Milestones Among Storylines In Week 16 Eagles-Commanders Game

PHILADELPHIA – Last year, the Eagles went to Landover, Md., with a chance to win the NFC East. They lost 36-33. Now, they get a second chance. Beating the Washington Commanders on Saturday (5 p.m.) will give them their second straight division crown and snap a streak of 21 years where there was no repeat champion.

Here are five storylines with a final score prediction:

Milestones. There are four:

One: With a win, Nick Sirianni would tie Greasy Neal for the second-most wins in Eagles history. Neal won 64 games, including playoffs, and piloted the Eagles to their 1948 and 1949 NFL championships. Sirianni has 63 wins, while Andy Reid sits at the top of the list with 130.

Two: DeVonta Smith needs 100 yards receiving to reach 5,000 in his Eagles career, and is 110 yards away from his third 1,000-plus yard receiving season.

Three: With one TD catch, Dallas Goedert will tie Pete Retzlaff for the most touchdowns by a tight end in team history. Retzlaff had 10 in 1965.

Four: Saquon Barkley needs 60 yards to reach 1,000. It’s not last year’s 2,000, but it’s still a milestone. And you can book it. He’ll get at least that and it will be his fifth season topping that mark in the eight years he has been in the league.

Turnovers. The Commanders aren’t very good at taking away the ball, but very good at giving it up. They have just eight takeaways all season, compared to the Eagles, who have 17. Washington is minus-12 in turnover differential, which puts them near the bottom in that category, checking in at No. 30. The Eagles are at plus-4, which ranks them eighth, and they are 41-2 when winning the turnover battle.

Will Jalen Hurts Use His Legs Like He Did Last Week?

Stopping the run. Running the ball is Washington’s strength. They rank fourth in the league, averaging 137.1 per game, with rookie Jacorey Croskey-Merritt leading the way with 646 (4.5 yards per carry), followed by Chris Rodriguez. Jayden Daniels is factored in, but the second-year QB has been shut down for the season. There isn’t a drop-off with his backup, Marcus Mariota, in terms of running the ball. He has 296 yards rushing on 49 runs.

The Eagles have been hurt by mobile QBs this season, with the most recent being the Chargers’ Justin Herbert, who had 10 scrambles/runs for a team-high 66 yards two weeks ago in beating Philly.

Run, Jalen, run. The Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts, kept the Raiders off balance with his legs on Sunday, running for 39 yards, which was, incredibly, just his fourth-highest total of the season. He has gone three straight games without scoring a rushing touchdown, matching a similar streak from earlier this year from Weeks 7 through 9. It seems like he is finding his legs at a great time, but the Commanders will be wary of him taking off and will try to take him out, if they can.

Remember, it was against them, and Frankie Luvu, that sent Hurts to the bench with a concussion for the remainder of last year's regular season.

Penalties. They hurt the Eagles all season. Except for last week, and how refreshing was that? They committed just three for 35 yards in what was the quickest NFL game this century, needing just 2 hours, 31 minutes to cpmplete. This will be the first game this season referee Craig Wrolstad’s crew will work a game involving both teams. The Eagles were 1-1 with Wrolstad in charge last year.

Prediction. Not having tight end Zach Ertz, whose career may have ended with a knee injury suffered last week, and left tackle Laremy Tunsil won’t help Washington’s cause, though they would no doubt like nothing more than to play the spoiler in the Eagles’ quest to win the division and get revenge for last year’s whipping in the NFC Championship Game.

If the Eagles plan on hitting their stride with the playoffs looming, they can’t afford to stumble. And they won’t.

Eagles 30, Commanders 17

Season record: 8-6

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