Eagles news: Early look at NFC playoff race; two Birds games could get flexed; Saquon's stats; reactions to a big win

It was a quiet night for the Washington Commanders star receiver Terry McLaurin. That’s because Eagles rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was lined up opposite of the receiver dubbed “Scary Terry” for most of the Eagles’ 26-18 victory. On 20 passing plays with Mitchell in coverage, he was targeted a total of zero times.

The Washington receiver complimented the rookie corner after the game.

“He’s a good corner,” McLaurin told reporters in the locker room. “He doesn’t really play like a rookie.”

The Eagles defense and Saquon Barkley’s fourth quarter takeover played an important role in the Eagles win over the Commanders. But kicker Jake Elliott did not.

Elliott missed two field goals in the first half before missing an extra point in the fourth quarter. Despite his struggles, head coach Nick Sirianni still has faith in Elliott moving forward.

“We have so much faith in Jake,” Sirianni said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show Friday. “He’s made so many kicks here and so many big-time kicks here, dating back to before I got here."

The Eagles will travel down to Landover, Md., to face the Commanders at Northwest Stadium in Week 16 on Dec. 22, the Sunday before Christmas. Keep your eye on that one for a possible flex opportunity into Sunday Night Football, especially after the Birds were demoted off NBC’s prime-time game earlier this season.

Week 16′s Sunday Night Football game is currently scheduled to feature the 4-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the lowly 3-6 Dallas Cowboys. It’s almost unheard of for a network to move out of a Cowboys game in a prime-time spot, but America’s Team could be awful enough this season to warrant it.

The NFL did flex the Cowboys off Sunday Night Football in 2020, moving their Week 15 game against the San Francisco 49ers to 1 p.m. and replacing it with New York Giants vs. Cleveland Browns. So while it’s rare, the NFL doesn’t want a terrible game in prime time if the league can avoid it.

The Eagles now have six wins in a row and improved to 8-2 on Thursday night. There’s no doubt that Saquon Barkley has been the catalyst for an outstanding season so far, especially on offense. But what are some of the other reasons why the Birds are doing so well?

According to former Philadelphia and Washington wide receiver DeSean Jackson, it’s because of him.

“I think, honestly, I’m the reason kind of why they’re playing good,” Jackson said of the Eagles on his podcast, The 25/10 Show. “I lit some you-know-what up under them. I lit some fire under them. I feel like I was being very [critical] on them, you know what I’m saying. And when I speak my language, I feel like sometimes guys listen. My boy C.J. Gardner-Johnson, you know my boy tapped in like, ‘[Expletive] Jack, that’s how you feel?’ Like, yeah, and he was like, ‘You know what? You kind of right.’ So I feel like as much as they might hit you and say they’re mad, they still listening and tune in because you know that they got to get on their [expletive].”

It turns out that 26 was the lucky number for the Eagles in their pivotal win over the Washington Commanders in prime-time on Thursday night.

To stay atop the NFC East, the Birds bested the Commanders, 26-18, led by a dominant performance from No. 26 Saquon Barkley, who finished with two touchdowns and 146 rushing yards on 26 carries. It was the Eagles sixth straight win, and proved to be the perfect birthday gift to DeVonta Smith who turned — you guessed it — 26 years old.

The Eagles head into Week 12 in first place in the division after a late fourth-quarter offensive surge led by Barkley and an impressive defensive showing that limited quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders. With the world watching on prime-time television, Barkley channeled his inner “Mamba Mentality,” as he donned the Kobe Bryant “Mamba” earrings.

Zach Ertz walked into the visitor’s locker room at Lincoln Financial Field and asked for a Sharpie.

Almost everything about the night felt like old times. The faces, the field, the fans, the former teammates, and the family that came to watch the veteran tight end’s return to the place he called home for the first nine years of his career.

Unfamiliar, though, were the four walls in which he wrote a parting message to Lane Johnson on the back of his new jersey after the Eagles beat Ertz’s Washington Commanders, 26-18, on Thursday night to spoil the 34-year-old’s first time playing in Philadelphia against the team that drafted him back in 2013.

You might be interested to hear what Zach Ertz had to say about one Eagles defensive player in particular after the former Eagles star and current Washington Commanders tight end’s first time playing in Philly against his old team in unfriendly colors.

“Jalen Carter is going to be one of the best defensive players in this league for a long time,” Ertz said. “He’s the key cog on that defense in my opinion.”

This Eagles defense is dominant enough for a handful of players to stake claim for the label of “key cog.” Quinyon Mitchell has become a rarity: A rookie cornerback opposing offenses are hesitant to even test because of how often he breaks up passes or blankets the league’s best wide receivers. Zack Baun has become the engine in the middle of the team’s defense, covering up space to break up passing lanes, making key tackles and forcing turnovers on a nearly weekly basis.

A young girl in a black Saquon Barkley jersey did a good job of getting the running back’s attention Thursday night before the game, Barkley said. Normally, Barkley wears headphones during warmups and doesn’t hear everything.

But he locked eyes with the girl and told her he’d be back over after he was done.

Before he exited the Lincoln Financial Field grass, Barkley stopped and motioned for her to take the jersey off.

Stevie Wonder was playing in a happy Eagles locker room late Thursday night, and Saquon Barkley had just enough time before encroaching reporters reached his locker stall to sing a line from the chorus.

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, Barkley sang softly.

It was the story of the night. It is the story of the season. With Barkley, the Eagles don’t have to worry about a thing.

Last night’s Eagles win streamed on Amazon’s Prime Video, but an ESPN host received some collateral damage.

Following the Eagles’ win, Birds quarterback Jalen Hurts appeared on SportsCenter with veteran anchor Scott Van Pelt, a Bethesda, Md. resident who grew up a Washington fan. 

“Hey, Scott. How are you feeling?” Hurts asked mockingly. “You’re a DMV guy, huh?”