The wild, improbable and strange 2020 season will continue for at least one more week as the Washington Football Team won its first NFC East championship since 2015, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14.
With the win, Washington finishes the regular season 7-9, one game ahead of both the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
The game will be remembered more for the questionable decisions made by Eagles head coach Doug Pederson in the fourth quarter. The end result shouldn’t be lost in the rain of Philadelphia, however.
Alex Smith told reporters in his post-game video conference that his injured calf, which kept him out of last week’s game against the Carolina Panthers, began to bother him as the game wore on.
“Definitely in the second half I was feeling it a little bit,” he said. “It just built over the course of the game, just wear and tear. Just the process of the game, no one thing.”
Smith was effective in the first half throwing for 131 yards and two touchdowns, one to Terry McLaurin (playing through a high ankle sprain) and one to Logan Thomas just before half time.
The second half saw the entire offense gain less than 100 yards total, score just three points, as Smith threw two interceptions.
None of that mattered, the Washington defense held the Eagles scoreless in the second half. By midnight, head coach Ron Rivera was celebrating a division championship.
“This one is special because of how hard it was,” Rivera said. “I think what it does is that it shows the guys if they work hard and do things the right way they give themselves a chance.”
The saga Rivera and the team went through this year is well known. Rivera has guided the team through a sexual harassment scandal involving the front office that predated his time in Washington, his own cancer diagnosis and treatment, a 2-7 start to the season, and controversy surrounding now-former quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
“Really, I want to give a big shout out to our coaches and support staff, Rivera said.” “It just shows you that when you work together as a team anything can be accomplished.”
Like it has all year, the team relied on the defense to win the game. The unit limited Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts to just 7 of 20 passing for 72 yards. Hurts did run for two touchdowns but was pulled at the end of the third quarter for Nate Sudfeld, one of Pederson’s questionable moves during the game.
Afterward, Pederson said the game plan this week was to get Sudfeld some snaps, an explanation questioned by many in the media who thought the Eagles were intentionally trying to improve its position in the draft.
Regardless, the Burgundy and Gold now will prepare to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night in the wildcard round of the playoffs. Many of Washington’s defensive stars were infants when Brady won his first Super Bowl in 2002.
“It’s Tom, one the best to ever do it, they say the best to ever do it,” said rookie defensive end Chase Young.” “We got to focus up, we got to lock back in the game that is coming up fast, it’s go time.”