of their first four career seasons while advancing to multiple Super Bowls (also 2022). He is the only Eagles head coach to reach multiple Super Bowls. He is the 12th NFL head coach to lead their teams to a 17+ win season.
