The Philadelphia Eagles were the one team finally able to stop the red-hot Washington Commanders. The Eagles cruised to a dominant 55-23 win over Washington and secured their second Super Bowl appearance since 2022.
Saquon Barkley was once again the primary suspect, running all over the Commanders for 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns. As good as Barkley is, he has been the heartbeat of the offense.
Defensively, the Eagles forced four Commanders turnovers, which was largely why the Eagles had such a lopsided win. The most important part was not just forcing the turnovers, but scoring on them as well.
The defense and Barkley get A+ grades for Sunday’s NFC Championship game as the Eagles await their AFC foe in the Super Bowl. But aside from the usual suspects, who else needs to step up for the Eagles as they look to win it all for the first time since 2017?
Here’s who has to step for Philadelphia if they hope to be world champions again.
3. Jalen Hurts has to improve as a passer if the Eagles want to win a Super Bowl
This is such a tricky one. You don’t want to take the ball out of Barkley’s hands. He’s been playing extremely well and has quite literally been the reason the offense has been so good this year.
But the Buffalo Bills or the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t going to let Barkley run wild on them. That’s why Hurts has to become better in the passing game in the Super Bowl. The Eagles offense has been one-dimensional in the playoffs.
The Eagles were fortunate a late comeback effort by the Rams came up short in the red zone because Barkley’s phenomenal game was almost spoiled, largely because Hurts couldn’t impact the game as a passer.
He looked better in Sunday’s game, throwing for nearly 250 yards and a touchdown. But that’s his first game this postseason with 200 or more passing yards. He also had three rushing touchdowns in the game.
Had the Eagles defense not blessed the offense with turnovers, Hurts would have had to have more of an impact. The defense has been clutch for Philadelphia. It’s masked the struggles Hurts has had, specifically through the postseason.
I’m not saying he’s not a good quarterback. But if Barkley doesn’t run for over 100 yards and three touchdowns, does Hurts lead the Eagles to a win still? He’ll have to do that in the Super Bowl.
Barkley has been fantastic. But the Buffalo Bills have a top 15 run defense and the Chiefs have a top 10 run defense. Barkley won’t have nearly as much ease as he did against the Commanders and throughout the playoffs. That’s why Hurts has to be the difference-maker for the Eagles offense.
2. Kellen Moore’s playcalling was bland against the Washington Commanders
The play-calling in Sunday’s NFC championship game was simple: Feed Saquon Barkley. That’s all good and fun, but neither the Bills nor the Chiefs are going to allow Barkley to have a field day on their defense.
So Moore shouldn’t take the game out of Barkley’s hands, but he does need to utilize the passing game more. Before Sunday, Hurts’ last 200-plus yard passing game was on Dec. 15 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This season, including the playoffs, Hurts has just five games with 30 or more passing attempts. While they started winning when they relied less on the pass, strategic play action calls and quick passing plays could be critical in having offensive success in the Super Bowl.
For context, Patrick Mahomes had just four games with less than 30 pass attempts in the regular season and Josh Allen had seven. Moore has to find a way to incorporate the passing game better for the Eagles.
They’ve gotten away with bland offensive play calling that features tush pushes, handoffs and designed quarterback runs. Maybe Moore didn’t want to get too fancy on Sunday because the defense gave them favorable field position.
But the odds the Chiefs or Bills have even half the turnovers the Commanders had on Sunday is slim. They’ll need more than Barkley to have enough offensive production to win the game. And that falls on Moore to figure out.
1. Landon Dickerson has to be better as backup center if Cam Jurgens is still hurt
Landon Dickerson didn’t play bad on Sunday as backup center, but he certainly has to be ready in the event Cam Jurgens is still dealing with his back injury in a couple of weeks. There was a play where there was a miscommunication and pressure came right up the middle, resulting in a Hurts sack.
Dickerson won’t get complete credit for giving that up (especially since he was clearly hobbled in his own right), but it’s something the offensive line has to clean up altogether. Though it’s a minor adjustment, the tush push didn’t look as efficient as it usually does.
Specifically the Eagles’ drive in the third quarter that was littered with penalties. Before the Commanders were called with three straight encroachment penalties, Hurts was stuffed twice on the tush push play.
If that’s the one play that’s going to be a staple in the Eagles’ offensive game plan, they can’t falter on the goal line. It’s one of the hardest plays to stop and the Eagles offensive line just wasn’t getting the push it needed.
It’s probably likely Jurgens returns for the Super Bowl with two weeks to get healthy and not rush through practice. If he is out though, Dickerson has to be better prepared.
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