The Philadelphia Eagles enter Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season with a prime opportunity to officially clinch the NFC East: beat the Washington Commanders and the division crown is theirs.
Can the Birds get it done?
The betting odds are in their favor; the Eagles are 5.5-point road favorites on Saturday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Philly snapped their three-game losing streak by beating the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15. We’ll soon see if the Eagles playing well was more attributable to their own
merits … or just the result of playing a truly awful team.
The Commanders are hardly leaps and bounds better than the Raiders; Washington had lost eight straight games before beating the New York Giants on Sunday. But they’re definitely not quite as listless. Prior to getting blown out by the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14, they had taken their previous two games to overtime … and lost them by just a combined four points.
It remains to be seen which quarterback the Commanders will be starting against the Eagles. Jayden Daniels has been in and out of the starting lineup due to injury issues. With Washington officially eliminated from playoff contention, there’s really no good reason to be playing him at this point in the season. Besides, a healthy Marcus Mariota might be the better option at the moment.
Vic Fangio’s defense, which has mostly been really strong since the team’s bye week, should be expected to limit the Commanders’ offense.
The bigger question is if the Eagles can replicate some of the success they had on offense against the Raiders. Only five teams have allowed more offensive points than Washington this season. And only the Cincinnati Bengals have allowed more yards per game. So, maybe?
It’s safe to say this game holds way less intrigue than the NFL schedule makers hoped it would. But that’s on them for being dumb and scheduling these teams to play each other twice within the final three weeks of the season.
I tend to think the Eagles are going to split this series … but it’s not like the Commanders are going to have a great home atmosphere. Philly fans are probably going to take over their stadium on Saturday.
I think Washington gives the Eagles a good effort in a loss. What say you?
