It’s week 18 of the NFL season and the 4-12 Washington Commanders will be facing an 11-5 Eagles team on the road at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on Sunday at 4:25 pm ET. The Eagles have
announced that they will be resting many of their key starters in this matchup, including QB Jalen Hurts, RB Saquon Barkley, WRs A.J. Brown & DeVonta Smith, TE Dallas Goedert, LT Jordan Mailata, LG Landon Dickerson, and DT Jalen Carter.
On offense, the Eagles are in their first year with Kevin Patullo as OC and their fifth year of offensive-minded HC Nick Sirianni. The Eagles offense this year has been very up and down, with seven games scoring fewer than 20 points and three games scoring more than 30 points. One of the biggest problems for the Eagles offense has been penalties and negative plays, as this year’s Eagles team currently has the most offensive penalties (47) and the highest zero-or-negative play percentage (33.6 percent) of the Sirianni era. Recently, the Eagles have used more under-center plays and RPOs to play to the strengths of QB Jalen Hurts and run more heavy packages with an extra TE or OL to try to kickstart their stalled run game. Overall, the Eagles offense ranks 23rd in passing yards, 18th in rushing yards, and 19th in total points.
On defense, the Eagles are in their second year with Vic Fangio at DC. Fangio typically runs a 3-4 front and 2 deep safeties to limit explosive plays. He also typically runs a light box, relying on stout defensive linemen to stop the run while dropping most of his players back in coverage. This worked well last year, but ran into issues this year after the departure of DT Milton Williams and EDGE Josh Sweat in free agency and the retirement of Brandon Graham. The Eagles have managed to fortify their DL midseason by trading a 3rd-round pick to the Dolphins for talented EDGE Jaelan Phillips and convincing Brandon Graham to come out of retirement midway through the season, though the defense has remained vulnerable to the run. Overall, the Eagles defense has remained one of the NFL’s better defenses, ranked 9th in passing yards allowed, 21st in rushing yards allowed, and 3rd in total points allowed.
I asked Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation five questions to better understand the state of the Eagles and what to look for in this game.
1) What were your big takeaways from the Week 16 matchup between the Commanders and Eagles?
So, this was actually the first Eagles game I didn’t watch live since … 2012? Definitely prior to 2013, which is when I started covering the Birds for Bleeding Green Nation.
I bring this up because I wonder if my feelings on the game would’ve been different if I watched live. I felt relatively encouraged about how the Eagles played, even though it was far from perfect. The postgame commentary was more negative than I expected it to be, though I couldn’t fault anyone for feeling that way. And especially in hindsight after watching the Eagles’ offense continue to struggle in Week 17. I mean, they literally didn’t complete a pass in the second half against the Buffalo Bills … and it’s the second time that’s happened this season!
Any idea that the run game turned a corner against Washington certainly didn’t hold up because the Eagles struggled to get their ground game going against Buffalo, who were allowing the second-most yards per carry.
It seems like the Eagles’ win over the Commanders wasn’t really that meaningful in the big picture. The offense had some good moments late but was still too inconsistent. The defense was strong, as it has been for most of this season. Jake Elliott’s struggles were concerning to see but he did bounce back against the Bills, for what it’s worth.
I do think it’s silly how the Commanders took such offense to the Eagles going for two late in the game. Why wait until then to show that kind of fight? Also, laughable to hear Dan Quinn talk tough about how Washington was going to see the Eagles again in two weeks. When it seemed like the Eagles will be resting their starters, which we now know is exactly the case. For Quinn to be afraid of going for it on fourth down (punted on 4th-and-4 from the minus 40-yard line down 11 with 9 minutes to go … and punted on 4th-and-6 from the minus 44-yard line down 11 with just 6:44 to go) and then act all tough in the postgame presser? That’s unserious behavior to me.
2) How far do you think the Eagles will get in the post-season and what do you think will be their biggest secret to success or stumbling block?
I think the Eagles can win the Super Bowl. Vic Fangio’s defense is awesome. Jalen Hurts has played well in the biggest games of his career. There is no juggernaut the Eagles simply can’t beat.
But I don’t think it’s likely the Eagles will win the Super Bowl. My biggest concern is that they’ll beat themselves. The margin for error is so thin given this team’s offensive ineptitude. Nick Sirianni can make the team worse by choosing to play such a scared, conservative brand of football. I think he’s going to cost the team in the playoffs.
3) Which prospective Eagles opponent in the playoffs worries you the most and why?
Again, the Eagles beating themselves is what concerns me most.
I think the Rams are still the best team in the league. I have them No. 1 in my NFL power rankings entering Week 18. I know they’ve lost three of their last five games and they might end up as the No. 6 seed but no team has a stronger resume.
Their five losses this season:
Week 3 at the Eagles, who blocked a game-winning field goal for a touchdown return.
Week 5 vs. the 49ers, who won by three points in overtime.
Week 13 at the Panthers, who were +3 in turnover differential and still only won by three points.
Week 16 at the Seahawks, who won by one point in overtime.
Week 17 at the Falcons, who won by three points.
Four of the five losses were to playoff teams on the road and the average margin of defeat was 3.5 points. And the other loss was to an Atlanta team that’s played their best football down the stretch.
The Eagles have largely had Sean McVay’s number since he became the Rams’ head coach. I hardly think it’s impossible that the Birds could beat them again. But the Rams were the closest team to beating the Eagles in the playoffs last year. And they nearly had the Eagles beat earlier this season. They’re probably itching to get another crack at the Eagles.
Honorable mention: the 49ers appear to be red hot entering the playoffs. If they get the No. 1 seed, they’re in a pretty good spot.
4) What are the early returns on the Eagles 2025 draft class?
The Eagles selected 10 players in the 2025 NFL Draft. A recap:
1 (31) – LB Jihaad Campbell
2 (64) – S Andrew Mukuba
4 (111) – DT Ty Robinson
5 (145) – CB Mac McWilliams
5 (161) – LB Smael Mondon Jr.
5 (168) – C/G Drew Kendall
6 (181) – QB Kyle McCord
6 (191) – OT Myles Hinton
6 (207) – OT Cameron Williams
6 (209) – EDGE Antwaun Powell-Ryland
Campbell showed intriguing potential as a starter for the first eight weeks before losing playing time to Nakobe Dean, who returned from the reserve/PUP list. This demotion wasn’t about Campbell struggling as much as it was about Dean being a really good player. The Eagles have made an effort to find snaps for Campbell even with Dean overtaking him and Campbell has recently re-entered the starting lineup with Dean getting hurt. The feeling here is that Campbell has a bright future as a starting linebacker in the NFL with Dean set to be a free agent after this season.
Mukuba was a bit erratic early in the season before settling in nicely. Then he got seriously injured in Week 11, which was a bummer. Mukuba showed potential to be an above average starting safety who can make some plays.
The coaching staff has barely trusted Robinson to play, which is disappointing since he’ll turn 25 in May. Not exactly young for a rookie. He really needs to make a big leap from Year 1 to Year 2.
The coaching staff has trusted McWilliams even less than Robinson. I thought he showed some promise in offseason practices, so, I’m not out on him. But he’s fighting an uphill battle to see playing time in Year 2.
Mondon Jr. might’ve been able to start for other teams as a rookie but the Eagles are currently so loaded at off-ball linebacker that he hasn’t had a path to playing time, other than on special teams. I’m bullish on him as a good depth piece moving forward.
McCord and Dorian Thompson-Robinson battled it out for the QB3 role … and neither player won with the Eagles instead opting to trade for former Washington starter Sam Howell. McCord is currently on the practice squad.
Hinton has spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. Williams has spent most of his rookie season on injured reserve. The Eagles are hoping that one of these blockers can develop into at least a good backup at swing tackle, if not a starter.
APR didn’t show enough to make the roster and is currently on the Bengals’ practice squad.
The Eagles also have two undrafted rookie free agents under team control:
WR Darius Cooper
C/G Willie Lampkin
Cooper made the roster after having a strong summer. He’s worked his way up to being WR4 and he could replace Jahan Dotson, who will be a free agent after this season, as WR3 in 2026. He’s mainly had to do the dirty work as a run blocker and special teams contributor in 2025 but the belief here is that Cooper can make plays as a pass-catcher.
Lampkin is very intriguing because he’s very undersized but film grinders absolutely love his tape. Really interested to get a look at him this offseason after he spent the entirety of the 2025 offseason with the Rams.
5) How do you think this game will go and what do you think will be the key matchups that determine the game?
The Eagles are reportedly resting their starters despite potentially being able to get the No. 2 seed. The Eagles need to beat the Commanders AND get help in the form of the Detroit Lions beating the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
I think the Eagles will be kicking themselves if they do get the help they needed but they can’t take care of business on their end.
Maybe I’m underrating Dan Quinn and Commanders players being out to avenge their Week 16 loss to Philly … but I think the Eagles can win this game even with their backups playing. Washington is pretty banged up and I believe Tanner McKee is a pretty good quarterback. He’s passed the eye test whenever he’s had an opportunity to play (albeit in a small sample size).
A companion article to this with my answers to Brandon’s questions is linked here.
Thanks again to Brandon Lee Gowton for taking time out of his day to answer our questions about the Eagles.
