Northwest Stadium (Landover, Md.) — The Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champs, so most of the team has already hung the biggest banners a team can celebrate.
Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” blared in a celebratory visiting locker room — “You can feel it all over,” they sang, with the team owner, general manager and coach taking photos with jubilant players. “BEEN THERE, WON THAT,” read the black T-shirts commemorating the back-to-back NFC East titles clinched with a 29-18 win over the Commanders.
“It’s good to get the first hat and T-shirt,” cornerback Cooper DeJean told me.
So, as the defending Super Bowl champions, why celebrate what is only the first of several team goals for the 2025 season?
For starters, the NFC East hadn’t seen any repeat champ since 2004, when the Eagles had won four straight at the peak of the Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb years. The NFL has also shown that dynasties can be fleeting, with the Chiefs missing the playoffs and the Bills currently trailing the Patriots after five straight AFC East titles.
“These times, they’re rare times,” said quarterback Jalen Hurts, who threw for two touchdowns in the win. “So [it’s] one thing that all of us must soak in and relish on this second proper now, however hold the principle factor [as] the principle factor.”
The message on Saturday was that small issues might be celebrated. Just a few hours earlier, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial within the capital close by, a mock funeral service was held for the penny, with a solemn bunch of pallbearers dressed like Abe himself carrying an precise coffin previous an easel studying “Relaxation in Pence.”
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That is not the Eagles’ perspective, although. Whereas they may fortunately take their newly minted NFC East crown and put it away, they know they have not reached the identical heights as final season. The final two weeks, although, introduced a 31-0 win over the Raiders and this comparatively convincing win over the Commanders.
The hope is that the most effective is but to return.
“We’re getting shut,” DeJean mentioned. “I nonetheless really feel like there’s issues we are able to clear up, as all the time, however we have simply bought to maintain constructing, constructing on what we did this week and final week, to proceed to attempt to play our greatest soccer happening the stretch.”
The Eagles proceed to be an imperfect crew. Whereas 10-5 is sweet sufficient to clinch the division, it is their worst file at this level over the past 4 years, a span that has included two Tremendous Bowl appearances. Philadelphia pulled away Saturday, nevertheless it began slowly sufficient that it trailed a 4-10 Commanders crew late within the third quarter.
Cooper DeJean’s third quarter interception helped swing the sport within the Eagles’ favor. (Picture by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photographs)
The Eagles are solely two weeks faraway from a three-game dropping streak, and the offense has scored fewer than 20 factors six instances after going greater than a yr with out such a recreation.
The protection gave up 34 factors in a loss to the Giants earlier this season, however has now appeared to seek out itself once more. Kicker Jake Elliott has missed 5 area targets within the final 5 video games, together with two Saturday.
The present trajectory, although, is upward after a 31-0 shutout of the Raiders final week earlier than beating the Commanders.
“We simply hold working,” defensive deal with Jordan Davis mentioned. “The one limitations are what we placed on ourselves. The sky is the restrict. We are the masters of our personal future. We simply need to go on the market and hold claiming it. We’ve got to be constant. So, that is my factor, being an affect [player] and claiming consistency.”
In opposition to the Commanders, there have been indicators of final yr’s dominant Eagles, particularly within the run recreation by piling up 207 yards, their second-best whole of the season. Saquon Barkley, held in verify a lot of this season, broke free within the second half, with a gritty 12-yard landing within the fourth quarter and a 48-yard run to arrange one other rating.
It is not simply Barkley who ignites the run recreation, although. Offensive deal with Jordan Mailata was fast to level out that it is a crew effort.
“Did you see Smitty’s block?” Mailata instructed me, referencing receiver DeVonta Smith on the 48-yard run. “Return and watch Smitty’s block. Oh, my goodness. I really like watching Saquon run, however I really like watching Smitty blocking. As a result of man, it is superb how for an undersized receiver. … That man can block his ass off and he does a rattling good job at it.”
Not all the pieces on Saturday appeared just like the 2024 Eagles, although. Their signature tush push, so efficient in brief yardage that NFL house owners almost voted to ban it, was stopped 3 times on the 1-yard line by the Commanders, twice on false begins on offensive linemen. Hurts made up for it each instances, throwing a 6-yard landing cross to Smith, and most significantly, a 16-yard landing to tight finish Dallas Goedert for the lead on a third-and-goal play late within the third.
“You lean on that play, you count on us to transform on the 1-yard line, and we simply did not do it that point,” Mailata mentioned. “Fairly blissful that Dallas and Jalen might bail us out on that one, however that is simply the way it goes.”
If the tush push goes the best way of the penny, how do the Eagles keep away from the identical destiny? Is final night time an indication of issues to return?
The Eagles need greater than to only repeat as NFC East champions, and head coach Nick Sirianni mentioned that, like anything, his crew should counter the best way opponents finally discover methods to beat the unbeatable.
“You recognize, groups regulate. We have got to proceed to regulate,” Sirianni mentioned. “What I used to be actually inspired by – clearly, you do not need penalties … however we had been actually capable of overcome them. That is what this recreation is about. There’s ups and downs all through this recreation, and there have been ups and downs by means of this recreation, and we had been capable of overcome, and hats off to our guys.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand spent a decade masking the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Instances and The Athletic. You may comply with him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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