There’s no official NFC Championship game MVP, so here’s ours: A.J. Brown is back

There's plenty of credit to go around for the Philadelphia Eagles' blowout win over the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game; you don't beat a team 55-23, especially not in the playoffs, without contributions from up and down the roster. Philly's offense averaged seven yards per play and cracked 230 yards passing and rushing, and their defense turned Washington over four times and held rookie sensation Jayden Daniels to under six yards per pass attempt. This was a complete and total victory.

That still won't stop us from singling out one player in particular. Sure, the NFL doesn't hand out individual MVP awards in the conference championship round, but that's no fun — everyone loves hardware, and beyond that, everyone loves arguing about who most deserves hardware. So, which Eagle most deserves a little extra recognition? There were several worthy candidates, but in the end, we went with the team's No. 1 wideout.

Why Eagles WR A.J. Brown was the NFC Championship Game MVP

Again, you could go any number of directions here and have a very solid argument. Saquon Barkley got the party started with a truly wild 60-yard romp to the end zone on his first carry of the game. Philly's offensive line was creating alleys to run through all game. Jalen Hurts had his best performance in weeks, running for three scores and making big throws when he had to. Zack Baun made one heck of an argument to be Defensive Player of the Year, notching 12 tackles and forcing a fumble.

But Brown's individual performance stands out as the most important. Philly's offense is the reason it won this game, setting the tone from the very first drive. Barkley benefitted from some excellent blocking (even on his long TD run, he wasn't touched until he was 15 yards downfield). And while Hurts played well, he had his job made a whole lot easier for him by Brown consistently winning on the outside.

The Eagles' top target spent all afternoon whipping Commanders counterpart Marshon Lattimore, outmuscling him on multiple occasions en route to six catches for 96 yards and a score. And even more importantly was when those plays came: Washington got Philly into some obvious passing downs, ones that could've helped flip a game that felt closer than the final score suggests, but Brown was always open to help move the chains and keep drives alive. He was the single biggest difference-maker on the team's most important unit, and that adds up to an MVP-worthy performance.