Familiar foe | Sports Daily Newsletter

Three playoff games, three repeat opponents for the Eagles, who will host their division rivals, the Washington Commanders, in Sunday’s NFC championship game.

These two teams split their regular-season series, with the home team winning each contest. In Week 11, the Eagles separated themselves from the upstart Commanders with a 26-18 win. Then rookie Jayden Daniels got revenge as he led Washington to a late comeback victory, 36-33, in Week 16. But let’s not forget that the Birds lost Jalen Hurts to a concussion early in the first quarter of that one.

Now they’ll square off again with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, and there are a number of matchups to look out for. However, the two game changers for the Eagles could be Jalen Carter and Saquon Barkley, both of whom had monster games against the L.A. Rams.

As for Daniels, it was evident that he reached a new level of play in the upset of the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns. The Inquirer’s EJ Smith looks back at the film and explains how the Eagles can slow down the Commanders’ surging offense.

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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While there’s concern around Jalen Hurts’ health, the Eagles and Kellen Moore have been preparing with him. The offensive coordinator is putting together the game plan with the same formula that he would use with any player recovering from an injury. But Hurts’ lack of mobility could hinder the plays on the ground that he would usually be able to make, so Moore will make tweaks depending on the quarterback’s progress.

And meet Northeast native Jim Emanuel, a diehard Eagles fan who played linebacker at Hofstra University and was coached by Dan Quinn, then Hofstra’s defensive coordinator. The coach of the Commanders once helped Emanuel chase his NFL dream.

unCovering the Birds: Jeff McLane shines a spotlight on Jalen Carter, the newly minted first-time All-Pro and linchpin of the Eagles’ top-ranked defense, following his clutch performance against the Rams. Listen here.

Former Phillies closer Billy Wagner was elected to the Hall of Fame Tuesday in his 10th and final year on the ballot with 82.5% of the vote. Wagner was among four former Phillies on the writers’ ballot. Chase Utley, a second-year candidate, climbed to 39.8% of the vote after getting 28.8% last year. Wagner will be joined in the Class of 2025 by all-time hit king Ichiro Suzuki and lefty workhorse CC Sabathia, both first-time candidates.

After the departures of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estèvez, Orion Kerkering is likely to see more high-leverage situations in 2025. The 23-year-old said Tuesday that he feels “no pressure at all.”

Flyers general manager Danny Brière held his annual midseason press conference Tuesday. He addressed where things stand with Aleksei Kolosov and whether Rasmus Ristolainen and Scott Laughton could be traded.

Also, in Part 2 of our conversation with John Tortorella, the coach dives deeper into his philosophies and addresses his uncertain future with the organization.

The Flyers picked up a point in their sixth straight game with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Rasmus Ristolainen scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

In May 2022, Pat Behan was diagnosed with ALS at age 34. Since then, he has lost control of his muscles. He cannot move his hands or feet. He cannot smile or frown. But his eyes and his mind have been spared, so he uses them. To coach. Behan reunited with a former teammate, coach John Griffin III, as a special adviser on the Bucknell coaching staff.

We asked you: How can the Eagles contain Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense? Among your responses:

Timely passing and a dominant running game, and A HARD HITTING DEFENSE. — Virgil K.

The Eagles are better at every other position on offense and defense, even now with a couple injuries…. They are the epitome of a good team, with a running game and a defense that doesn’t bobble opportunities. They have the best wide receivers and OL in the league, to produce an outstanding passing attack … if Hurts does his normal solid job. The defense must play a good game again, and hold Daniels down from his heroics. But the key is Hurts, who must protect the ball, and also conduct a passing game that supports moving the chains consistently. — John W.

If the Birds can win with yesterday’s field conditions, then there is nothing they can’t do against Washington. The defense was amazing with Jalen Carter standing out. Missing Nakobe Dean but they are all getting the job done. Hoping Hurts gets some help with his knee and that Jake Elliott practices a lot this week. We need him to return to form. — Kathy T.

I’m thinking the only way to contain Daniels is not allow him to breathe. Blitz from the right, then from the left then straight up. Mess up his timing. Get in his head. Sure he’s going to complete a bunch of short passes but have the linebackers stick to the receivers like glue. Keep changing your defensive line. Always have fresh players on the field. Get Washington completely discombobulated. Daniels is special and the refs will protect him accordingly. See Kansas City. Philly is really not “liked” throughout the league so no roughing the passer penalties. No pilling on anyone. No out of bounds hitting. That would be my defensive game plan. — Ron R.

I don’t have any insight into containing Washington’s superhuman QB, but I have some huge concerns about Jake Elliott and extra points, especially in the NFC title game. I haven’t seen every game, but every game I’ve seen featured at least one missed PAT. So far, it hasn’t made a huge impact. The misses I’ve seen have been consistently to the left. If they get behind early, this could be the end of the season. Are they doing anything about it? Are they even concerned? — Mike R.

The best strategy for the Eagles is to play a ball-control game on offense. They should just continue to run the ball with short passes to control the time of possession. This keeps our defense fresh and limits the amount of time that the Commanders have the ball. Jaden Daniels can’t score while sitting on the bench. — Richard F.

The Commanders pulled off the upset of the year last week in Detroit, but the Eagles will be really pumped up and ready to contain Mr. Daniels and his offense. We beat the Commanders early and then lost that last game without Jalen, but Vic’s defense will be very ready. And PS — remind our coaches that the Push-Tush won’t work on a slippery field — you need traction. — Everett S.

Pressure pressure and more pressure on Daniels. Daniels is very good at finding the secondary and third receiver when the primary receiver is covered so maintaining pressure on him with a strong pass rush is critical. The defensive linemen should be rotated out frequently to try to keep them fresh and a well executed blitz now and again could help keep Daniels from getting comfortable and force him to keep looking over his shoulder. — Bob A.

Don’t let him scramble up the middle, use a spy to limit his running. — Richard V.

Keep him in the pocket and bring pressure with a blitzer at times. — William S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from EJ Smith, Jeff Neiburg, Eric Olson, Jonathan Tannenwald, Vaughn Johnson, Jackie Spiegel, Jeff McLane, Alex Coffey, Matt Breen, Scott Lauber, Lochlahn March, and Olivia Reiner

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thanks for reading! Stay warm, Philly, Kerith will be in your inbox tomorrow. — Bella