By Zach Berman, Brooks Kubena and Nicki Jhabvala

The Philadelphia Eagles survived a slow offensive start and several special teams mistakes to overwhelm the Washington Commanders 29-18, in the process clinching a second straight NFC East title. The Commanders, already without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, lost replacement starter Marcus Mariota in the third quarter and finished the game with third-stringer Josh Johnson, the team’s only other available quarterback.

Despite trailing a struggling Washington team at halftime, the Eagles (10-5) now know they will host at least one playoff game. The reigning Super Bowl champions became the first back-to-back NFC East winner since the Eagles ruled the division from 2001-2004. Philadelphia doesn’t yet know its playoff seeding or opponent, but the Eagles are almost certain to be the NFC’s No. 2 or No. 3 seed. The Eagles’ win also eliminated the Dallas Cowboys from playoff contention; Dallas will miss the postseason for the second straight season.

Still, some of Philadelphia’s season-long concerns didn’t go away. The Eagles committed two false starts in tush-push formations, failed to convert on their first four third-down attempts, lost a fumble on a kickoff return and missed two field goals. The Commanders led 10-7 at halftime.

A brutal Commanders season, meanwhile, somehow got worse. Washington (4-11) lost for the ninth time in 10 games and fell to 2-8 in conference games. With Daniels shut down for the season, Mariota started for the eighth time in 2025, but he exited with a hand injury. Washington still led when he left, but the Eagles scored on a 15-yard Jalen Hurts pass to Dallas Goedert and a 12-yard Saquon Barkley run to end the drama. The touchdown pass to Goedert was Hurts’ 24th of the season, a career high.

Eagles back in the postseason

The Eagles are the NFC East’s first back-to-back champion in two decades. That would seem to suggest there’s major parity in the division during two decades, although the Eagles are the clear heavyweights. This is their third division title in four seasons. They’re in the postseason for the fifth consecutive year. And they’ve now won double-digit games in four consecutive years.

For all the angst in Philadelphia, they’ll host (at least one) postseason game. They have the sixth-best odds to win the Super Bowl. The question becomes how the Eagles approach the final two games against the Bills in Buffalo and the Commanders in Philadelphia. They might decide to rest players, or they could attempt to carry momentum into the postseason and push for the better seed, depending on the possibilities after the weekend. Offensive tackle Lane Johnson and defensive tackle Jalen Carter are both expected back for the playoffs, and Johnson could return sooner if needed.

What’s clear is that fans can start thinking about how the Eagles match up in January. They’ve dominated their past two opponents, bottom-of-the-league teams in the Las Vegas Raiders and Commanders. They might be heating up at the right time, or just overpowering overmatched teams. They’ll have January to show which it is. That’s more than the rest of the NFC East can say. — Zach Berman, Eagles beat writer

Eagles flip offensive approach

After the Eagles ran their most under-center plays since 2021 against the Raiders, coach Nick Sirianni was quick to point out that “there’s not just one way to do things.” Indeed, the Eagles flipped their offensive approach almost entirely against the Commanders. They ditched their run-oriented looks after going three-and-out on their first drive in favor of an up-tempo sequence of pass-oriented drives that featured a high dose of empty sets. Their five empty-set plays on a seven-play, 63-yard touchdown drive on their second possession were their most of any individual drive in the Sirianni era, per TruMedia.

The approach was warranted. Washington’s injury-riddled secondary was vulnerable. Hurts completed 22 of 30 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. The passing game twice bailed out poor goal-to-go sequences in which the infamous Brotherly Shove failed on three separate attempts. Landon Dickerson and Fred Johnson were flagged for false starts on two of them. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer

Eagles run away in the end

The Eagles blew open the game with their rushing attack. Barkley’s 132 yards on 21 carries helped him eclipse 1,000 yards rushing for a second straight season. Tank Bigsby scored his first touchdown since joining the Eagles on a 22-yard run. With 60 total points against Washington and Las Vegas, Philadelphia’s offensive system is finding a rhythm after averaging 18.3 points per game during its three-game losing streak — albeit against inferior opponents. The Bills and their 11th-ranked defense await next week. — Kubena

A dismal day for Jake Elliott

The Eagles’ offense eventually overcame a slow start compounded by a dismal day by kicker Jake Elliott, who missed three field-goal attempts wide left. (A 57-yard miss was negated by an offsides penalty, then Elliott missed the subsequent 52-yard attempt.) Elliott has now missed five field goals in the last five games, which will provoke questions of potentially adding another kicker going into the postseason. — Kubena

Saquon Barkley shines again

Barkley won’t near the 2,000-yard campaign that earned him Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2024, but he’s now reached 1,000 yards in back-to-back years for the first time since 2018 and 2019 — his first two seasons in the league. Barkley said Thursday that reaching 1,000 yards is still a “big deal.” He’s been inconsistent this season, although he’s heating up at the right time. Barkley’s topped 100 yards in two of the past three weeks. He has more yards in three December games than any other month this season — each of which included four games. This continues a trend in his career. Barkley’s best month has been December, with the most yards, yards per carry and touchdowns. That’s a good sign for the Eagles with the postseason around the corner. — Berman

A lost second half for Commanders

The Commanders always seem to get up for the Eagles, and then they did Saturday evening — but only for half the game. The Commanders held a 10-7 lead at halftime, but they came unglued without Mariota. The Eagles scored while Mariota was examined in the locker room, then scored again shortly after he returned to the sideline. Johnson, his replacement, was intercepted on a third-down pass, and Philly turned it into 7 more points. — Nicki Jhabvala, Commanders beat writer

An ugly fight

The most action came just after the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter, after the Eagles scored and completed a 2-point conversion. A fight unfolded on the field. Both teams were initially engaged. Then Philadelphia’s Tyler Steen separated from the group and swung away on his own. The sidelines got involved. Dom DiSandro, Philadelphia’s security chief, was also on the field, pulling Eagles players to the sideline. After the skirmish, Steen walked the full length of the sideline with Hurts speaking to him the whole way. Three players — Steen, and Washington’s Javon Kinlaw and Quan Martin — were all penalized for unnecessary roughness and ejected. Kinlaw and Martin are subject to possible suspensions by the NFL that could sideline them on Christmas Day, when the Commanders host the Cowboys. For the Eagles, Brett Toth would be in line to start if league action is taken against Steen. — Kubena and Jhabvala

And more injuries

The Commanders’ injury list just gets longer while their list of persistent mistakes never seems to shorten. Brutal penalties, third-down failures, missed tackles and big plays allowed Philly to take over. Commanders fans headed for the exits midway through the fourth quarter, and clearly, they had the right idea. Before the game’s end, backup lineman Brandon Coleman limped off the field with an injury. He started at left tackle in place of Laremy Tunsil, who strained his oblique in Week 15. As Coleman was walking back to the locker room, guard Sam Cosmi was injured, just after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. He walked off the field gingerly with the help of athletic trainers and went straight to the medical tent. — Jhabvala