By: DAVE SPADARO, Eagles Insider

This has been The Season Of Saquon, so when the Eagles lined up to start things up offensively in the NFC Championship Game a couple of Sundays ago, it started with Saquon.

Naturally.

On the first play from scrimmage against Washington, running back Saquon Barkley took the pitch left from quarterback Jalen Hurts and as the offensive line crushed the edge and Barkley picked up a block on the outside, he broke into the clear, spun away from a couple of defenders and ended up in the end zone 60 yards later.

Start the party. The Eagles were heading back to the Super Bowl.

The Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the Washington Commanders on this day, 55-23, winning their second NFC Championship Game in three seasons and earning a spot in Super Bowl LIX against the two-time defending champions, Kansas City. The journey continues for an Eagles team that has done a 180-degree turn from 12 months ago, when the 2023 season ended with an ugly playoff loss to Tampa Bay
amid questions about head coach Nick Sirianni’s future.

But a roster-rebuilding offseason, highlighted by the signing of Barkley in free agency and an NFL Draft weekend for the ages puts the Eagles right back in the Super Bowl. “This is why I signed with the Eagles, to play in games like this, to be with a team like this,” said Barkley, the All-Pro back who is just 30 rushing yards away from setting an NFL record for most yards in a single season. “Great team, great organization and a fan base like no other. We know we are in a position to finish the job.”

Barkley, All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and offensive guard Mekhi Becton highlighted the free-agency haul and cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean provided immediate impact from the NFL Draft and a roster that lost star center Jason Kelce and star defensive tackle Fletcher Cox had a makeover and a rejuvenated boost.

“We’re young and we’re hungry,” said Baun, who came from New Orleans and is a finalist for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. “That’s a good combination.” Sirianni has steered the Eagles to 15 wins in their last 16 games as they head into the Super Bowl
rematch against the Chiefs, a team that seeks its third straight World Championship.

“This game is about overcoming adversity. There are going to be good plays in the game and there are going to be bad plays in the game. There will be good moments in a season and bad moments in a season,” Sirianni said. “It’s about overcoming and embracing the adversity because really what we’ve talked about as a team is like adversity– we've all had to have adversity to be in this moment where we are right now, so adversity is what makes you who you are.

“It’s been the story of the 2023 to the 2024 Eagles. As bad of a feeling we had about how last year ended, I think it makes you who you are. These guys are hungry, and we’ve got one more to go.”

One more to go. You can taste it …

“We’re a confident team, we’re a mature team and we know what it takes to win. When one side of the ball hasn’t been at its best, the other side has picked it up,” All-Pro and Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson said. “That’s how you win football games week after week. We have depth. We believe in each other. You minimize mistakes and that’s how you win in the NFL and that’s what we’ve done.”

Of everything that has happened this season with the Eagles – Barkley’s magical run to 2,000 yards (and counting!), the way the new-look offensive line has matured, the rise to No. 1 statistically for the defense with Baun coming from nowhere to All-Pro and finalist for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, to the rookie cornerbacks making an instant impact – nothing speaks more to the success of the Eagles
than the way they’ve controlled the turnover story.

When the team was 2-2 at the bye week, the Eagles were at minus-6 in turnover ratio. They then went plus-17 through the remainder of the regular season to finish at plus-11 after 17 games, and they have been at plus-10 with zero giveaways and 10 takeaways in the three postseason victories over Green Bay, Los Angeles and Washington.

“When you aren’t turning the ball over and you’re taking it away on defense, you are going to win games,” defensive tackle Jalen Carter said. “That’s what we’re trying to do on defense – we’re all out there looking for the football.”

The Eagles also have been great at scoring after takeaways – they were third in the NFL in points off turnovers during the regular season and followed suit in the playoffs, including 28 points from their four takeaways against Washington.

“Make it hurt. That’s the goal,” wide receiver A.J. Brown said.

Now it’s on to Super Bowl LIX and a rematch against the Chiefs, who are trying to win an unprecedented third Super Bowl in a row. Some of the names are familiar: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, defensive tackle Chris Jones, the coaching staff led by Andy Reid. Kansas City went 15-2 during the regular season, outscoring their opponents by only 59 points (the Eagles, by comparison,
scored 160 more points than their opponents in the regular season). The Chiefs play sound, disciplined football and the Eagles understand that to win on February 9, they have to play as perfect a football game as can be played: No giveaways, touchdowns in the red zone, good tackling, outstanding preparation against a blitz-heavy defense and the understanding that Kansas City will not beat itself.

Never, ever beat itself.

“To be in this position, one win away from a World Championship, it’s on us as it’s been the entire season,” Hurts said. “When you have this moment, you have to rise to the occasion and that is what we are preparing to do. We have to beat a great football team to win the Super Bowl. That’s the task at hand.”