Northwest Stadium (Landover, Md.) – The Philadelphia Eagles are NFC East champions again, but they have not been very convincing of late.The Eagles won 29-18 on Saturday night on FOX, with Jalen Hurts throwing two touchdowns and Saquon Barkley breaking out with 132 rushing yards. The Commanders fell to 4-11 as a forgettable season continues.Here are my takeaways:1. What if the tush push isn’t a gimme?You remember when the tush push was so effective as a short-yardage gimmick that the NFL nearly banned the play?That wasn’t the case Saturday night, when the Eagles struggled with what used to be a high-percentage package. Philadelphia tried it from the Washington 1-yard line three times, and those plays resulted in a Hurts run for no gain and a pair of false starts on offensive linemen Fred Johnson and Landon Dickerson.Both times, Hurts was able to score from further out – a six-yard pass to DeVonta Smith early, a much more important 16-yard score to tight end Dallas Goedert – but it’s a new wrinkle if officials are calling the tush push close enough to back them up regularly on pre-snap penalties. The Commanders defended the tush push well on Saturday night. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) The tush simply isn’t pushing like it used to. Two years ago, the Eagles converted 76% on third- or fourth-and-1, the third-best rate in the league. Last year, the Eagles converted 63% on the same downs, ranking 12th, and this year, they were at 57%, ranking 19th, before Saturday’s struggles.So, perhaps another year has given NFL defenses enough time to better scheme the tush push, and the attention given to the play has officials watching it more closely and throwing more flags. Either way, we’re back to a point where fourth-and-1 for the Eagles is a point of intrigue and uncertainty instead of the predictably successful play that it once was.2. Is there a bigger disappointment than the Commanders?Yes, Jayden Daniels being limited to seven games is a big part of it, but go back a year and think of how good the Commanders were. It’s hard to imagine them being as much of a non-presence in the NFL as they are in 2025.Washington is 4-11 and not even threatening as a late-season spoiler, but there’s a lot more missing than just Daniels. They were only 2-5 with him starting this season, and Marcus Mariota isn’t much of a stopgap. Notably, the Commanders defense has taken a major step back in Dan Quinn’s second season. A special-teams fumble recovery…
Try WordAi Free
2025-12-21 01:05:42
