With Sunday’s NFC Championship Game Threatening to spiral out of control, Washington’s commanders decided to gamble.
It paid off.
The Philadelphia Eagles scored touchdowns on each of their first drives to take an early 14-3 lead at Lincoln Financial Field. Then Washington’s third drive stopped and the Commanders sent their punt unit on fourth-and-6 to their own 31. But Tress Way didn’t punt.
Instead, the Washington punter threw a perfect pass over the middle to tight end Ben Sinnott, who broke through the open secondary and scooped the ball up near midfield for a 23-yard gain and a first essay.
The conversion kept alive a drive that ended in a field goal to cut Philadelphia’s lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter. Instead of giving the ball back to Philadelphia down 11 points, Washington cut its deficit to one possession.
But that ultimately didn’t help. The Eagles flew forward to catch a resounding 55-23 victory against the Commanders and secure your place in the Super Bowl. Saquon Barkley ran for 118 yards and three touchdowns, and Jalen Hurts scored three more on the ground.
Still, the conversion continued an aggressive trend for the Commanders, who attempted and converted two fourth downs on their first drive that also ended in a field goal. They kept the momentum going in the second half and converted on fourth down for the fourth time, which matched an NFL record. The Commanders are now just the fourth team in NFL history to convert on fourth down four times in a playoff game. Buffalo Bills for the last time I achieved this feat in an overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022.
If the Eagles won on Sunday afternoon, the Commanders did not change their colors with a trip to Super Bowl on the line. They’ve gotten this far by playing aggressively and trusting their players to make plays, and Sunday was going to be no different.