Commanders Aren't Backing Down From Eagles Rematch

Washington RB Brian Robinson said his team is better than the 12-2 Eagles earlier this week.

Dec 15, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. (8) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - There hasn't been much of the always-overrated bulletin board material this season regarding the powerful 12-2 Philadelphia Eagles.

Perhaps that's a testament to not wanting to poke a bear that is maybe the most talented team in the NFL.

However, Washington running back Brian Robinson didn't tiptoe around anything when discussing Sunday's rematch between the Eagles and 9-5 Commanders, a game with playoff implications for both sides.

While Philadelphia has already punched its ticket to the postseason, sweeping the home-and-home series against the Commanders on Sunday would clinch the NFC East and at least the No. 2 seed in the conference for the Eagles.

A win by Washington coupled with a loss from Arizona and a setback by either the Los Angeles Rams or Seattle would guarantee a wild-card berth for the Commanders.

“We feel like we are the better team," Robinson told 106.7 The Fan in D.C. earlier this week.

If you peel back the onion to the 26-18 Eagles win over Washington in Week 11 at Lincoln Financial Field, it was the Commanders who held a slim 10-6 lead heading to the fourth quarter before the Philadelphia offensive line, and Saquon Barkley took over with touchdown runs of 23 and 39 yards, 20 seconds apart with just under five minutes left in the game.

In other words, things were razor close for 55 minutes of football.

"Like a lot of great players, [Barkley] is at his best and has proven to be in the end of games," Washington head coach Dan Quinn said. "And so we have to make sure that the sit and the tackling on the fifth run is the same on the 25th run. And you have to be able to just continue to do right longer than them.

"And they've proven this year that they're exceptional at staying at [the running game]. ...And that takes a lot of discipline It takes a lot of work to do it over and over again because like the great player, it just takes the one and that's what makes over and over, the grind of staying in it for each down. that's the key to me."

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, the presumptive Offensive Rookie of the Year, was largely shut down by the complicated Vic Fangio coverage schemes in the first matchup between the two teams and called the Eagles "a very good team" this week.

"They play hard, they play physical, they play the right way and if we want to win football games or win the close ones, win the big games, you gotta play agaisnt some good teams. And Philly's just on the clock so hopefully we go out ther and compete against them again," Daniels said.

As for Robinson, what did you expect him to say?

The upstart Commanders have something to prove and shying away from a measuring stick like the Eagles would be even worse than poking that proverbial bear.

"Don't worry about the future, what happened in the past. All that matters is the moment," Daniels said.

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