Eagles Clinch Back-To-Back NFC East Division Title After Road Win Over Commanders
LANDOVER, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 20: Brandon Graham #55 of the Philadelphia Eagles sacks Marcus Mariota #8 of the Washington Commanders in the first quarter at Northwest Stadium on December 20, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
The NFC East officially has a back-to-back division champion for the first time since 2004.
The 2025 Philadelphia Eagles have been a very up-and-down team all season long. They come out hot, winning their first four games of the season, before losing two straight. Then they won four more games in a row before losing three straight games. Finally, it seems that the Eagles are moving in the right direction after picking up a shutout win at home against the Las Vegas Raiders, and while it took some time, the Eagles took care of business in Landover, picking up a win over the Washington Commanders.
It took a while for the Eagles to get going, as multiple missed field goals in the first half caused them to be trailing going into the break, but three second-half touchdowns and a near shutout performance from the Eagles’ defense capped off the 29-18 division-clinching win.
Things didn’t start the way the Eagles hoped they would, as on the opening kickoff, Will Shipley fumbled the opening return, giving Washington the ball inside the 25. With the great field position, Marcus Mariota and the Commanders’ offense moved the ball inside the 10 for a goal-to-go situation, but the Eagles’ defense was able to hold Washington to just a field goal.
Trailing by three, the Eagles’ offense didn’t respond, going three and out, but Washington responded with a quick drive that ended in a punt. With the ball back, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense finally got going. Hurts hit DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown with 15-yard passes and used his legs to pick up another 14 yards.
Hurts hit Brown again for a big pass, setting them up at the two for first and goal. A run from Saquon Barkley was initially called a touchdown, but after review was called short. A penalty on the tush push moved the Eagles back five yards, but that didn’t matter as Hurts dropped back and found Smith open for six.
After the touchdown, the Commanders came out flat on offense, punting after four plays. The Eagles offense picked up right where they left off, using scrambles from Hurts, small runs from Barkley, and a big 24-yard catch from Brown to set Philadelphia back up inside Washington territory.
However, a negative yard catch and two incompletions forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal, but that didn’t go to plan as Jake Elliott shanked the 43-yarder. After back-to-back punts from Washington, Mariota decided to change things up and went deep on the first play after the missed field goal, and hit Terry McLaurin for a 40-yard catch.
A big catch from Deebo Samuel set them up on the 10, and small runs from both Chris Rodriguez and Jacory Croskey-Merritt set them up at the one, and Croskey-Merritt found his way into the endzone for the 10-7 lead.
With under three minutes until the half, the Eagles were once again moving right down the field with Hurts’ hitting Brown multiple times. Although once they passed midfield, the drive stalled out and forced a 57-yard field goal, which was once again shanked by Elliott. Fortunately, a penalty on the kick from Washington gave Elliott another shot, five yards closer. Unfortunately for Elliott, he missed another kick as the Eagles went into the break down 10-7.
The Commanders received the ball out of the half, but unlike their final offensive drive of the first half, Washington punted it away after four plays. The Eagles, being the Eagles, did what they usually do best: control the ball for a long drive. This drive in particular took up over 10 minutes of game time.
From dinks and dunks from Hurts to small runs from Barkley, the Eagles marched down the field, chewing up minute after minute. On a 3rd and 8 at the 20, a pass interference from Washington set the Eagles up at the one. The Eagles nearly shot themselves in the foot thanks to a holding penalty from Fred Johnson, but Hurts was able to find Dallas Goedert open for a 15-yard touchdown to take the lead.
On the previous offensive possession for Washington, Mariota suffered an injury, forcing the Commanders to bring backup quarterback Josh Johnson into the game. Johnson didn’t look terrible on his first few plays, but on a third and long, Johnson underthrew a pass, and it ended up in the hands of Cooper DeJean for his second interception of the season.
Back on offense inside of Washington’s territory, the Eagles were set up to extend their lead. Hurts found Brown and Jahan Dotson for small gains, putting them inside the redzone, and from 12 yards out, Barkley bulldozed his way through the middle for the touchdown, reaching his 1,000th yard of the season and making it 21-10 Philadelphia.
Washington’s offense with Johnson continued stalling out as they went three and out, but the Eagles answered back with a three and out of their own. The Commanders then punted once again, and with just under seven minutes to play, Barkley broke this game open with a 48-yard run into the Commanders’ territory, and Tank Bigsby finished off the drive with a 22-yard touchdown run.
Barkley came back in for a two-point conversion run and scored to make it 29-10, but on the play, the Eagles and Commanders began fighting, resulting in multiple players, including for the Eagles, Tyler Steen, being ejected.
With under four minutes to play and the majority of the Eagles’ backups in the game, Johnson led the Commanders down the field, picking up the majority of the yards on a pass interference from Kelee Ringo. Rodriguez was then given a handoff from three yards out for the touchdown, and Jeremy McNichols scored the two-point conversion. On the ensuing onside kick, the Eagles recovered it and ran out the clock, holding on to the 29-18 victory.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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