The Good, Bad and Ugly, NFL Week 16: An NFC East Repeat for the First Time in 21 Years

Eagles capture back-to-back division titles since winning four straight from 2001 to 2004. Plus, the Bears and Packers will battle for first in the NFC North.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley celebrates after scoring a touchdown in Philadelphia's NFC East-clinching win on Saturday night. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Eagles had another unattractive performance, but they have stacked enough ugly wins to capture a second consecutive NFC East title.

On Saturday, Philadelphia put aside a handful of special teams miscues to defeat Washington, 29–18, and clinched a fifth consecutive playoff appearance in the process. The Eagles are the first team to win back-to-back NFC East titles since 2004.   

Jalen Hurts’s clutch touchdown pass on third-and-goal from the 15-yard line opened the floodgates for this up-and-down Eagles’ offense in the second half. Hurts had a pair of touchdown passes, and Saquon Barkley rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown. 

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Packers and Bears will battle for first place in the NFC North. Green Bay, which is a half-game behind Chicago in the standings, will play its first game without Micah Parsons, who sustained a season-ending knee injury last week.

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The week started with the Seahawks and Rams delivering the game of the year and perhaps the best Thursday Night Football matchup ever. Los Angeles blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead before falling in overtime, 38–37. 

The Seahawks’ bold decision to go for the two-point conversion in overtime paid off. They now control first place in the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference with two games left in the regular season.

The Sunday slate could also create plenty of shuffling when it comes to playoff seeding. The Broncos (12–2) will host the Jaguars (10–4) in a matchup of two AFC division leaders. The Ravens (7–7) are on the outside of the playoff picture, but they can help their postseason hopes with a victory vs. the AFC East–leading Patriots (11–3) during their Sunday Night Football showdown.   

Week 16 will conclude with an intriguing Monday Night Football battle between the 49ers (10–4) and Philip Rivers’s Colts (8–6). It’s still hard to believe the 44-year-old Rivers is playing meaningful games in 2025. San Francisco could steal the NFC West by winning its final three games. Indianapolis needs to win out and get help from other teams to sneak into the playoffs. 

Let’s assess all of the action, starting with Saturday’s doubleheader.

Good: Jalen Hurts provides clutch throws

Hurts helped the Eagles (10–5) regain control of a messy game after delivering a tight-window touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Goedert on third-and-15 for a 14–10 advantage with 3:27 left in the third quarter.

It was all downhill from there for Washington, as the Eagles turned a Cooper DeJean interception into a Barkley 12-yard touchdown run, extending the advantage to 11 points with 11:33 left in regulation. 

Everything changed after that clutch throw from Hurts; the Eagles couldn’t afford to settle for another field-goal attempt from Jake Elliott, who missed three kicks in the first half. 

If the Eagles had turned those empty red-zone drives into touchdowns, this game would have been over by halftime and the most significant talking point would have been about Hurt’s sensational performance. He also had a five-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith on the opening drive, helping Philadelphia put aside a fumble on the opening kickoff.

This was another ugly Eagles’ game because of the special teams miscues, but this was a rare, efficient offensive performance, with Smith (six catches, 42 yards, TD), Barkley and A.J. Brown (nine catches, 95 yards) providing highlight plays. Hurts finished 22-of-30 for 185 yards and added seven carries for 40 yards. Overall, the Eagles recorded 385 total yards, with a whopping 207 coming on the ground. 

Finally, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo delivered positive results for this inconsistent offense, and has Hurts to thank for that after coming through on third-and-goal from the 15-yard line. 

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Bad: Eagles might have a kicker problem

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni will have to decide whether to stick with Elliott before the postseason arrives. 

Elliott has been a reliable kicker for many years. Still, he might have lost his confidence after going wide left on his three field-goal attempts in the first half—only two counted because the Commanders were penalized on the second try. Elliott entered the game 17-of-22 on field-goal attempts and 35-of-36 on extra-point tries. 

To make matters worse for special teams coordinator Michael Clay, returner and running back Will Shipley fumbled on the opening kickoff, which led to Washington taking a 3–0 advantage. Shipley later made the mistake of returning a kick near the goal line instead of just settling for the touchback. 

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With Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels injured most of the season, it's been a struggle for Washington offensively. / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Ugly: Washington fans should skip the final two games

It’s hard not to blame Commanders fans if they decide to skip the final two games of the season after the team’s atrocious performance against the Eagles on Saturday. 

There’s no need to suffer through watching Marcus Mariota or Josh Johnson operate one of the slowest and oldest offenses in the league. Mariota was injured in the second half and was unable to finish the game. Terry McLaurin had a team-high three catches for 53 yards, which tells you plenty about this sluggish offense.  

There are so many better options than having to sit through two more Sundays of watching coach Dan Quinn’s paper-thin defense, which allowed Philadelphia to break out of its funk. If that’s not painful enough, TV broadcasters constantly reminded viewers of all the draft picks the Commanders (4–11) don’t have due to the trades for Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil. 

Unless you’re a Commanders fan who enjoys misery, enjoy the outdoors, and check back on this dreadful team in March when free agency opens. 

Without Jayden Daniels, there’s no point in watching the Commanders on Christmas against the Cowboys. And there’s no need to see this team get pummeled again by the Eagles to close out the regular season.

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