Playoff results, all-time record ahead of NFC championship game

The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles will meet in the upcoming NFC Championship Game, with a trip to the LIX Super Bowl on the line.

Meeting one of these teams at the Caesars Superdome in downtown New Orleans will either be a historic three-peat run Kansas City Chiefs or Buffalo Bills. A ton of internet ink will be spilled about either of these Super Bowl matchups, but for now, the NFC Championship game between these two franchises dating back to 1932 (Washington) and 1933 (Philadelphia) will pack more than enough punch to cover ad nauseam.

Eagles-Commanders is a big gameno doubt. Every championship game is, of course, but these are two NFC East teams going head-to-head for the right to play in the Super Bowl. It will give you goosebumps if you think about it hard enough.

Rivalries in the NFC East are deep and heated, and that can be said for almost every performance. The Dallas Cowboys usually seem to be at the center of it all — since they were once “America’s Team,” and are still most NFL fans’ favorite team to watch lose — but there’s certainly plenty of history between the Eagles and the Commanders.

we are talking about two of the four original members after all, the NFC East. The New Orleans Saints were fourth in the original edition of the NFC East, but since then it’s been the Cowboys, Eagles, Commanders, New York Giants, and (randomly) the St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (from 1970 to 2001).

No, the NFC East hasn’t always been close, but there is certainly a close proximity between the Eagles and Commanders, which has led to many heated matchups between the two franchises. The Eagles, of course, play in Philadelphia, while the Commanders — who represent Washington, D.C. — actually play in Landover, Maryland.

There are 133 miles between the two locations, which is just over a two-hour drive (not including wild East Coast traffic). So yes, the two franchises have seen each other a lot, and might even run into each other in passing — their fanbases certainly do.

As for the history of this game between the Commanders and the Eagles, it goes all the way back to October 21, 1934, when the Boston Redskins defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 6-0. The Redskins won four of the first six games with the Eagles, but fans first saw a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins in 1937, when the Eagles won 14-0.

This rivalry remained between the Eagles and Redskins until 2020, when the Redskins were renamed the Washington Football Team. Philly won both games against the Washington Football Team and they also won their first matchup against the Washington Commanders. It was a 24-8 victory in September 2022 Jalen Hurts throwing for 340 yards and three touchdowns, with 169 of those yards and two touchdowns going to DeVonta Smith.

The Eagles and Commanders split their games this season, with Philly winning 26-18 in November and the Commanders winning 36-33 just before Christmas. Notably, both home teams won, and this NFC Championship game will be at the Philadelphia Sports Complex in South Philly.

Although the Eagles have been much better of late, Washington actually owns the all-time series, 90-85-5.

The last time these two franchises met in the playoffs was in the NFC Wild Card round in 1991. It was a game Washington won 20-6. Randall Cunningham was the quarterback for the Eagles, while Mark Rypien was the quarterback for Washington.

That game was the only time these two teams have met in the playoffs, so this upcoming NFC Championship game will be rare and special.

Running back Saquon Barkley is the engine that keeps this Eagles offense going, and the wild thing is that he looks better and better as the playoffs go on. He rushed for 119 yards against the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card, followed by 205 yards and two touchdowns in the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Chiefs are giving up 151 yards per game on the ground in the playoffs, so Barkley stepping up to the plate could be bad news for them.

Zach Ertz is the Commanders X-factor

Tight end Zach Ertz has been in the NFL since 2013 and knows the Eagles well. In fact, they selected him with the 35th pick in that year’s draft and had three straight Pro Bowl seasons for the Eagles from 2017-2019.

Ertz is now a wily old veteran, but he played an extremely important role as a safety valve and consistent target for rookie quarterback Jaden Daniels. Ertz caught 66 passes for 654 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season, including a touchdown in the Commanders’ upset of the Detroit Lions.