2024 NFC Championship Game

Last updated

2024 NFC Championship Game
DateJanuary 26, 2025
Kickoff time3:03 p.m. EST
Stadium Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
FavoriteEagles by 6 [1]
Referee Shawn Hochuli
Attendance69,879
TV in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi
Nielsen ratings U.S. TV viewership: 44.2 million [2]

The 2024 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 26, 2025, to determine the NFC champion for the 2024 NFL season. The game was played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and featured the Washington Commanders against their NFC East division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Contents

The Commanders made their first appearance in an NFC Championship Game since 1991, while the Eagles made their second appearance in three seasons. Entering the game as a 6-point favorite, the Eagles blew out the Commanders, 55–23, advancing to Super Bowl LIX.

Background

The Washington Commanders entered the 2024 NFL season in the middle of a stretch of seven consecutive seasons without a winning record. In 2023, the Commanders went 4–13, earning the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, where they selected quarterback Jayden Daniels from LSU. Despite low expectations for the season, Daniels led the Commanders to a 12–5 record, clinching their first playoff berth since 2020. In the Wild Card Round, the Commanders defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23–20, earning the franchise their first playoff win since 2005. In the Divisional Round, the Commanders upset the top-seeded Detroit Lions, 45–31, advancing to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991.

The Philadelphia Eagles entered the season coming off of a disappointing finish to their 2023 season, where they finished the regular season with a 1–5 record and lost in the Wild Card Round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a slow 2–2 start to the season, the Eagles won 12 of their remaining 13 regular season games (their only loss coming to the Commanders), winning the NFC East and securing the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers, 22–10 in the Wild Card Round and the Los Angeles Rams, 28–22 in the Divisional Round to advance to their second NFC Championship Game in three seasons.

Game summary

First half

On their first possession, the Commanders went for it twice on fourth down, their eighth and ninth fourth-down conversion attempts to date in the postseason. Their 18-play, first possession drive would end up on a Zane Gonzalez 34-yard field goal. The Eagles countered with a Saquon Barkley 60-yard touchdown run on their first play of the game; it was Saquon's third postseason run of 60 yards or more. [3]

Washington's next drive stalled when Zack Baun punched the ball out of Dyami Brown's arms on a catch and run; the ball was recovered by Reed Blankenship just before going out of bounds. With the ball on Washington's 48-yard line, the Eagles scored on a touchdown on Barkley 4-yard run with 3:43 left in the first quarter, putting the score at 14–3. The Commanders executed a fake punt on a Tress Way pass to backup tight end Ben Sinnott on their next possession. Their drive would stall, but a Zane Gonzalez 46-yard field goal cut the Eagles' lead to 14–6. The Eagles drove the ball down the field, but a Hurts' sack by Frankie Luvu on 3rd-and-6 moved the ball back to Washington's 36-yard-line; the next play Jake Elliott missed a 54-yard field goal. The Commanders promptly responded, as a few moments later, Terry McLaurin found the endzone after a 36-yard catch-and-run from Jayden Daniels with 7:05 left in the second quarter; they however failed on a two-point conversion that would have tied the score at 14. The Eagles scored a touchdown on their next drive, benefiting from a Hurts to A. J. Brown connection on a 4th-and-5 for 31 yards. Color commentary Tom Brady pointed out that the play should have been a penalty due to Barkley holding a Commanders' defender just before Hurts released the pass. Nevertheless, the Eagles finished off the drive on a Brotherly Shove play from the 1-yard line. After the play, veteran cornerback Marshon Lattimore was called for unnecessary roughness against A. J. Brown, which caused a short brawl. Instead of going for the extra-point field goal, the Eagles failed on a two-point conversion from the 1-yard line. On the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles recovered their second kickoff fumble of the playoffs. With the ball at Washington's 24-yard line, the Eagles drove the ball to the Commander's 4-yard line before a Hurts to Brown touchdown pass and catch gave the Eagles a 27–12 lead with 0:39 seconds left in the half. Daniels and the Commanders drove down the field, which allowed Gonzalez to kick a 42-yard field goal just before half, leaving the score at 27–15 at halftime. There were no punts in the first half, the first time this has happened in a Conference Championship game since 2003.

Second half

On their second possession of the third quarter, the Eagles went up 34–15 on a Jalen Hurts 9-yard run, his second rushing touchdown of the game. The Commanders responded on their next possession with a Daniels 10-yard touchdown run; their successful two-point conversion cut the lead to 34–23. At 2:29 left in the third quarter, Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu came up with a tackle for loss on a Barkley run on 3rd-and-5, forcing an Eagles punt. On the Commanders' next possession, they suffered their third fumble loss of the game when backup running back Austin Ekeler caught the ball on a short pass, fell down, and loss the ball when he got up due to Oren Burks punching the ball out of his hands.

In the fourth quarter, after a 22-yard run by Barkley, as well as three straight encroachment penalties on Washington's defense (two of which were on Luvu), the Eagles scored a touchdown on a Hurts Brotherly Shove from the 1-yard line, his third rushing touchdown of the game. On their next possession, the Commanders were stopped on fourth down on their own 31-yard line. Pass interference by Jeremy Chinn on tight end Dallas Goedert set up the Eagles to score their sixth touchdown of the game; the 4-yard scoring run from Barkley was his seventh touchdown against the Commanders during the season and extended the Eagles' lead to 48–23. With the game out of reach, backup running back Will Shipley added the Eagles seventh touchdown of the day on 2-yard run with 4:51 remaining in the game. Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett kneeled the ball on the Eagles' next possession to secure the team's fifth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. The Eagles' 55 points were the most scored by a team in any championship game. [4]

Box score

Washington Commanders vs. Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Commanders3128023
Eagles141372155

at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Game information

Aftermath

The Eagles would advance to Super Bowl LIX, where they would play the Kansas City Chiefs, a rematch from three years prior in Super Bowl LVII. However, unlike Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 40–22, winning their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

Despite the surprise season from the Commanders, their subsequent 2025 season was marred by injuries, including multiple injuries to Jayden Daniels, resulting in a 5–12 finish.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eagles vs. Commanders odds, line, spread: 2025 NFC Championship Game predictions from model on 31-15 run". CBS Sports. January 26, 2025. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  2. ↑ Lerner, Drew (January 28, 2025). "Eagles-Commanders least-watched NFC Championship since 2020". Awful Announcing. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  3. ↑ Laine, Jenna [@JennaLaineESPN] (January 26, 2025). "Saquon Barkley's three rushing touchdowns of 60+ yards are the most in a single postseason in NFL history. He now has 11 rushing touchdowns of 60+ yards (regular and postseason), second most in NFL history, behind Adrian Peterson at 15. Jim Brown and Derrick Henry have nine" (Tweet). Retrieved January 28, 2025– via Twitter.
  4. ↑ @Underdog__NFL, Underdog NFL. "The Eagles' 55 points against the Commanders are the most scored by anyone in the NFC Championship Game. No other team has reached 50+ points in that game". X. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.