The Philadelphia Eagles are beginning their 2026 season with a home game against the Washington Commanders. Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts are aiming to reach 6-0 in Week 1 games together.
In order to preview this NFC East matchup, I reached out to our enemies over at Hogs Haven. The affable Andrew Y kindly took the time took the time to answer my questions about this upcoming battle. Let’s take a look at the answers.
[For my answers to Andrew’s questions about the Eagles, stay tuned to HH.]
1) What are Commanders fans expecting from the team this year? Their win total over/under is 7.5 games, what side of that number are you leaning?
I’m leaning
to the over on 7.5 wins, but I think the Commanders have a very wide range of outcomes and I think most Commanders fans are bracing for the worst while hoping for the best and expecting anything as possible. There are a lot of reasons for this wide range of expected outcomes. On the one hand, the Commanders on paper had a worse roster in 2024 when they went to the NFC Championship game. At the same time, the reason they made it that far was due to their QB who elevated the entire offense, but couldn’t string together more than three consecutive healthy games in 2025. In addition, the team has two new coordinators in OC David Blough and DC Daronte Jones, both of whom are first-time playcallers. In addition to that, a large amount of the team’s success in 2024 and problems in 2025 was due to injury luck, which is difficult to predict. So I’d say the Commanders are one of the most boom-bust teams in the NFL heading into this season.
2) The Commanders have two new coordinators. How are fans feeling about David Blough and Daronte Jones ahead of Week 1?
I think we’re feeling overall positive about both coordinators, but more confident in Daronte Jones than David Blough simply because he’s been coaching since 2002 and has coached under respected DCs like Brian Flores, Vance Joseph, and Mike Zimmer. In contrast, David Blough was a player in 2023 and has only ever coached the past two years in Washington. That said, Blough has risen quickly through the offensive coaching ranks here and drew interest from the Lions as a potential OC this past offseason, which forced the decision on promoting him here.
In terms of what to expect? Daronte Jones is expected to run a very Brian Flores-like defense, which focuses on a 3-4 base with lots of disguise, frequent blitzing, and defensive pre-snap motion to confuse the opposing offense. It’s a defense that puts players in lots of different positions, often dropping DL back into coverage while blitzing DBs from unexpected locations, so it demands a lot of versatility from its players. Also, make no mistake, it will be Daronte Jones running the defense, not Dan Quinn. Quinn values empowering his coordinators and delegating responsibility to them so that he can focus on higher-level team/game management.
David Blough is expected to run a very Ben Johnson-like offense, focusing on a wide-zone run game and heavy use of under-center play action and attacking the middle of the field in the passing game. Blough played for the Lions under Ben Johnson and seems to have been most influenced in philosophy by his time there. Blough is also an amateur magician and will probably lean heavily into the trick play aspect of Ben Johnson’s offenses, though we have seen none of that in the preseason as they save it for games that matter. My main concern with David Blough is his lack of coaching experience and a fear that he will lean too heavily into complexity and trick plays while failing to hammer down the fundamentals that are necessary to make those things work. The team took a big gamble in parting ways with established OC Kliff Kingsbury and promoting Blough to take his place, so I think this coordinator change best embodies the boom-bust nature of the Commanders’ season outlook.
3) The Laremy Tunsil injury is a big loss for the Commanders and it’s not the only concern with Washington’s offensive line. What are you expecting the starting five to look like in Week 1 and what’s your confidence level in that group?
Laremy Tunsil was a top-5 LT in the NFL, so losing him before a game is played hurts. However, his backup Brandon Coleman is probably one of the team’s better backups, so I don’t expect that injury to completely alter the season. Vegas seems to agree, as the season-long win total for the team has remained stable at 7.5 wins both before and after the injury. I have confidence in the starting five to be an average NFL offensive line, but I think they are a thin group that cannot afford to lose any more players to injury. The starting five will almost certainly be the following
– LT Brandon Coleman – As a rookie in 2024, Brandon Coleman was the starting LT for this team and helped us make it all the way to the NFC Championship game. The team still saw an opportunity to upgrade to one of the top LTs in the NFL in Laremy Tunsil, forcing Coleman to train at LG, but moving back to LT should not be a problem for him.
– LG Chris Paul – Paul was the Commanders starting LG last year and played well enough, generally being seen as positive in pass protection and negative in run blocking. He was getting beaten out in training camp by Brandon Coleman, but the Tunsil injury forced Coleman back to LT and Paul back into the starting LG spot.
– C Nick Allegretti – This is the position generating the most discussion amongst Washington fans. The team cut veteran Center Tyler Biadasz with what sounds like a handshake agreement to sign Tyler Linderbaum in free agency. Then Linderbaum got a godfather offer from the Raiders and went to Vegas. Meanwhile, the rest of free agency was a feeding frenzy at the Center position that didn’t leave many good options after day 2. The Commanders seem to have settled for last year’s backup IOL Nick Allegretti as the starting Center as a result. He played well at Center last year when called upon, but the only depth behind him is rookie 6th-round pick Matt Gulbin, which leaves Allegretti as paradoxically the least accomplished, but also most important player on the starting OL this year. It doesn’t help that he missed basically all of training camp and the preseason with a calf strain. He’s expected to play week 1 and Washington fans will cross every finger they have that he stays healthy.
– RG Sam Cosmi – Cosmi has been a very good RG for the Commanders throughout his career. His 2025 season was mostly lost to injury, but I expect him to perform well this year.
– RT Josh Conerly Jr – Conerly was a bit up-and-down for the Commanders after being selected in the 1st round last year. He got better as the year wore on though, so fans are hopeful he will pick up where he left off last year.
4) What’s the biggest matchup in the Commanders’ favor and the biggest matchup against their favor?
The biggest matchup in the Commanders favor is probably their pass catchers in the middle of the field against the Eagles safeties. From what I understand, safety is likely to be the closest thing to an Achilles heel on the Eagles defense this year. At the same time, I mentioned the presumed David Blough offense is likely to attack the middle of the field aggressively and the Commanders signed Chig Okonkwo and Stefon Diggs particularly to help there.
I’m most worried about the Eagles DTs against the interior offensive line of the Commanders. It’s obviously a problem that Nick Allegretti has spent very little time practicing with the first-team offense due to his injury in training camp and the Eagles have a very good DT group. If the Eagles can get consistent inside pressure with their DTs, it will be the easiest way to blow up Washington’s offense.
5) Who wins this game and why? With the Eagles currently listed as 5.5-point home favorites, what’s your score prediction?
Objectively, I think the Eagles should win this game, maybe something like 24-20 in favor of the Eagles. The Eagles have an absolutely loaded roster and will be playing at home, so they should have a lot of advantage. On the other hand, the Commanders will probably have a lot of surprises, particularly in week 1 with a new OC and DC who are both expected to feature disguise and misdirection in their schemes, none of which has been telegraphed in the preseason. It should be a good game though, I’m expecting it to greatly inform what we think about both teams over the rest of the season.
