The Philadelphia Eagles' defense, once the NFL's worst, has become the league's best, orchestrating a dominant performance in their NFC Championship victory over the Washington Commanders. The Eagles forced three turnovers, including a crucial interception by Kyzir White late in the fourth quarter, turning each into touchdown scoring drives.
Published: Jan. 27, 2025, 8:30 a.m. Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. (3) sacked Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) on a fourth down during the fourth quarter of the NFL Championship game, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The Eagles won, 55-23. Baun, who struggled to catch his breath after the Commanders ’ eight-minute, 18-play opening drive, pushed through exhaustion and made a key play on their next series.
The team went from having one of the NFL’s worst defenses last year to the best this season for many reasons, including better coaching and talent. But the group is tougher and plays with more effort, too. Sirianni has placed a big emphasis on creating turnovers, which has motivated players to be relentless. Baun picked off Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels late in the fourth quarter, too, helping the Eagles finish with three defensive turnovers. Philadelphia scored a touchdown on each ensuing drive. “We spend a lot of time on that. We do a lot of drills that go into that. We talk a lot about that,” Sirianni said about forcing turnovers. “We show any time there is a missed opportunity to take a ball away. ….To be plus, what, 21 on the season? That’s impressive. We talk about that at nausea. Probably where they’re sick and tired of hearing it. To me, I always say good leadership is saying the same things over and over.” After struggling to force turnovers earlier this season, the Eagles’ defense has become elite in that area, forcing eight takeaways in three playoff games. “It’s not natural at all,” Baun. “I mean to punch out the ball while you’re tackling is really tough to do. You’re risking a missed tackle or two. And we worked so hard at that in practice every day.” Coming into the game, Baun said he had a lot of confidence in their ability to shut down Washington’s offense, which scored 45 points in a divisional round victory over the Detroit Lions last week. Davis’ sack was for a loss of 12 on Washington’s first drive of the second half, forcing them to punt. And Smith, who has broken a franchise record with 4.5 total sacks in the playoffs, ended Washington’s comeback attempt by sacking Daniels on fourth-and-11 with 10:24 remaining. “”We want to win,” Eagles rookie defensive end Jalyx Hunt said. “We want to hit people. We want to be physical. And we want the ball.” In their Week 16 loss to the Commanders, the Eagles’ defense gave up 81 rushing yards to Daniels and allowed him to extend too many passing plays. Five weeks later, the Eagles held Daniels to 48 rushing yards and one touchdown and kept him in the pocket on most passing plays. “We are the only team that can beat them,” Eagles offensive guard Mekhi Becton said about Philadelphia’s defense. “It’s pretty cool to see that.” Every passing week, the Eagles’ defense, which finished the season as the No. 1 unit in the NFL, has become more confident. Mitchell, DeJean, Smith and second-year defensive tackle For the next two weeks, the Eagles are going to prepare for Mahomes, and they know it will take their best to beat him. But before turning its focus to Kansas City, the Eagles’ defense took a moment to celebrate last night
NFL Eagles Commanders NFC Championship Defense Turnover Kyzir White Nolan Smith Jr. Jalyx Hunt Haason Reddick
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