
LANDOVER, Md. - Circumstance may have awoken a sleeping giant in the NFC.
All of a sudden the Philadelphia Eagles looks like legitimate contenders again after three weeks of making layups against inferior foes, turning around what had been a slog of a season into the opponent that might seem like the looming Boogeyman to the other top contenters, be it Seattle, Chicago or the Los Angeles Rams.
The latest tomato can put in front of the Eagles was a Jayden Daniels-less Washington Commanders team that turned into a Marcus Mariota-less group early in the third quarter.’
When that rug was pulled out from under the Commanders and Josh Johnson, any air in what was a deflated balloon to begin with quickly siphoned out.
The endgame was Eagles winning 29-18 and earning a second consecutive NFC East title, something that hasn’t happened for anyone in the most volatile division over the past two decades.
It was the fifth consecutive postseason berth in the Nick Sirianni era for Philadelphia, making the Eagles coach one of three in the Super Bowl era to reach the playoffs in five straight years while winning three division titles.
You can go on and on with those kinds of nuggets for franchise that has turned winning into a habit.
What’s scary for the rest of the league is that the Eagles look like a slumping shooter watching the basketball go through the hoops with arguably its two best players on each side of the football – All-Pros Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter – on the eve of a return in Week 17 against Buffalo.
That’s Lane Johnson in the middle. He’s out doing some stuff with the O-Linemen. Positive sign for next week perhaps. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/y5AJEAKx79
— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) December 20, 2025
FINDING ANSWERS
On offense, empty sets are giving quarterback Jalen Hurts answers in the passing game, just as the running game flashes efficiency.
“I definitely don’t mind empty,” Hurts told Eagles On SI after the game. “...Ultimately, just trying to progress the ball, I think you have to make people stop certain things. When you have that approach, you remain aggressive so you are kind of able to play on your terms.”
Defensively, Philadelphia has held three consecutive opponents under 150 yards passing in the games Carter has missed, with the interior combination of Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, and Brandon Graham combining for eight sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 10 quarterback hits.
The veteran Graham had three sacks over a nine-snap span over the past two weeks.
“A gut like Jalen Carter, you lose him, that’s a big boy right there. I’m just so happy to at least be half of what he is in the middle and just go out there and do my job with the guys.
“I ain’t going to take all the credit because we all been out there working together.”
And just like that, it’s all clicking again for the reigning Super Bowl champions, who seem to be peaking at the right time, again adopting the slogan “Been There, Won That” for their latest NFC East championship.
Been there, won that pic.twitter.com/Q0S2LmoN8V
— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) December 21, 2025
The rest of the league has to cross its collective fingers and hope that’s false advertising.
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