LANDOVER, Md. — The Philadelphia Eagles, reigning Super Bowl champions, did not deliver their finest performance, marred by a fumble on the opening kickoff, penalties on the ‘tush push,’ three missed field goals to the left, and a halftime deficit.

Nonetheless, Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley found their rhythm, ultimately securing the NFC East title for the second year in a row with a 29-18 victory over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night.

The game took a heated turn when Barkley added a 2-point conversion, widening the Eagles’ lead to 19 points, which sparked a late-game skirmish.

Adopting a more traditional under-center approach, Hurts completed 22 of his 30 passes, distributing 15 between A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, for 185 yards. He threw two touchdowns and maintained a clean slate with no interceptions.

Hurts found Smith for a 5-yard score in the first half, followed by a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Goedert, pushing Philadelphia ahead 14-10 in the third quarter after a marathon 17-play, 83-yard drive lasting over ten minutes.

Hurts also did plenty of damage on the ground, gaining 40 yards on seven carries for the Eagles (10-5), who have followed a three-game losing streak by winning two in a row.

They are the first team to top the NFC East in back-to-back seasons since Philadelphia did it every year from 2001 to 2004; the gap since then was the longest drought without a repeat champ for any division in NFL history.

Barkley added a 12-yard TD run for the Eagles, part of his 21-carry, 132-yard performance.

With the Commanders (4-11), now losers of nine of their past 10 contests, already eliminated from postseason contention, there was plenty of green in the stands.

Chants of “E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!” frequently rang out and cries of “Cooooop!” greeted Cooper DeJean’s interception of Josh Johnson, Washington’s third-string quarterback, who came in when Marcus Mariota went out after the opening drive in the third quarter with an injured right hand while Washington led 10-7.

Mariota started Saturday in place of Jayden Daniels, the reigning AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year who led the Commanders to the NFC title game last season — where they lost 55-23 to Philadelphia — but has been shut down in 2025 after dealing with a series of injuries and appearing in only seven games.

The chilly evening started inauspiciously for the Eagles: Will Shipley coughed up the opening kickoff when he was hit by Mike Sainristil, and Washington recovered at Philadelphia’s 27, eventually getting a field goal.

The Eagles went up 7-3 on a drive that was nearly all Hurts. He was 4 for 5 passing for 53 yards, including a 6-yard TD toss to Smith, and added a 14-yard run, too.

That’s not to say Hurts was perfect. Hardly. He missed open receivers, including one particularly egregious overthrow of Brown and another miscommunication with Smith.

And the Eagles kicking game left a lot to be desired.

The Eagles’ Jake Elliott managed to send three field-goal attempts wide left in the first half.

Elliott entered 17 for 22 on field goals this season and hadn’t missed more than one in a game.

But he was off on a 43-yarder in the first quarter. Then, 13 seconds before halftime, Elliott couldn’t get a 57-yarder to go through the uprights — but that one didn’t count, because Washington’s Tyler Owens was flagged for being offsides.

Given another chance, now from 52 yards, Elliott went wide left once more.