The Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders have played 183 times. That's a lot of football, including two postseason meetings. That makes this one of the NFL's longest-running rivalries. Washington holds a 91-87-5 edge in the all-time series. Philadelphia enters Sunday's opener as the home favorites
. They have also won 14 of the previous 18 meetings before the Commanders' victory in last season's finale.There will be plenty of attention on Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, Saquon Barkley and the two teams' new play callers. David Blough directs Washington's offense, and Daronte Jones will call Washington's defense this season. Those storylines will certainly help determine the outcome, but they're hardly the only things worth watching.
Washington
enters the season with plenty to prove after a 2025 campaign that exposed problems on both sides of the football. Philadelphia will have to figure out which version of the Commanders shows up at Lincoln Financial Field. Here are five under-the-radar storylines worth monitoring in Week 1.
The Commanders might be better at running the ball than people think.
Jayden Daniels' ability as a runner will naturally be part of the conversation, particularly as he continues working his way back from the injury that limited him last season. The more interesting question may be whether Washington can consistently run the ball without relying on its quarterback to create everything himself. The Commanders actually did that well in 2025. Washington ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing offense at 134.7 yards per game and ninth with 484 rushing attempts. Jacory Croskey-Merritt led the team with 805 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, and he returns as a major part of the offense.
That could matter against an Eagles defense that would much rather make Washington one-dimensional. If Croskey-Merritt and the Commanders' other backs can establish a rhythm, Washington can take some pressure off Daniels while keeping Philadelphia's pass rush from teeing off on obvious passing downs.
Daniels will still create problems with his legs when opportunities present themselves. But if Washington can make the Eagles respect its running backs, the quarterback suddenly becomes much more dangerous.
Many of the Commanders' statistical leaders from last season are gone.
Washington didn't just make changes around the edges this offseason. Some of the players responsible for producing the team's biggest numbers in 2025 are no longer there. Deebo Samuel led the Commanders in receiving yards with 727 and receiving touchdowns with five. Bobby Wagner led the defense with 162 tackles, while Von Miller paced the team with nine sacks. All three are gone.
That creates an interesting question entering Week 1: Where does that production come from now?
The Commanders obviously didn't enter the offseason expecting those numbers to disappear without replacements. They made additions and believe other players are ready to assume larger roles. Still, replacing production on paper and replacing it on Sundays are two different things.
The Eagles will be among the first teams to find out whether Washington has successfully redistributed those responsibilities. If Philadelphia can neutralize the players expected to step into those roles, the Commanders could discover just how much they relied on players who are no longer in the building.
How much have the Commanders actually improved?
The Commanders' optimism entering 2026 isn't difficult to understand. They have made changes to the roster and coaching staff, and many believe last year's shortcomings won't follow them into the new season. The numbers, however, provide a useful starting point for evaluating just how much work remained.
Washington ranked 22nd in total offense, 21st in scoring offense and 24th in passing offense last season. The defense was even more concerning, ranking 32nd in total defense, 27th in scoring defense, 28th against the pass and 30th against the run. The Commanders also ranked 23rd in third-down defense and 28th in time of possession.
Those numbers don't necessarily tell us what Washington will be in 2026. New players, new schemes, and another year of development can change a lot in the NFL, but that's precisely what makes Sunday interesting.
The Eagles don't need Washington to be the same team it was last season. They need to determine how much better it has actually become. A strong performance by the Commanders would provide early evidence that the offseason changes were meaningful. Another performance resembling last year's statistical profile would raise very different questions.
Can Washington fix its turnover problem?
This might be the easiest statistic for Washington to dismiss and one of the hardest to ignore.
The Commanders finished 31st in the NFL in turnover differential last season at minus-13. That's a problem that can turn close games into losses very quickly.
Philadelphia doesn't need to manufacture turnovers to win this game, but the Eagles should be looking for opportunities to make Washington pay for mistakes. A defense that can create short fields could make life much easier for an offense still finding its footing in a new system. The reverse is also true. If Washington protects the football and forces Philadelphia to earn every possession, the Commanders can eliminate one of the easiest ways for the Eagles to separate themselves.
Turnover differential is one of those statistics that can look like background noise during the offseason and become the entire story of a Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles are an even 44-44-2 at home against Washington
Something is fitting about a rivalry this old producing a perfectly balanced number. Washington is 44-44-2 all-time on the road against Philadelphia, meaning the Commanders have been anything but overwhelmed when they travel to Philadelphia.
That history is worth remembering because divisional familiarity has a funny way of shrinking perceived talent gaps. The Eagles can have the deeper roster, the home-field advantage, and the higher expectations and still find themselves in a game that looks nothing like the one people expected.
Washington also knows it can win in Philadelphia. The Commanders did exactly that in Week 10 of the 2022 season, handing the Eagles their first loss of that season, and they returned to Philadelphia to win last year's regular-season finale. Notably, the Eagles' starters didn't play in the latter game.
That doesn't mean history predicts what will happen Sunday. It does, however, provide another reason not to assume this game will follow the script. The Eagles enter Week 1 as the favorite, but Washington has several unanswered questions that could make this matchup more complicated than it appears.
Final analysis
How well the Commanders run the ball, replace lost production, improve their statistical weaknesses, and protect the football will help determine whether Philadelphia controls the game or spends four quarters dealing with an NFC East headache.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Eagles vs. Commanders: Under-the-radar storylines to watch in Week 1
