The Washington Commanders were locked in a battle with the Philadelphia Eagles at halftime of Saturday’s Week 16 game at Northwest Stadium. Washington led 10-7, and its defense had made multiple key stops during the first half. Even better, the Commanders would open the second half with the ball.

That’s where the fun ended. Quarterback Marcus Mariota was injured on Washington’s first series and did not return. Mariota was replaced by the Commanders’ third-string quarterback, 39-year-old Josh Johnson, who threw an interception on his fourth passing attempt.

The Eagles would go on to win the game, 29-18, as Washington’s defense allowed Saquon Barkley to run wild in the second half. When Philadelphia went up 29-10 with 4:26 remaining, the Eagles chose to go for the two-point conversion, which Barkley successfully completed. That immediately set off a brawl between the longtime rivals. It led to three players being ejected. Washington coach Dan Quinn wasn’t too happy after the game, while it was business as usual for Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni.

Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin wasn’t on the field during the skirmish. But as one of Washington’s longest-tenured players, he didn’t think the fight was that big of a deal.

“Eagles versus Commanders, man, that’s how it goes, you know what I mean?” McLaurin told reporters after the game.  

“It gets physical. It gets testy. You know, I can’t speak for what was going on specifically on that play cause I was on the sideline. But, yeah, it comes with this game with these two opponents. There’s, you know, a lot of history, obviously, and you know they were beating us.  So, they’re not gonna throw in the towel, they’re not gonna take it easy on us. They’re trying to go for two and bury us, and as a team, you know what I mean, it’s not like you tell them, don’t go for two. You know we gotta stop them. Offensively, we gotta help our defense. So, I don’t really take any bad blood from what they did.  But you don’t really wanna see the game get out of hand and guys possibly get hurt in those situations. But it comes with this rivalry between us and them. And I don’t think that’ll ever change, to be honest.”

McLaurin is correct on all fronts. You can disagree with Philadelphia’s decision to go for two, or with Sirianni’s flimsy reason for doing so, but if the Commanders were that angry, they should’ve stopped them. This isn’t high school, where one team may take it easy on the other to preserve their feelings.

Ultimately, it should make future meetings even more exciting once the Commanders get healthy and add talent this offseason.