Game Overview ::
By Hilow >>
- Commanders LB Bobby Wagner (ankle) and OG Sam Cosmi (knee) did not practice Wednesday.
- Eagles TE Dallas Goedert (knee) and C Cam Jurgens (back) were not present for Wednesday’s walkthrough.
- The Commanders are on a seven-game win streak during which they have scored 30 or more points four times.
- Jalen Hurts has attempted 20 and 21 passes in the team’s two postseason games.
- Washington will need to continue their unreal offensive efficiency against a Philadelphia opponent that ranked first in yards allowed per pass attempt and fourth in completion rate allowed in the regular season.
How washington Will Try To Win ::
The Commanders finished the regular season ranked fourth in points per game (29.1) and have scored 30 or more points in four of their previous seven games, one of which came in Week 16 against the Eagles (36). That seven-game stretch coincides with a seven-game win streak to end the regular season and the Divisional Round. There’s no other way to put it: the Commanders are playing some really good football lately. They continue to take a more methodical approach to their offense, marching the field through long, sustained drives, while their defense has begun to generate more disruption. They will mix in deep passing to Terry McLaurin and Dyami Brown at non-negligible rates but the primary function of the offense is to string together long drives.
Austin Ekeler returned from a four-game absence due to a concussion in Week 18. Since that time, neither he nor Brian Robinson has seen more than 60% of the team’s offensive snaps. That tight timeshare has constricted in the team’s two playoff games, with Robinson leading the way with 53% and 51% snap rates, Ekeler checking in with snap rates of 47% and 37%, and Jeremy McNichols responsible for 14% and 17% snap rates. Robinson saw 15 opportunities in both games while Ekeler saw 12 and 10 (four targets in each game) and McNichols saw five total carries and no targets. That highlights how this team has deployed its backfield when all players have been healthy this year, with a strict timeshare primarily split between Robinson and Ekeler, with McNichols operating in a light change of pace role. Expect the team to start the game with the aforementioned timeshare, with Ekeler the likeliest back to see an increase in snap rate should the team be playing from behind. The Eagles have been one of the more difficult teams to run on this season after holding opposing backfields to 1.64 yards before contact per attempt (third fewest), 4.3 yards per carry (11th), and 17.2 fantasy points per game (second).
Pass-catcher snaps and roles have been fluid behind Terry McLaurin and in the absence of Noah Brown, with Dyami Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus taking turns being the apparent WR2. Things have seemed to settle on Brown as the preferred perimeter wide receiver opposite McLaurin, Zaccheaus as a utility slot-perimeter weapon, Jamison Crowder as a slot-only option, and Luke McCaffrey as the WR5. I expect Dyami Brown to continue his recent emergence as the preferred secondary perimeter option opposite McLaurin after he played a season-high 83% of the team’s offensive snaps in the Divisional Round. Crowder’s 40% snap rate from a week ago appears to have come at the expense of Zaccheaus considering 86.3% of Crowder’s snaps have come out of the slot since the team’s Week 14 bye. The Eagles led the league in yards allowed per pass attempt in the regular season (by a large margin) while ranking fourth in completion rate allowed, making this a difficult matchup through the air on paper, but the Commanders continue to excel in sustaining drives during their recent seven-game win streak. They’ll need to continue that efficiency to stand a chance in this one.