The Philadelphia Eagles are headed to New Orleans for a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
Throughout the playoffs, Philadelphia Eagles fans and media pundits were wondering when they were going to see a complete effort from the team on both sides of the ball.
On Sunday, the Eagles gave the people what they wanted.
The Eagles punched their ticket to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans with a convincing 55-23 win over a young Washington Commanders squad that made things interesting, but was outclassed on both sides of the ball in the end.
The Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesar’s Super Dome on February 9. It’s the Birds’ second NFC championship ground in the last three years. The Chiefs defeated the Bills 32-29 to capture their third straight AFC title. It will be a rematch of Super LVII when the Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35.
On offense, running back Saquon Barkley led the way for the Birds with another outstanding performance on the ground. He gained 118 yards on 15 carries and scored three touchdowns while averaging nearly eight yards per carry.
The former Penn State star set the tone for the game on the first play of the Eagles’ first possession of the game. It took Barkley just 18 seconds on a 60-yard run to give the Birds a 7-3 lead. (Washington had gotten a 34-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez.)
It was Barkley’s seventh touchdown of 60 yards or more this season and it set the tone for the game.
“We wanted to send a message, and we did that,” Barkley said. “We had a great play call. We had big blocks by A.J. (Brown), Dallas (Goedert) and Jordan (Mailata). I got a one-on-one and made a guy miss and that’s the way you start a championship game.”
“We knew they were going to sell out to stop the run,” added head coach Nick Sirianni. “We kind of knew that. … if Saquon gets into the second level, third level, now it’s, ‘Hey, can you tackle this guy?’ He’s hard to tackle.”
Meanwhile, quarterback Jalen Hurts also put his stamp on this NFC title game with four total touchdowns — three rushing and one passing. In the passing game, Hurts completed 20-of-28 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown. He had a quarterback rating of 110.1.
For all the criticism that Hurts has received in the last year or so, he once again proved that he is a true winner as a quarterback. That was the point that Sirianni emphasized during his postgame press conference.
“It’s amazing how much doubt there is sometimes,” Sirianni said. “I can’t quite comprehend it. It doesn’t look like what people think it should like, but the guy (Hurts) has been clutch. He’s won so many football games. The criticism is whatever. (Hurts) just wins.”
As a team, the Eagles rushed for 229 yards and scored seven rushing touchdowns; three from Barkley, three from Hurts, and one from rookie running back Will Shipley.
The Birds’ next possession came when Eagles inside linebacker Zack Baum and cornerback Cooper DeJean stripped Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown of the football and safety Reed Blankenship recovered it at the Washington 48. It took the Eagles six plays and a Barkley four-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 14-3 lead and never looked back. They had a 27-12 lead at halftime.
As they have throughout the postseason, the Eagles’ defense was physical, and they did more than enough to slow down NFL Rookie of the Year candidate Jayden Daniels.
The Birds’ defense sacked Daniels three times, and forced four turnovers — including three fumbles. Three of those turnovers led to 21 points for the Eagles. Daniels said that giving the ball away killed Washington’s hopes for a comeback in the second half.
“I mean turnovers play a huge factor in a game, especially when you’re a good team like Philly,” Daniels said. “You can’t give those guys extra possessions.”
Sirianni said that forcing turnovers has been a big emphasis throughout the season. The Eagles were plus-21 in the takeaway/giveaway ratio during the 2024 season.
“We spend a lot of time on that. We do a lot of drills that go into that. We talk a lot about that. We show any time there is a missed opportunity to take a ball away,” he said.
“It’s about those guys going out there and doing it,” Sirianni said. “Like there is a skill to be able to take the ball away. When [Washington Commanders RB Austin] Ekeler gets up off the ground to be able to take a punch at the ball there like [linebacker] Nolan [Smith] did.”
You can catch Super Bowl LIX between the Eagles and the Chiefs on February 9 beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Fox 29.
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