NFC Championship Game: Eagles Must Win On Execution, Put Emotion Aside

The Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders will play for the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 59.

Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) and his team huddle up for a play against the Los Angeles Rams in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – You know the Eagles aren’t happy with the way their previous meeting went in Landover. Md. against the Washington Commanders, who knocked quarterback Jalen Hurts out of the game with a borderline legal hit, baited C.J. Gardner-Johnson into a verbal battle that led to the safety’s ejection with a whole second half still to play, and the 36-33 loss they endured that day.

Sunday’s NFC Championship Game could be a time for payback, but the Eagles can’t let their emotions get the best of them.

“We’re focused,” said right tackle Lane Johnson. “It’s all about us. The main thing I tell players is emotion doesn’t win games, talk doesn’t win games, execution wins games. That’s how I see it. When I go to any of these games, big or small, I try to stay neutral and just focus on one play at a time and don’t get too carried away.”

Still, the loss on Washington’s turf can’t sit well.

The Eagles squeezed five turnovers from the Commanders, including a pair of interceptions against rookie Jayden Daniels. All DeVonta Smith had to do was catch an easy pass late in the game and the Eagles could have gone into victory formation.

Instead, Daniels drove the Commanders 57 yards in less than two minutes, throwing a TD pass with six seconds for the win. It was his fifth TD pass of the game, which included 49 yards to Olamide Zacchaeus and 32 yards to Terry McLaurin.

“It comes down to limiting explosives,” said linebacker and NFL Defensive Player of the Year finalist Zack Baun. “You look at the game and the game came down to obviously we had five turnovers, but too many explosive passes that were really uncharacteristic of this defense. We pride on ourselves on limiting those explosive plays and that game we just didn’t get it done.”

There’s a good chance this one could get chippy because this will be the third meeting between these two teams, and they are natural rivals being in the NFC East and only about 120 miles of Interstate 95 separate them.

But, as Johnson said, the team that wins could be the team that does a better job keeping control of their emotions.

“They do a good job of being physical, of meeting our physicality,” said left tackle Jordan Mailata. “They are well-schemed, well-disciplined, well-coached on those plays. “We know who they are, they know who we are and like a normal division game it's gonna be tough, it's gonna be physical, it's gonna be fast. Another great opportunity to again get our get-back.”

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