Resurgent Commanders Poised to Silence Critics in NFC Championship Game Against Eagles - suong

The Washington Commanders have been on an incredible run this season, in the most unlikely of situations - a new ownership group, a new head coach and staff and a rookie quarterback.

None of those things should add up to the immediate success the Commanders have found in 2025. From 4-13 last season to 12-5 this year, plus a Wild Card win over the Buccaneers and a Divisional Round road win over the No. 1 seed Lions is the kind of thing sappy sports movies are made of - not reality.

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But, here we are.

The next game is against the most familiar of opponents in the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game with a trip to Super Bowl LIX on the line.

Those Eagles are 12-1 since October, but it's that "1" that should concern Philly. It was the Commanders that offered the Eagles their only loss in that stretch in a come-from-behind 36-33 win in December.

“We’ve got a lot of expectations about how we can play and what we do,” new Washington coach Dan Quinn said.

While the Eagles are 6-point favorites at home on Sunday, they enter the game with quarterback Jalen Hurts nursing a left knee.

“He can extend plays and make a play with his legs. He can extend a play and make a play with his arm,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “You can see that he’s calm and cool in the biggest moments and got a lot of respect for how he’s playing.”

Out of the final four teams, Washington is last in the betting odds to win Super Bowl LIX, but that's not in in the Commanders quarterback's mind.

“It's the final four,” Daniels said. "There’s going to be a lot more eyes on these teams, so you could get out of whack, you could listen to the media, stuff like that. But if you keep your same routine, stay consistent, it will work out.”

The last time these two teams met in the NFC Championship game, Ronald Reagan was in the White House in D.C.

All of these storylines before we ever even mention the name Saquon Barkley, who almost set a new single-season rushing mark in the NFL had he not sat out the final game of the regular season.

“He’s a remarkable player,” Quinn said. “You have to be able to do right over and over again and not get bored with just being in the right spot over and over again.”

WHAT: Washington Commanders (12-5. 5-3 Road) at Philadelphia Eagles (14-3, 8-1 Home)

WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET

WHERE: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA | 67,594

GAMETIME WEATHER: Partly Cloudy, 38°F | 3°C

TV: FOX

RADIO: WBIG-FM Big 100