Eagles pummel Commanders, punch ticket to Super Bowl LIX with NFC Championship win

The Philadelphia Eagles are back in the Super Bowl after the dynamic duo of Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley combined for six rushing touchdowns in the 55-23 beatdown of the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship. 

Philadelphia will play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. 

Hurts and the Eagles were in the "Big Game" in 2022, losing to the Chiefs in Arizona. But what the Eagles didn't have then was Barkley, the NFL's leading rusher in 2024, and he showed why he might be the missing piece to win the Vince Lombardi after an incredible performance at home.

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On just the first offensive snap for the Eagles in this game, following an 18-play Commanders opening drive that ended with a field goal, Barkley ripped off a 60-yard touchdown run to immediately put the Eagles up 7-3 after the extra point. 

The Commanders’ response wasn’t a good one as receiver Dyami Brown fumbled after a Zack Baun punch while tackling his opponent. And unfortunately for Washington, fumbles became a bad trend throughout this game. 

The last time these two teams played, the Commanders turned the ball over five times. However, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders ended up winning on a last-second drive in a 22-point fourth quarter. 

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But the comeback didn’t happen this time with the turnovers, as Jeremy McNichols fumbled on a kick return near the end of the first half and Austin Ekeler fumbled in the second half. 

And all of those turnovers led to touchdowns. 

Barkley scored from four yards out after the Brown fumble, and Hurts got his first tush push score of the game to make it 20-12 near halftime. He found A.J. Brown for his only passing touchdown of the contest to take a solid 27-12 lead into the locker room. 

The second half, though, is where things unraveled for Dan Quinn’s Commanders. Hurts’ second touchdown on the ground was a nine-yard score in the third quarter to make it 35-14. And despite Daniels scoring on the ground himself to cut the lead a bit, Ekeler’s fumble saw another tush push touchdown for Hurts to make it three on the night. 

With desperation on their sideline, Quinn had no choice but to force Daniels to go for it on every fourth down as the fourth quarter began, and Nolan Smith’s sack on 4th-and-11 ultimately led Barkley to his third touchdown with a 4-yard run, which basically sealed the deal at 48-23. 

The last-ditch effort from Daniels in the fourth was a deep ball down the left sideline to Terry McLaurin, who scored a 36-yard touchdown earlier in the game, but it was intercepted in the end zone by rookie Quinyon Mitchell. 

The cherry on top for Philadelphia was, with the backups in the game, Will Shipley scoring a touchdown from two yards out after ripping a 57-yard run earlier in the drive. 

Celebrations ensued for the home team, and rightfully so after incredible performances from Hurts (20-for-28 for 246 yards), Barkley (15 rushes for 118 yards) and Brown (six catches for 96 yards). 

For the Commanders, Zach Ertz, the former Eagles tight end, certainly did his part with 11 catches for 104 yards. Daniels finished 29-for-48 for 255 yards while rushing for 48 yards on six carries.

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