THE EAGLES BREAK THE CURSE!

What were you doing on November 28, 2004? I was wrapping up my first semester in college, which feels like a lifetime ago. That date happened to be when the Eagles clinched their fourth consecutive NFC East title. The Birds had ruled the division for much of the decade and were in the midst of a Super Bowl run. It was hard to imagine that reign ever ending, and yet that would remarkably be the start of the longest run of nonconsecutive division champs in NFL history.

That's all history now: the Curse of the Defending NFC East Champion has been broken! This win was not pretty but in the grand scheme of things that won't be remembered; what will be remembered is the broken streak and the fact that Philly apparently lives rent-free in the Commanders' heads.

A few comments:

Jalen Hurts is just OK. Statistically this game was pretty good for Jalen but there were quite a few inaccurate passes that the receivers bailed him out on. In fairness, there were a couple brutal drops as well. No complaints overall considering the stakes and the result but they'll need to be better once the playoffs start.

Let's talk about that two point conversion. Rough decision by Nick Sirriani that seemed unnecessary. Nick's reasoning (such as it was) was that the extra point would have been critical in the event of a Commanders rally including a pair of two point conversions. Leaving aside the fact that this theoretical rally was practically impossible (Washington had only one true scoring drive all game and none with Josh Johnson at that point), the odds of any team hitting back to back two point conversions is somewhere between 20-25%; probably less in this case due to the Commanders having their emergency QB in the game. Compare that small likelihood with the 50% probability that the Eagles would fail in their own attempt (leaving the Commanders only needing one two point conversion to take the lead), and it's not hard to see that this was a needless risk that the math didn't support. On top of that, you open yourself to the charges of poor sportsmanship and classlessness (and believe me, Commanders fans are making those charges), and you run the risk of provoking a Washington team that is known for struggling to control their emotions into an ugly scene like what we saw. Not great.

This wasn't a great coaching day overall. The time management around the two minute warning in the first half was brutal. Instead of hurrying to the line or taking a timeout with about 2:15 to play, Philly sat on the ball and let the clock wind. After a harmless Hurts draw that went for 3 yards on the other side of the break, Philly slow walked their next snap and didn't snap the ball again until 1:30. These two plays cost the Eagles offense something like 35-40 seconds, time that they probably could have used to get a better FG attempt. As we know, Elliott missed a long kick to end the half. The coachspeak will say something like "we didn't want to give Washington any time for a drive" which is loser speak; if you're so afraid of a banged up Washington offense going the distance on short time you probably don't stand a chance in the playoffs. Also, what does that say about your confidence in your own offense? I also wanted to know where the first half offensive innovations went after intermission (where were the empty sets and the under center formations used so well in the first half?). Just not a good day for Nick and the offensive coaches.

On the flip side, the defense never allowed a banged up Washington offense to get going. 11 of Washington's points were set up by the special teams fumble, and the Eagles reserves being in for the final drive.

Enough of the negatives! Philly dominated this game overall, with decisive statistical edges in nearly every major category (first downs, yards, time of possession, yards per play, etc.). This game reminded me of the first game against the Commanders from last season in several ways:

• game really only close on the scoreboard

• Jake Elliott does what he can to hurt the Eagles with multiple critical missed kicks

• Philly eventually wears Washington down with the ground game

• Commanders tack on a meaningless garbage time score to make it look a little closer than it was

I'm not going to make TOO much of this win, considering how many players Washington was missing for this game, but it's fair to point out that they still seemed to think they have something to prove and it's also fair to note the key Eagles that missed the game (Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter, Drew Mukuba, Nakobe Dean got knocked out). Also, never apologize for a road win against a division rival, no matter what else.

Philly's ground game rounding into form. The Birds' 207 rushing yards represented just the second time they've gotten over 200 as a team this season (276 against the Giants in October), and also marks the fourth consecutive game in which they've increased their rushing total; they've gone from 63 against Dallas to 87 against Chicago to 134 against LA to 183 against Vegas to 207 yesterday. It's possible that streak continues; Buffalo has one of the worst rush defenses in the league and they're up next.

More to say about this history making division title later, but for now it's FLY EAGLES FLY and Merry Christmas!