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The Philadelphia Eagles are back in the Super Bowl after the dynamic duo of Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley combined for six rushing touchdowns in the 55-23 beatdown of the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship.
Philadelphia will wait to see who will represent the AFC in Super Bowl LIX, as the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills get underway in the Midwest on Sunday night.
Hurts and the Eagles were in the "Big Game" in 2022, where they lost to the Chiefs in Arizona. But what the Eagles didn't have then was Barkley, the NFL's leading rusher in 2024, and he showed why he might be the missing piece to win the Vince Lombardi after an incredible performance at home.
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On just the first offensive snap for the Eagles in this game, following an 18-play Commanders opening drive that ended with a field goal, Barkley ripped off a 60-yard touchdown run to immediately put the Eagles up 7-3 after the extra point.
The Commanders’ response wasn’t a good one, as receiver Dyami Brown fumbled after a Zack Baun punch while tackling his opponent. And unfortunately for Washington, fumbles became a bad trend throughout this game.
The last time these two teams played, the Commanders turned the ball over five times. However, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders ended up winning on a last-second drive in a 22-point fourth quarter.
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But the comeback didn’t happen this time with the turnovers, as Jeremy McNichols fumbled on a kick return near the end of the first half, and Austin Ekeler fumbled in the second half.
And all of those turnovers led to touchdowns.
Barkley scored from four yards out after the Brown fumble, and Hurts got his first tush push score of the game to make it 20-12 near halftime, he found A.J. Brown for his only passing touchdown of the content to take a solid 27-12 lead into the locker room.
The second half, though, is where things unraveled for Dan Quinn’s Commanders, as Hurts’ second touchdown on the ground was a nine-yard score in the third quarter to make it 35-14. And despite Daniels scoring on the ground himself to cut the lead a bit, Ekeler’s fumble saw another tush push touchdown for Hurts to make it three on the night.
With desperation on their sideline, Quinn had no choice but to force Daniels to go for it on every fourth down as the fourth quarter began, and Nolan Smith’s sack on fourth-and-11 ultimately led Barkley to his third touchdown with a four-yard run, which basically sealed the deal at 48-23.
The last-ditch effort from Daniels in the fourth was a deep ball down the left sideline to Terry McLaurin, who scored a 36-yard touchdown earlier in the game, but it was intercepted in the end zone by rookie Quinyon Mitchell.
The cherry on top for Philadelphia was, with the backups in the game, Will Shipley scoring a touchdown from two yards out after ripping a 57-yard run earlier in the drive.
Celebrations ensued for the home team, and rightfully so after incredible performances from Hurts (20-for-28 for 246 yards), Barkley (15 rushes for 118 yards) and Brown (six catches for 96 yards).
For the Commanders, Zach Ertz, the former Eagles tight end, certainly did his part with 11 catches for 104 yards. Daniels finished 29-for-48 for 255 yards, while rushing for 48 yards on six carries.
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The Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders were more than just division rivals on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field as they played for a spot in Super Bowl LIX.
But one thing both fan bases could agree on was how great the national anthem performance was before the game.
Fans took to social media to voice their love for the patriotic scene that involved an actual Eagle, a brilliant rendition by Mark Kate Morrissey, who plays Elphaba in Broadway’s "Wicked," and fighter jets doing a flyover.
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"I’m not an Eagles fan but their national anthem is the absolute best with the bald eagle flying in the stadium," one X user wrote. "It can’t get any better."
"Absolutely beautiful!" another one added.
An American flag the size of the football field was displayed by numerous fans, creating a perfect wide shot of the whole scene before the two teams got to work on the gridiron.
But the live eagle flying around the stadium from one trainer to another while Morrissey reached the climax of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was talked about the most on social media.
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"Not an Eagles fan but DAMN…that Bald Eagle flying during the singing of the National Anthem brought tears of pride to my eyes," another X user said.
As Morrissey finished singing, four F-16s from the 177th Fighter Wing flew over the stadium, putting the cherry on top of the patriotic scene.
Things got off to a hot start for the Eagles faithful in this game, too, as the home team saw star running back Saquon Barkley score two touchdowns in the first quarter, including one on the Eagles’ first offensive snap of the game to take a commanding lead from the start.
Many teams pull out all the stops for their national anthems during the season, but fans believe the Eagles are the cream of the crop after what transpired in this conference championship game.
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The Washington Commanders fumbled the ball away for their third turnover of the NFC Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and some chaos ensued as Saquon Barkley got the team down to the goal line.
Barkley busted free for a 22-yard run on the third play of the drive and got the Eagles within one yard of adding to their lead.
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Jalen Hurts tried to break into the end zone but was stopped. Commanders defensive lineman Jonathan Allen was called for a defensive offsides. Then, after getting stopped, Washington committed three straight penalties to try to stop what they knew was coming.
Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu tried to jump the play two straight times. He was called for encroachment penalties. Then Allen was called for encroachment. The Commanders were then warned that officials could reward the Eagles with a score if they purposely kept trying to jump the play and pick up a penalty.
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After Allen’s foul, Hurts was able to get pushed into the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the game. Philadelphia went up 41-23 with 12:24 to go in the game.
Hurts had the Eagles rolling all game long. He ran the ball into the end zone three times and threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown earlier in the game.
Barkley ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter, including a 60-yard gallop.
Philadelphia neared its second Super Bowl appearance in three years.
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© PA Wire
