The Eagles hosted the Commanders in the 2025 NFC championship Sunday, marking the third time these divisional rivals have met this year after splitting their regular-season series.
With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, this was each team's most important game of the season thus far. Philly and Washington wanted to limit their mistakes, and every decision was scrutinized. Facing fourth-and-15 on the Washington 36, the Eagles decided to trust kicker Jake Elliott with a 54-yard field goal attempt rather than punting it to try and pin the Commanders deep in their territory.
Elliott has struggled this season with long field goals, and that continued on Sunday. He missed the field goal wide right, and Washington took advantage of the field position.
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Elliott has been with the Eagles since 2017. He is normally known for his consistency, especially in big situations, but he had a rather atypical season for a kicker. Elliott is a career 84.8% field goal kicker but had a 77.8% field goal percentage in 2024.
He finished the regular season 28-for-36. Elliott had one miss between 30-39 yards, one between 40-49 yards and he missed six of seven from longer than 49 yards. He had never missed more than three kicks from 50+ yards in his career. Before his miss in the NFC championship game, Elliott had been a perfect 6-6 this postseason on field goals.
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After the turnover, Washington needed just five plays to score a touchdown. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels ran for six yards and then hit John Bates for a seven-yard gain. Brian Robinson Jr. picked up seven on the ground, and then Daniels missed Dyami Brown. On third-and-three from the Philadelphia 36, Daniels found his top target, Terry McLaurin, for a 36-yard touchdown.
Washington went for two to tie the game at the time, but it failed.