Alert – Saquon Barkley and Eagles charge to the Super Bowl by steamrolling hapless Commanders in NFC title game

If their dominant NFC Championship victory is anything to go by, the Philadelphia Eagles are either an overwhelming juggernaut heading into Super Bowl LIX, or the hapless Washington Commanders simply made them look that way on Sunday. 

Yes, Nick Sirianni & Co. are returning to the NFL’s biggest stage for the second time in three seasons thanks to their emphatic 55-23 win over their division rivals at Lincoln Financial Field. 

But unlike last week’s hard-fought 28-22 Divisional Round win over the visiting Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles breezed to an easy win on Sunday. And all Sirianni had to do was trust the game’s premiere back, Saquon Barkley, against one of the NFL’s worst run defenses. 

Philadelphia’s biggest star obliged by gaining 118 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries, including a 60-yard scoring run on his first touch of the game. 

And for their part, the Commanders did nearly everything they could to spoil rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels’ desperate attempts to keep Washington in the game. Three lost fumbles, untimely penalties and Washington’s continued problems defending the run were more than enough to doom the upstart Commanders, who clearly have a ways to go before joining the NFL’s elite. 

‘It was a different kind of season coming in,’ All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson said, referencing the team’s 2023 campaign that ended with losses in six of the Eagles’ final seven game, including a Wild Card upset to Tampa Bay. ‘I feel like the expectations were high, but we had a lot of motivation about how the season ended [last year].’

Saquon Barkley opened the Eagles’ first drive with a 60-yard touchdown run on Sunday

A dejected Jayden Daniels exits the field in Philadelphia after his rookie season came to an end

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun continued his brilliant season on Sunday 

The Eagles didn’t play brilliant football in the first half, but they didn’t really have to.

The Commanders were busy doing the exact opposite with three head-slapping penalties in the red zone, two of which helped the Eagles push their lead to 27-15 by halftime.

And even without Washington’s mistakes, Philadelphia’s path to victory already seemed improbably easy entering Sunday: Just give the ball to Barkley and let him carve up a battered run defense that ranked just 30th in the NFL.

What’s more, Commanders run-stuffing defensive tackle Daron Payne was ruled out with a knee injury, thereby giving Philadelphia another reason to trust their All-Pro running back.

Barkley responded on his very first touch, taking a pitch from Hurts down the left sideline and through a handful of tacklers en route to spectacular 60-yard touchdown that nearly brought down Lincoln Financial Field.

Afterwards, Barkley credited quarterback Jalen Hurts with a ‘dummy’ call at the line of scrimmage that may have helped confused Washington’s defense on the play. 

‘I will give a shoutout to Jalen,’ Barkley said. ‘He took control of that. We changed it first, then we went and gave them a dummy call because they had a beat on some of my stuff.’

Head coach Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after their 55-23 win

And the Eagles got even more momentum on the Commanders’ next drive as Defensive Player of the Year candidate Zack Baun forced Washington receiver Dami Brown into a fumble that was recovered by Philadelphia safety Reed Blankenship.

Six plays later, Barkley was back in the end zone, this time on a four-yard run towards the right pylon.

And Philadelphia’s momentum carried into the second quarter, where Hurts orchestrated a miraculous fourth-down conversion with a 31-yard throw to AJ Brown down the left sideline.

That Philadelphia drive was buoyed by Washington cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who got flagged for pass interference in the end zone, bringing the Eagles down to the one-yard line. And when Hurts easily scored on a QB-keeper the following play, Lattimore started shoving Brown, resulting in a near brawl.

Lattimore’s helmet came off during the altercation as Brown raised his arms to indicate to officials that he wasn’t participating in the fracas. In the end, Lattimore was flagged with unnecessary roughness, moving the Eagles a yard closer on a two-point conversion attempt that proved unsuccessful.

And things got even better for the Eagles on the ensuing kickoff, when Washington’s Jeremy McNichols coughed up the football, which was recovered by Philadelphia’s Kenneth Gainwell.

Thanks to another unnecessary roughness penalty against Washington — this one a controversial late-hit flag on Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil — Hurts ended his first half with a touchdown pass to Brown for a 27-12 lead.

Washington added a field goal to cut that advantage to 27-15 before heading into the locker room.

Jalen Hurts entered the game with a knee issue, but still managed to lead the Eagles to a win

But for all of the Commanders’ struggles, their rookie quarterback was hardly to blame on Sunday.

Facing a deep Eagles defense that limited opposing quarterbacks to an 82.5 passer rating (better than all but three defenses) and a league-low 2,961 yards through the air, Daniels was strong from the game’s opening drive. Not only did he convert a pair of third-down chances, he also moved the chains twice on fourth down to set up a 34-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez.

Later, Washington hoodwinked Philadelphia by having punter Tress Way throw to a wide-open Ben Sinnott on fourth down to extend a drive that ended with a 46-yard field goal from Gonzalez to cut the Eagles’ edge to 14-6.

Daniels and the Commanders offense finally had their breakthrough moment in the second quarter when he found Terry McLaurin on a short in route and the All-Pro took it 36 yards for a touchdown.

And the Heisman winner kept the momentum going after halftime with an eight-play scoring drive that Daniels capped with a 10-yard touchdown run and a impressive play-action pass to convert the two-point conversion.

But the Commanders’ many mistakes would soon catch up with them as their next drive was spoiled by their third lost fumble of the game.

The game’s only remaining drama would be Washington’s attempt to anticipate Philadelphia’s famed ‘tush push’ at the goal line in the fourth quarter by continuously jumping offsides. Ultimately, officials warned that the Eagles would be awarded a touchdown if the Commanders continued sending linebacker Frankie Luvu flying across the tine of scrimmage before the ball was snapped. 

In the end, though, it didn’t matter. Hurts would score one of his three rushing touchdowns on the day as Philadelphia pushed its lead to 41-23. 

Hurts, who had entered Sunday with his own knee injury, looked nearly indestructible against Washington. Aside from his three rushing touchdowns and his scoring pass to Brown, the Eagles star tossed for 246 yards against what had been a respectable pass defense. 

And for a signal caller who had been overshadowed by Philadelphia’s overpowering run game this season, Sunday served as a nice remind that Hurts and the Eagles can absolutely beat teams through the air. 

‘How about our quarterback? How about our quarterback! He’s a stud,’ Sirianni said. ‘I knew he was going to play that way. I knew it. Don’t doubt him. All he does is win.’ 

And now he’ll g