🏈 NFC Championship: Philadelphia Eagles 🦅 Destroy Washington Commanders 🏛️ (55-23) to Reach Super Bowl LIX 🏆
A review on NFC Championship Final between Philadelphia Eagles 🦅 and Washington Commanders 🏛️
I don't get to watch much in the way of American Sports and I've not really been into American Football since the days of Madden on what would now be considered a retro games console (I probably played it on the MegaDrive). Even then, I couldn't tell you the difference between a Linebacker, Running Back, or any other position other than the much-coveted Quarterback.
But seeing that Sky Sports was showing the semi-finals for the Super Bowl last night (although they weren't called the semi-finals, instead being called the NFC and AFC Championship games), I decided I'd watch it and see if I had any idea what was going on!
Washington's Rookie Quarterback
Washington Captials Quarterback - Jayden Daniels
There was a lot of talk in the build up about young Jayden Daniels, the Washington Commanders Quarterback and his debut season in the NFL. He had the opportunity to become the first rookie Quarterback to start in the Super Bowl (although if you ask ChatGPT, it'll say that 2 players have already achieved this but they were both in their 2nd season!)
After an impressive season that saw him achieve:
the most rushing yards (891) and highest
completion percentage (69%) by a rookie
quarterback
an NFL rookie-record 12 touchdown
passes in the fourth quarter or overtime
for the season, with five of them
occurring in the final 30 seconds or
overtime being the most by any player
since 1970
the highest points per game (28.5) by a
rookie quarterback
selected to the 2025 Pro Bowl Games,
becoming the fourth rookie quarterback
since 1970 to make an initial Pro Bowl
roster
source
I was rooting for him to do well although as the underdogs, the Washington Commanders would have to defy the odds to reach the Super Bowl.
Turnovers Defined the Contest
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Washington Captials 3rd Fumble
As I mentioned, I'm no NFL expert, but even to me, it was clear that the Philadelphia Eagles were superior in every aspect.
Every time Washington had the offense, it was a grind. They found it difficult to gain ground, and on four separate occasions, lost a turnover (three fumbles) which were severely punished with three of them leading to a Philadelphia Touchdown. Brutal and contributing to 21 of the Eagles' 55 points.
Contrastingly, Philadelphia always seemed to have an extra option. When the pass wasn't on, Quarterback Jalen Hurts was happy to run himself and rushed three touchdowns by doing so.
As the match wore on, the grind that the Commanders had to endure really started to take its toll. By the end of the 3rd Quarter, Washington had seen their three fumbles, leading to them conceding two touchdowns and 14 points. The third fumble (see image) perhaps being the action that broke Washington's spirits. They'd fought their way back into the game and this was the fumble that saw them miss out on taking it to a one-score game going into the Final Quarter.
In the 4th Quarter, Philadelphia's superiority saw them become totally dominant taking an 11-point game to a 32 point margin with three more Touchdowns.
This will be the Philadelphia Eagles 2nd Super Bowl in three seasons and is the first time in 35 years that a team scored over 50 points in a Championship game - again demonstrating their dominance.
A Repeat of 2021 (Super Bowl LVII)
In the other Championship game which I didn't watch due to the late kick off time (Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs), the Chiefs narrowly beat the Bills 32-29 to chase their 3rd Super Bowl win in a row.
I suspect that the Kansas City Chiefs will be favourites but knowing next to nothing about the NFL and only having seen one match in about two decades, I wouldn't write off the Philadelphia Eagles - their game appeared to have everything.
It's also unlikely that I'll be watching the Super Bowl. An 11:30pm kick off
Match Highlights
Links to YouTube
!LUV