The Eagles won a playoff football game in a blizzard Sunday.
Jalen Hurts looked spry and speedy, then gun-shy, then injured. Jake Elliott missed two extra points, but was also a hero. The play-calling was timid and questionable, and then bold. And yet again, the defensed bailed out everyone.
In a 28-22 win that will never, ever be forgotten, the Eagles punched a ticket to face the Commanders next Sunday, in what is expected to be a much less arctic-like environment at home at The Linc in the NFC Championship Game. Philadelphia is one win from its second Super Bowl berth in three seasons.
Before we put Washington under the microscope and look toward next weekend, here's a look at what we're feeling good, and not so good about heading into Final Four Weekend:
Stock up: the Eagles being the Eagles 📈
Sunday evening was the 19th game for the Eagles in 20 weeks, and the identity of this team is clear. They like to run. And they do it well.
It wasn't just because of the snow. Well before the field was soaked in powder, the ground game was the emphasis. It continues to be impressive that the Eagles' offense is able to dominate on the ground, particularly when the opposing team knows it's coming.
It started with Jalen Hurts. The oft-game managing QB flashed on the opening drive Sunday, with a 44-yard touchdown run on an option play to get the Eagles up early. It was the longest run of his NFL career. Nice spot for it.
HURTS HOUSE CALL!
📺: #LARvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/XDW9sSN7lM— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
Perhaps a spark was lit Saturday evening, when division rival quarterback Jayden Daniels put on a show in the Commanders' upset win over the Lions — inserting the rookie into the conversation as a top five quarterback in the league. It's been a while since Hurts was in that kind of conversation. He won't be this week, after an up and down afternoon.
Several of his six QB runs (for 71 yards) saw him slide, something he didn't do in Washington a few weeks ago when he got a concussion when trying to fight for extra yardage head on.
The ground game continued to impress later in the first, as Saquon Barkley did exactly what he's done all season — dazzle. On a key third down, Barkley quickly got to the second level of the Rams defense and was off to the races for 62 yards and a score.
SAQUON BARKLEY OH MY
📺: #LARvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/bh3kTy2IqP— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
Then in the fourth, Barkley ran for 78 yards and the snow barely slowed him down:
Snow good. pic.twitter.com/1iTWKp1LiE
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 19, 2025
What else have the Eagles been known for? Turnovers. With a winter wonderland for all to see in the fourth quarter, a pair of Rams fumbles (partially from great defense — partially from a blizzard conditions) led to six clutch Philly points, helping them to put the snowy game on ice.
A week after winning the turnover battle 4-0 against Green Bay, they won it 2-0 against Los Angeles. Run the ball, take it away and don't turn it over. Sounds like a winning recipe.
The Eagles had the second most rushing yards this season (behind only the Ravens), averaging 179 of them per game. They had 171 of them in the first half and 285 of them in total. They'll no doubt be trying to run it down the Commanders' throats in the NFC Championship next week.
Stock down: the Eagles being the Eagles 📉
The main counterpoint to the Eagles' sticking to their identity through thick and thin, is the thin part. The weaknesses are not going anywhere. We'll preface this criticism by acknowledging that the game was played in a very unusually volatile environment with cold, wind and snow. But we do have a few thoughts…
• Continuing a career-worst season, Eagles kicker Elliott missed an extra point in the first. The miss not only took an easy point off the board, it also gave the coaching staff a clear anxiety about letting their kicker attempt field goals during the game. He redeemed himself and then some nailing all three of his field goals, two of them in extremely tough snow and wind.
• Whether Elliott-related or not, the play-calling when they're in plus territory and in third down situations is just crap. Twice, the Eagles were close to Elliott's field goal range and both times the team did not give their kicker a chance to add three points.
Instead of running the ball to set up a fourth down try or field goal on a key third and eight, Nick Sirianni elected to throw and punt. In another situation with the clock nearing halftime, Hurts dropped back to pass twice and was sacked twice.
• Those sacks are becoming expensive. For whatever reason, Hurts has been slow to throw the football all season and it is costing the team mightily. Hurts took seven sacks, destroying a handful of drives in the process. With seconds left in the first half, Hurts fumbled the ball (in his defense, the conditions were getting steadily worse) and lost 15 yards. He was sacked again on the next play, a Hail Mary attempt that yielded no throw.
At the end of the third, after an injury scare, a fantastic Rams punt put the Eagles in the shadow of their own goalpost and Hurts looked extremely immobile taking a sack and a safety in the end zone. And in the fourth with under three minutes left, Hurts gave up on a play, sliding and surrendering a big sack that led to a punt — and a Rams opportunity to march down the field.
• It's become a calling card. The Eagles' passing attack is just ineffective. It didn't hurt them due to the second half conditions, but Hurts and the Birds threw for just 65 net yards Sunday (128 passing yards, minus 63 yards on sacks), a week after they netted 121 of them. Will things get cleared up before next week?
• A new wrinkle in this one was drops. It's an uncharacteristic one, as the Eagles had the fewest drops of any team in the NFL in 2024. Brown dropped a potential first down pass in the first and a potential touchdown at the pylon on a dime thrown by Hurts later. Slay also dropped a very early interception that would have kept seven points off the board from LA.
• Lane Johnson also did something he almost never does — took a bad penalty. With a fourth and one at the one, the All-Pro tackle was flagged for a false start, erasing a push push try as the Eagles settled for a field goal and four-point lead.
• In echos of previous seasons that saw a soft defense cost the Eagles, sticks, or prevent defense, allowed the Rams to get down the field and cut the lead to six points in the fourth. The defense held up inside two minutes to keep LA out of the end zone by the skin of its teeth.
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