This Eagles vs. Commanders matchup is quite different from last season’s NFC title game

By Canadian Press on December 18, 2025.

Philadelphia (9-5) at Washington (4-10)

Saturday, 5 p.m. EST, Fox.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Eagles by 6 1/2.

Against the spread: Eagles 8-6; Commanders 5-9.

Series record: Washington leads 90-86-5.

Last week: Eagles beat the Raiders 31-0; Commanders beat the Giants 29-21.

Last meeting: Eagles beat the Commanders 55-23 at Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2025, in the NFC title game.

Eagles offense: overall (22), rush (19), pass (22), scoring (18).

Eagles defense: overall (14), rush (22), pass (10), scoring (6).

Commanders offense: overall (18), rush (4), pass (24), scoring (24).

Commanders defense: overall (31), rush (28), pass (29), scoring (26).

Turnover differential: Eagles plus-4; Commanders minus-12.

Eagles player to watch

QB Jalen Hurts. He’s coming off one of his finest performances of the season … which followed the worst game of his career. Two weeks ago, Hurts threw four picks and lost a fumble in a loss to the Chargers. Last week, he completed 80% of his throws and had a trio of TD passes — with zero turnovers — to help end Philadelphia’s three-game losing skid.

Commanders player to watch

RB Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt. The rookie seventh-round pick ran 18 times for 96 yards — a 5.3 average — and scored on a 16-yard carry in the victory over the Giants, his first touchdown since Oct. 5. That was also the last time Washington had won until last weekend.

Key matchup

Eagles WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith against Washington’s secondary. The Commanders’ defensive backfield has been hit hard by injuries this season and that includes putting its two starting cornerbacks on IR — Marshon Lattimore and Trey Amos — but at no point have they been able to stop anyone, really.

Key injuries

Eagles: DT Jalen Carter (shoulders) and T Lane Johnson (foot) were both ruled out.

Commanders: QB Jayden Daniels (left elbow) has been shut down for the season, leaving former Eagles backup Marcus Mariota as the starter. … LT Laremy Tunsil (oblique) will miss Saturday’s game. Brandon Coleman will replace him.

Series notes

This is the teams’ first meeting this season. The division rivals meet in two of the regular season’s final three weeks, including at Philadelphia in Week 18. … Philadelphia has won three of the past four regular-season matchups. … They’ve met just twice in the postseason, including in the NFC championship game in January, which the Eagles won easily on the way to the Super Bowl title.

Stats and stuff

An Eagles victory would make them the first NFC East club to win consecutive division titles since Philadelphia had four in a row from 2001-04. … Last week’s win assured Philadelphia of its fifth winning season in a row under Nick Sirianni, the longest such run for an Eagles coach at the start of his career. He’s also just the 10th NFL head coach in the last 55 years with that kind of streak to start a career, along with Bill Cowher, John Harbaugh, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Sean McVay, George Seifert, Mike Sherman, Mike Smith and Mike Tomlin. Another victory Saturday would be Sirianni’s 58th in the regular season, which would break a tie with Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Brown for the second-most for a coach in his first five seasons. George Seifert holds the record with 62. … The 31-0 score against the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday represented Philadelphia’s largest margin of victory in a shutout since beating the Green Bay Packers by 31-0 in December 1990. … The 75 yards gained by the Raiders were the fewest the Eagles had allowed against any opponent since giving up 49 in a game in 1955. … TE Dallas Goedert led the Eagles with 70 yards receiving and two touchdowns last week; it was his third two-TD game this season. … Philadelphia has intercepted a pass in five games in a row. … The Commanders are playing out the string after an eight-game losing streak eliminated them from playoff contention. At least they snapped that skid last week, albeit by beating the even-worse New York Giants. … QB Marcus Mariota, who has taken over as the starter with Jayden Daniels shut down for the season, has three turnovers in the past 1 1/2 games — two fumbles and an interception. … Washington fumbled a total of four times last week, but managed to recover the ball twice so only lost two. … In last season’s 55-23 win for the Eagles in the NFC title game, the Commanders turned the ball over four times — and each one led to a TD for Philadelphia.

Fantasy tip

TE Dallas Goedert. Generally a good idea to have a tight end going up against Washington’s poor defense, and Philadelphia’s Goedert is coming off another strong game. Against the Raiders, he led the Eagles with 70 yards receiving and he scored a pair of touchdowns. He has three games this season with at least two TDs catches.

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The Associated Press