Eagles News: Saquon Barkley primed to feast on the Commanders’ defense

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Numbers to know ahead of Commanders-Eagles NFC Championship Game – ESPN
137.5 — Throughout his career, Saquon Barkley has feasted against the Commanders’ defense. The Eagles running back averages 137.5 scrimmage yards when playing against Washington. The only player to average more scrimmage yards against a single opponent in NFL history — including the playoffs in 10 or more games — is former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown (147.9).

NFL Conference Championship Games Betting Notebook – PFF
Barkley is averaging the most yards before contact per run of any running back in the NFL (2.5), and the Commanders are the only defense in the NFL allowing more than 2 yards before contact per designed rush (2.1). Barkley’s line continues to sit at a ridiculous number, but it’s warranted. This is a great matchup, and Philadelphia will likely continue to lean on a run game that’s been significantly more productive than its passing game. I won’t be betting Barkley’s over or under straight up, but I am interested in pairing the over with the Commanders’ moneyline for inverse correlation in single-game parlays. We saw last week that a home-run hitter like Barkley (Jahmyr Gibbs) can rip off explosives in a losing effort. Plus, the Eagles are unlikely to get into a situation where they’ll turn away from the run.

Eagles-Commanders playoff preview: 11 things to watch in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game – BGN
3 – Can the Commanders stop Saquon Barkley? No. Saquon is unstoppable. The Commanders will try their hardest. But their run defense isn’t good: Only six teams allowed more yards per rush attempt this season. Only three teams allowed more rushing yards to running backs this season. The Commanders rank 27th in run defense EPA, 24th in run defense success rate, and 26th in run defense DVOA. And it could be even worse with starting defensive tackle Daron Payne ruled out of Sunday’s game.

Saquon Barkley eyes two long-standing NFL playoff records against the Commanders – Inquirer
Barkley needs 148 rushing yards to break the NFL record for most rushing yards in a single season, set by Hall of Fame Terrell in 1998. That season Davis ran for a total of 2,476 yards counting the regular season, two playoff games and Super Bowl XXXIII (the Denver Broncos had a first-round bye). In two games against the Commanders poorly ranked run defense this season, Barkley rushed for a combined 296 yards, which averages out to 148 yards per game.

3 expert player prop bets to make for Commanders vs. Eagles in the NFC Championship game – NJ.com
Saquon Barkley 2+ TDs. Odds: +255 at DraftKings Sportsbook The odds for Barkley as an anytime TD scorer are -225, so being aggressive and betting on more than one TD will provide a better return. The superstar running back can certainly deliver on this wager against the Washington defense. The Commanders allowed three rushing TDs to Detroit last week after allowing 16 during the regular season, which was tied for second-most in the NFL. Barkley rushed for two TDs in both matchups against Washington this season. He also rushed for two TDs last week against the Rams. As we have seen often this season, Barkley is capable of scoring from anywhere on the field, and with Jalen Hurts working through a knee injury, the Eagles may be slightly less inclined to use him as a rushing TD alternative.

NFC Championship game – Commanders at Eagles precap – Hogs Haven
The Eagles are likely to lean into their dominant offensive line and the legs of Saquon Barkley when they take the field against Washington’s porous run defense. The Commanders, in two games against the Eagles in the regular season, did a good job at limiting Barkley for about 5 or 6 of the 8 total quarters played, but Saquon scored on runs of 23 yards and 39 yards in the final 5 minutes of the game in Philly, and he rushed for 122 yards and 2 TDs in the first half of the loss to the Commanders in Washington last month. It will be important for the Commanders defense to limit the damage inflicted by Saquon for a full 60 minutes. Injuries will increase the difficulty level for Washington today. Specifically, with DT Daron Payne out with knee and finger injuries, the team’s run defense is weakened. On first-and-10 runs this year with Payne on the field, the Commanders had a 64.4% success rate on defense, which was about average. Over 97 first-and-10 carries without Payne, that dropped to 51.6%, which was last in the league. On the other side of the ball, Washington lost RG Sam Cosmi to an ACL injury suffered against the Lions last week. This will create an incredible handicap in controlling Philly’s defensive game-wrecker, DT Jalen Carter, who may be the biggest defensive challenge that Philly will throw at Jayden Daniels & Co.

X-Factors on offense for the AFC and NFC Championships – SB Nation
The Eagles keep winning primarily because Saquon Barkley is Thanos, and because Vic Fangio’s defense is one of the NFL’s best. That’s great and all, but anybody who doesn’t see the issues with Philly’s passing game is looking at the thing through green-colored glasses. This season, Jalen Hurts has completed 276 of 402 passes for 3,162 yards, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 103.5, which is a career high. Add in Hurts’ 163 carries for 736 yards and 15 touchdowns, and it would seem that all is well. But the tape tells a different story. Hurts has had issues reading route progressions downfield this season, which has always been an issue, but things seem to have decelerated in that regard. Hurts is being used as more of a “game manager” in a pejorative sense. He’s thrown for less than 200 yards in eight full games this season, and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is asked week after week what’s wrong with the non-Saquon parts of the thing.

Eagles mailbag: What is Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’ history in cold weather games? – PhillyVoice
Question from @saxncymbals (via Bluesky): How worried should we be about Zach Ertz ripping the Eagles’ hearts out? Ertz has rejuvenated his career in Washington and has played well this season. I could absolutely see him having an impact, particularly in the red zone. That said, while Ertz certainly has his fans in Philly, and rightfully so given his caeer here and his Super Bowl performance, I think he kinda ruined his chances of being a Philly legend for life. He could’ve been revered like Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, and Brandon Graham, but he forced his way out and is now playing against the Eagles in an NFC Championship Game. He will never be on the level of those other four guys in this city.

Game Preview – Playoffs – WAS at PHI – Iggles Blitz
I expect the Eagles to be better prepared this time. They have seen WAS at their best. They know what that offense is capable of. CJGJ won’t get ejected. He’s toned down his talking and emotions since that incident. He’s still making plays so it hasn’t hurt his game. WAS had success with getting the ball to Austin Ekeler in the first game. He was 8-89 as a receiver and proved to be a tough matchup for the LBs. WAS has been using empty sets effectively in recent weeks. They will give the Eagles different groupings and looks to stress the defense. WAS runs far and away the most no-huddle in the league. That can stress a defense. It can also tire the pass rush. Jalen Carter is playing more than 90 percent of the snaps. You wonder if Carter will wear down. Will he be as effective late in the game? The Eagles pass rush must win their share of battles.

A look at Eagles postseason records that could fall vs. Commanders – NBCSP
7. Nolan Smith closing in on multiple records. Nolan Smith has 3.0 sacks this postseason, only half a sack fewer than Haason Reddick’s Eagles single-season record of 3 ½, set during the 2022 Super Bowl run. Derrick Burgess also had 3.0 in 2004. Smith had half a sack in Tampa last year and his 3 ½ sacks are two fewer than Brandon Graham for the Eagles career record of 5 ½. Burgess, Hugh Douglas and Reggie White had 4.0. So one sack on Sunday moves Smith into second place. A sack Sunday would also make Smith the first Eagle ever with a sack in three consecutive postseason games. Several Eagles have had a sack in two straight: Snith, Reddick, Burgess, Jevon Kearse, Douglas and White. Smith’s 3 ½ sacks are 7th-most by a player before his 24th birthday and one more jumps him up into a tie for 3rd-most, behind George Karlaftis III (7.0) and J.J. Watt (5.0).

Game Preview: Commanders vs. Eagles – PE.com
1. Giveaways, takeaways, turnover margin. You are probably tired of hearing this, but it matters: The teams that have won the turnover margin in the NFL playoffs this postseason are 7-0. Philadelphia has taken the football away six times in the wins over Green Bay and Los Angeles, with zero giveaways. That’s huge. The Eagles are 22-1 in their last 23 games when they’ve won the turnover battle, with the loss to Washington in Week 16 the exception. Washington has also not turned the football over and in the win over Detroit last week, the Commanders had 5 takeaways to fuel the upset victory. Washington had a plus-1 in turnover margin in the Wild Card victory at Tampa Bay. So, yeah, a reminder: This statistic matters maybe more than any in the game.

Daniel Jeremiah 2025 NFL mock draft 1.0: Titans boost defense with first pick; Giants, Raiders select QBs – NFL.com
31) EAGLES. DT T.J. Sanders. There has not been a lot of buzz for Sanders, but I thought his tape was outstanding. He’s really twitchy and would fit right in with the bevy of talented defensive linemen in Philly.

Weather won’t be an issue for the conference championship games – PFT
Last Sunday, snow was an issue for both of the divisional round playoff games. This Sunday, the weather for the conference championship games will be as good as it could be for an open-air contest in January. In the early game in Philadelphia, the current forecast has the kickoff temperature in the mid-30s, with no precipitation. The wind will be in the range of 5-10 mph, with gusts into the low 20s for Commanders-Eagles.

A closer look at why an all-NFC East championship game is the peak of Cowboys embarrassing fallout – Blogging The Boys
When the Eagles and Commanders square off for the third time this season, looking to determine a series winner after both teams defended home field in the regular season, it will be a matchup of former Cowboys coaches in Eagles OC Kellen Moore and Commanders HC Dan Quinn as well. While Dallas’ circus of a coaching search ended with internal candidate Brian Schottenheimer being hired, two of their former assistants have found the grass much greener on the other side. As if the Cowboys going 7-10 and missing the playoffs entirely after winning the division a year ago didn’t offer enough potential for their front office to finally learn some hard lessons, the cherry on top has to be the two teams finishing ahead of them still vying for the Lombardi trophy.

Survey results – Giants fans are rooting for Washington – Big Blue View
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that almost three quarters of Giants fans rooting for the Commanders. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’re happy about it. If we’re being honest, just about the only way this could be a more distasteful turn of events is if it was between the Eagles and the Cowboys. And that’s probably the reason behind the poll results: The Commanders are the lesser of two evils in the eyes of most Giants fans. There are Giants fans who genuinely enjoy watching Jayden Daniels play — though they’d much rather see him plying his trade in Blue. But there just isn’t as much animosity among Giants fans for Washington as there is for Dallas and Philly. After all, Washington has long been the only team that the Giants could reliably beat. Many of the negative feelings toward Washington likely went out the door with Dan Snyder, and many Giants fans have expressed sympathy for Washington fans saddled with an incompetent franchise.

A Giants Fan’s Begrudging Guide to the NFC Championship Game – The Ringer
Most Agonizing Player to Contemplate: The image of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley hurdling backward over some bewildered Jaguars in November has been burned permanently into my brain. It’s filed somewhere between Odell Beckham Jr.’s one-handed catch and Carlos Beltran striking out looking—each one a tiny glimpse into the sports world that might have been if some things had only gone a little differently. “I’m gonna have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia,” Giants owner John Mara infamously said about then-pending free agent Barkley in last offseason’s Hard Knocks—which turned out to be a quietly disastrous look into New York’s front office. Me, I’ve had the opposite problem. The coolest player drafted by the New York Giants in ages just ran for over 2,000 yards while wearing Eagles paraphernalia—and then filmed a commercial for a sleep aid, trolling Mara!—and try as I might, I just can’t seem to wake up from this nightmare. In a vacuum, letting Saquon—a dynamic running back with an injury history—walk wasn’t in and of itself a bad decision. Except that the decision didn’t take place in a vacuum: It was part of a domino cascade of other, lesser choices, many of which related to the organization’s yearslong mishandling of quarterback Daniel Jones. And all of which brings me to Barkley’s competition in this category, the Commanders’ rookie passer, Jayden Daniels.

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