Grading the Eagles: The offense takes flight in every way, and the defense finds the football

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 55-23 win over the Commanders:

Jalen Hurts picked the perfect time to have his best game of the season. He answered a lot of questions about his passing ability and mobility despite a knee injury. He threw for 246 yards and a touchdown and had a 71.4% completion rate. His rushing numbers weren’t gaudy, but he scored a 9-yard touchdown on the ground in the third quarter, and added two more via Tush Push.

Hurts’ first completion was maybe his best throw since returning from a concussion — a 20-yard dime to DeVonta Smith on an out route. He later floated a 31-yard strike to receiver A.J. Brown on fourth-and-5 in the second quarter.

On a third-down conversion to tight end Dallas Goedert in the second quarter, Hurts got the Washington Commanders safety to show his coverage pre-snap.

» READ MORE: Marcus Hayes: Jalen Hurts is a stone-cold winner with one big win to go after he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl again

Hurts didn’t show any obvious issues from the injury. He kept on a second-quarter zone read and didn’t gain any yards. But it kept Washington honest, and in the third quarter, Hurts scored a 9-yard touchdown on a draw. He set an NFL record for quarterbacks with nine career rushing touchdowns in the postseason, passing Steve Young, who had eight.

Saquon Barkley wasn’t needed to shoulder the offense as much as usual, but he was still electric when he got touches. He finished with 118 yards on 15 carries and scored three touchdowns. He needs just 30 yards in the Super Bowl to pass Terrell Davis’ regular season and postseason combined record for rushing yards in a season (2,476), set with Denver in the 1998 season. Barkley may not have gotten the chance to eclipse Eric Dickerson’s 40-year regular-season record, but he is one game from having maybe the best season for a running back in league annals.

» READ MORE: There’s no stopping Saquon Barkley as he’s about to take his record-setting show to New Orleans

He came out of the gates flying with a 60-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ first offensive play from scrimmage. Barkley spun out of two tackles on the outside before zigzagging across the field and into the end zone. He scored his second touchdown when he bounced outside and walked into the end zone.

Kenneth Gainwell gave Barkley a few important breathers in the first half and had three carries for 8 yards and two catches for 16 yards. Fullback Khari Blasingame was the lead blocker on a short Barkley run in the red zone in the second quarter.

Rookie Will Shipley became Barkley’s backup after Gainwell left with a concussion. He broke off a 57-yard run and scored the final touchdown.

With Hurts having his “A” game back, Brown was back to his usual self. The receiver caught 6 of 8 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore didn’t shadow Brown, but they went back and forth in their battles.

Brown had picked up a couple of first downs on his second and third targets. He got behind Lattimore for a 31-yard grab on fourth down. Just before the half, he beat cornerback Mike Sainristil to the sideline for a 4-yard touchdown grab. He also got Lattimore to commit a personal foul in the first half.

» READ MORE: A.J. Brown showed up when the Eagles needed him most

Smith caught 4 of 4 passes for 45 yards, but he did more than what showed in the stat sheet. Lattimore grabbed the receiver when he got open vs. man coverage just before the half. The subsequent pass interference penalty gave the Eagles the ball at the 1-yard line.

Smith got wide-open on an early out route that went for 20 yards.

Goedert was outstanding despite missing most of the last week with an ankle injury. He pulled in 7 of 8 targets for 85 yards. Goedert converted third-and-7 with a 15-yard grab that included yards after the catch in the second quarter. As a run blocker, he was out front on Barkley’s 60-yarder.

The O-line had some shaky moments, especially in the first half, with the shake-up because of injury. But the group held up and withstood another loss in the second half, thanks to Cam Jurgens’ reemergence.

Landon Dickerson got the start at center with Jurgens limited all week because of a back injury. He got off to a fine start, but was clearly hindered by a knee injury as the first half progressed.

A Hurts third-down sack came when Washington’s Frankie Luvu got to the quarterback untouched. It looked like Dickerson and Grant Calcaterra might have gotten mixed up on who had the blitzing linebacker. Dickerson’s holding penalty negated a Hurts touchdown run before the break.

Hurts converted the first few Tush Push attempts behind Dickerson, but the Eagles failed on a two-point attempt before the half. Dickerson was laboring as the game progressed and was replaced by Jurgens at the half.

Tyler Steen took Dickerson’s spot at left guard and had some clear-out blocks for Barkley. He helped keep Washington defensive tackle Jonathan Allen under control. Steen jumped offside when the Commanders showed blitz in the second quarter.

Left tackle Jordan Mailata had some bulldozer-like blocks in the run game. He had the key seal block on the edge on Barkley’s 60-yard touchdown run. Mailata and Steen helped clear a path for Hurts on his touchdown draw.

Commanders defensive end Dorance Armstrong got around Mailata and sacked Hurts to open the second half.

Tackle Lane Johnson and guard Mekhi Becton did yeoman’s-like work on the right side in both pass protection and the run game. Commanders edge rusher Dante Fowler almost never sniffed Hurts.

Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels had his moments through the air and on the ground. And he will be a force to reckon with in future seasons. But the Eagles defense, led by its front, didn’t allow him to take over. The unit also was out front in holding Commanders running backs to just 2.7 yards a carry.

It didn’t take Jalen Carter long to get started. The defensive tackle beat right guard Trent Scott, who was filling in for the injured Sam Cosmi, on the first snap and pressured Daniels into a short scramble. Several snaps later, Carter got into the backfield again and forced the quarterback outside the pocket.

Carter left briefly with an injury in the third quarter, but only missed a few plays. In the fourth quarter, he won another one-on-one vs. Scott that led to a Daniels throwaway.

Defensive end Josh Sweat and outside linebacker Nolan Smith sealed the edge against the run most of the game. Smith got to Daniels for a sack on fourth down in the fourth quarter.

Defensive tackle Milton Williams stood up an O-lineman that resulted in a short Commanders run. He had a strong third-down bull rush that helped force Daniels to throw the ball away in the second quarter.

Defensive tackle Jordan Davis was only on the field in base personnel, but with Washington going up-tempo a lot he was on the field for more pass plays than normal. In the third quarter, Davis got a huge sack via an inside bull rush. It was his first sack since Week 3.

He later batted a pass at the line.

Defensive end Jalyx Hunt had four tacklesand defensive tackle Moro Ojomo finished with three . Even defensive end Bryce Huff got in on the act and had some rushes that hurried Daniels toward the end of the game.

The Eagles' off-ball linebackers flew around all game. Zack Baun led the defense with 12 tackles. Oren Burks was just behind him with nine.

Baun forced the Commanders’ first turnover when he punched the ball out of receiver Dyami Brown’s hands in the first quarter. Baun has been in on 11 turnovers this season — six forced fumbles, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries.

He was in man coverage when tight end Zach Ertz caught a 7-yard pass on fourth-and-5 on Washington’s opening possession.

Baun was a little late with help on Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin’s 36-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Burks got the start opposite Baun again in place of the injured Nakobe Dean. He “Peanut Punched” a fumble in the third quarter when he popped the ball from Austin Ekeler when he got up after catching a short pass. Baun was on the recovery.

In the first half, Burks got Daniels down for a sack after containing the elusive quarterback outside the pocket.

Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell were excellent on the outside. The cornerbacks didn’t allow a Washington receiver to catch more than four passes (Olamide Zaccheaus) and for 51 yards (McLaurin).

Mitchell caught his second interception of the postseason in the second half. He pelted Zaccheaus on a failed screen pass on Washington’s first drive. He snuffed out a misdirection swing pass on a two-point try in the second quarter.

Slay was in man coverage when McLaurin caught and ran away for his 36-yard score. But the 34-year-old corner was sticky in coverage until walking off holding his chest area.

Slot corner Cooper DeJean broke up a deep pass on the Commanders’ opening drive. A quarter later, he was credited with disrupting a screen pass to Dyami Brown. In the fourth quarter, he tackled Jamison Crowder short of the sticks on third down.

Ertz torched the Eagles safety combination of C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship for 11 catches and 104 yards. But the former Eagle was really the only Commander to pose a downfield threat.

Gardner-Johnson was better vs. the run and got in on several stops as the Eagles shut down running back Brian Robinson.

Gardner-Johnson was in coverage when Ertz caught a 21-yard pass in the third quarter. Daniels was a tough assignment, but it appeared as if the safety broke contain on the quarterback’s 10-yard scamper for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Blankenship recovered Baun’s first-quarter forced fumble just before it went out of bounds. He was in a tough spot vs. McLaurin in the open field on his touchdown, but he took a bad angle from the post. He trailed Ertz on a 16-yard catch over the middle in the third quarter.

Shipley forced a turnover before the half when the rookie steamrolled into kick returner Jeremy McNichols and the ball came out. Gainwell recovered the fumble. Earlier in the half, Shipley had his first kick return in some time and it was a good one. He took it back 35 yards.

Gainwell had two returns for a 19.5-yard average.

Jake Elliott was wide right on a 54-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, but he made all of his extra points. Braden Mann didn’t have a punt until the third quarter and finished with a 31.5-net yard average.

Washington pulled off a fake in the first quarter when punter Tress Way lofted a 23-yard completion over the middle to third-string tight end Ben Sinnott. It looked like they took advantage of rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr.’s aggressiveness on his rush.

Nick Sirianni has the Eagles back in the Super Bowl two years after his first appearance. The head coach deserves ultimate credit for the way the team came back from a 2-2 start, with how he altered the offense, allowed defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to change his personnel, and with how the Eagles handled the finer details of football.

They won the turnover battle again, 4-0.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore did well to get Hurts comfortable early. He got mismatches in the secondary with several play calls and got the ball into the hands of his best ball catchers.

Fangio was again the maestro of the defense. He seemed to play it way too soft before the half and Daniels was able to march the Commanders to a field goal in 37 seconds. But his unit ball hawked all game and kept Daniels from going off.