Eagles Fall To Commanders In Season Finale, Earn No. 3 Seed In NFC, Will Face 49ers In Wild Card Round
Kiel Leggere / Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles got some help from the Detroit Lions, but their backups couldn’t get the job done.
After electing to rest their starters for the final game of the season, the Eagles’ backups couldn’t pull out the win to close the regular season, losing to the Washington Commanders 24-17. With the loss, the Eagles locked themselves into the No. 3 seed in the NFC, and that gives them a matchup with the No. 6 seed, the San Francisco 49ers.
After no score from either team to start the game, Josh Johnson took the field next and led the Commanders down the field on their longest drive of the season, only for Jake Moody to miss the 24-yard field goal. Following the missed field goal, Tanner McKee led the Eagles back down the field, hitting Jahan Dotson and Grant Calcaterra for 15-yard catches, with Calcaterra’s being for a touchdown.
Up 7-0, that lead didn’t last long as Johnson walked down the field with a pass interference call on Jakorian Bennett in the endzone, setting up a touchdown from Chris Rodriguez to tie the game. Both teams traded interceptions, with Jalyx Hunt grabbing the one for the Eagles and Jeremy Reaves grabbing the one for the Commanders.
On the final drive of the first half, Johnson hit a few medium passes to get across midfield and set Moody up for a 56-yard field goal, and he drilled it. Out of the break, both teams punted on their first drives, but on the second drive, Hunt picked up his second turnover of the game, grabbing a Johnson fumble. After the fumble, McKee dinked and dunked his way down the field, setting up Tank Bigsby for a two-yard touchdown run.
After a Commanders punt, the Eagles extended their lead after getting back down into Washington’s territory and Jake Elliott drilling a 39-yard field goal. On the following possession, the Commanders, thanks to another long pass interference call, walked down the field, and Johnson found John Bates open in the endzone to tie the game.
The Eagles followed that drive up with a quick punt, and the Commanders did the exact opposite. Using another pass interference call, the Commanders got down to the goal line, and Johnson ran in a go-ahead touchdown with three minutes to play. The Commanders were able to stop the Eagles on both their final two possessions, handing the Eagles the 24-17 loss.
Philadelphia still had a shot at grabbing the No. 2 seed in the NFC, needing a loss from the Chicago Bears, and the Lions helped them out, beating Chicago 19-16. However, the Eagles also had to win their final game of the year, and due to them resting their starters and allowing the Commanders to steal the win, the Eagles will be the three seed.
The 49ers will travel to Philadelphia for the Wild Card Round, with the game likely taking place either Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, or Sunday evening. If the Eagles win, they will either travel to Chicago to take on the Bears or host a Divisional Game against the Green Bay Packers.
This will be the first time the Eagles will play the 49ers since back in 2023, when the two met during a regular season matchup where the 49ers came into Philadelphia and crushed the Birds 42-19. In terms of playoff matchups, this will be the third time that the Eagles and 49ers have met in the postseason, the last time being in the 2023 NFC Championship. The Eagles dominated that game, blowing the 49ers out 31-7 to reach Super Bowl LVII.
San Francisco has been all over the place this season, with multiple injuries from star players heavily affecting who has been starting all season. On the defensive side, they lost both Fred Warner and Nick Bosa early on in the season due to lower leg injuries, while on offense, Brock Purdy missed nearly half the season due to a shoulder injury but returned later in the season and has been the starter ever since.
Purdy also suffered a stinger in the team’s 13-3 loss to Seattle this weekend, but head coach Kyle Shanahan said it was only a stinger, and Purdy should be good to go next week.
The 49ers’ defense has been the big struggle this year, ranking in the middle of the pack in the rushing and receiving game across the NFL. Offense has been the bright spot for San Francisco, specifically from running back Christian McCaffrey, who very well may have won his second Offensive Player of the Year award this season.
The Eagles opened as 2.5-point favorites, but the line quickly moved to three in favor of Philadelphia.
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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