Kickoff Sunday, Jan 4th 4:25pm Eastern

WFT (
17.75) at

Eagles (
21.25)

Over/Under 39.0

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Notes

Game Overview ::

By Mike johnson >>
  • Washington will start 39-year old QB Josh Johnson for the second consecutive week due to injuries to Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota.
  • Philadelphia is expected to bench most of its key players in this game after announcing early in the week their plans to get healthy for the playoffs.
  • Eagles backup QB Tanner McKee will get the start in this game, which comes to the delight of many Eagles fans as he has looked great in the preseason and limited action last year.
  • These teams met just two weeks ago, but due to the Eagles decision to rest many players, there is not a lot we can learn from that game.

JM’S JOURNAL ::

Find JM’s Journal on Friday in The Scroll. If you are an Inner Circle member, you can read JM’s Journal on Thursday in Discord.

How washington Will Try To Win ::

The Commanders offense played well in Josh Johnson’s start last week against the Cowboys, accumulating 23 points and over 300 yards despite only running 41 offensive plays. Washington averaged a robust 8.0 yards per play, which was bolstered by a long run by rookie RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt and a couple of chunk plays through the air. The Commanders were able to consistently have success moving the ball, as only one of their eight drives resulted in a three-and-out. This is a very high success rate, especially for an offense with their third string quarterback. A big part of that sustained success likely had to do with the fact that they were facing a below average Cowboys defense that has struggled to get people off the field all season. This week, the Commanders face an Eagles defense that is extremely tough and forces a high rate of three-and-outs for opponents, but is likely to rest some key components of their defense. Despite the high efficiency for Washington last week, the overall play volume was very low due to the fact that their own defense couldn’t get off the field and their own struggles on third down and in the red zone. Washington converted only one of six third downs and had to settle for short field goals of 23 and 29 yards on red zone trips. This was ultimately the difference in the game and the reason they lost 30-23.

Washington trailed the entirety of last week’s game and still only passed the ball on 60% of their offensive plays. The Commanders continue to run a balanced offense and should do the same this week. JCM is coming off the best game of his career, and it would make sense for the team to lean on him as their primary back in their season finale as they look to 2026 and will want/need as much data and film as possible to evaluate what they do at the position this offseason. Fellow running backs Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols are likely to stay involved as well, resulting in an unpredictable timeshare, but logic suggests that JCM will be the primary runner. Through the air, the primary targets for Johnson were wide receivers Deebo Samuel Sr. and Terry McLaurin, along with second year tight end Ben Sinnott. That trio combined for a 75% target share, and it would be surprising to see that change this week. We should expect another balanced offensive game plan for the Commanders with relatively predictable usage in what is a difficult on-paper matchup, but may in reality be much softer due to the Eagles expected personnel decisions.

How philadelphia Will Try To Win ::

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