ClutchPoints
After watching the Washington Commanders slowly march down the field on the opening drive of the NFC Championship, settling for three after converting on multiple fourth downs, the Philadelphia Eagles needed to make a statement to show their rivals to the southwest that they mean business.
Well, as it turns out, that took exactly one play to happen, with Jalen Hurts handing the ball off to Saquon Barkley only to watch the Penn State product take it to the house for a quick six points.
Now, for fans in Philadelphia and watching from home, this felt like a major win, as it allowed the Eagles to get points on the board, put the Commanders behind the eight ball, and force Jayden Daniels to play from behind for the entire contest. But how did it feel for the players and coaches on the sidelines, who watched the mood of the game change with a major difference-making play for the second time in three weeks? Well, in the opinion of Nick Sirianni, it was an absolute tone-setter, as it proved why the Eagles were the higher seed heading into the contest.
“Good tone setter, right? We knew they were going to sell out to stop the run. We kind of knew that. Then he breaks two or three tackles to start. We get a great block from [WR] A.J. [Brown] on the toss crack to get around the edge; then great block by [TE] Dallas [Goedert] to kind of set it off. If Saquon gets into the second level, third level, now it’s, ‘Hey, can you tackle this guy?’ He’s hard to tackle. They don’t give me a vote for MVP, but I know who my vote would — that’s probably why they don’t give me a vote, because I would vote for Saquon,” Sirianni told reporters.
“Special performance, special player, special job by the entire group to make that play go to start things off. That was a good tone-setter. We’ve had some good tone-setters to start this playoff, all the playoffs. [LB] Oren [Burks] forcing the fumble against Green Bay. Going right down and getting a touchdown on the first drive of the LA game. To start it like that was a good start for us.”
Goodness, what would have happened if the Eagles went three-and-out to start off the game? Would the Eagles have fallen behind 10-0 to start off the game, being forced to play the kind of game Dan Quinn and company schemed up instead of controlling the narrative in their own unique way? Frankly, it’s impossible to say, but after going up 7-3, then 14-7, and ultimately 27-15 before the half, the game incredibly became out of reach for the Commanders, with even a pair of over-the-top Uso Splashes by Frankie Luvu failing to change the tone of the game. In the end, the Eagles cruised to an all-time great win, and it’s hard to say if that would have happened without Barkley’s big 60-yard run....
