The Eagles open the season with a familiar NFC East test, and the Commanders bring a handful of players who can make Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field uncomfortable fast.
Philadelphia is 5-0 in season openers under Nick Sirianni, but Washington is the last team to beat the Eagles in a season opener, doing it in 2020 when the then-Washington Football Team won 27-17. This matchup also comes after both clubs went in opposite directions last season: the Eagles finished 11-6 and claimed a second straight division title, while the Commanders were hammered by injuries and stumbled to 5-12 after reaching the NFC Championship Game the year before.
If Philadelphia wants to keep that opening-day streak rolling, the priority starts with Jayden Daniels. He is the driver of Washington’s offense, and even with an injury-shortened 2025, he still flashed the kind of explosiveness that makes him so dangerous.
After winning Offensive Rookie Player of the Year in 2024, Daniels threw for more than 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns while adding nearly 900 rushing yards and six more scores. Last season, though, he played only seven games after a left knee sprain in Week 2, a right hamstring strain in Week 7, and then a dislocated left elbow on a sack in Week 9 against Seattle.
He came back in Week 14, re-aggravated the elbow, and was shut down for the year. Daniels finished at 60.6% completions, 1,262 passing yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
Against the Eagles, though, he looked plenty healthy. In two regular-season games in 2024, Daniels completed 46 of 71 passes for 449 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 101 yards on 16 carries. His biggest damage came in the second meeting, when he piled up five passing touchdowns and added another on the ground in Washington’s 36-33 win.
The Eagles’ path to slowing him down starts up front. Washington will be working behind an offensive line that is without star left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who is on injured reserve with a torn triceps and needs surgery.
Terry McLaurin remains Daniels’ top weapon, and he has quietly been one of the league’s most dependable receivers since entering the NFL in 2019. Injuries limited him to 10 games last season, which ended his run of five straight 1,000-yard seasons.
Even so, McLaurin still found the end zone 13 times in 2024 and is looking to get back to that level in 2026. He also walks into a matchup with Quinyon Mitchell that has already leaned heavily toward the Eagles cornerback.
In a mid-November meeting in 2024, Mitchell didn’t allow a single target to McLaurin, and in the 2025 NFC Championship game he gave up just one catch for seven yards on four targets, according to NextGen Stats.
Washington also brought in Stefon Diggs to give Daniels another proven option. At 32, Diggs turned in a strong season with New England, posting his seventh 1,000-yard year and his first since 2023.
He finished 12th in receptions with 85 and 16th in receiving yards with 1,013, and reports from camp say he has looked sharp while beating both zone and man coverage. Dan Quinn has reportedly praised how well the former fifth-round pick has looked this summer.
Riq Woolen is expected to draw the assignment of slowing Diggs in his first game with Philadelphia, working opposite Mitchell.
Washington’s defense has also been reshaped after ranking near the bottom of the league in almost every major category. A new defensive coordinator, heavy draft investment and the addition of Oweh on a four-year, $100 million contract with $68 million guaranteed were part of the overhaul meant to fix a pass rush that was sorely lacking a year ago.
Oweh has 30.5 career sacks, including 17.5 over the last two seasons, with a career-high 10 in 2024 and 7.5 last season, all with the Los Angeles Chargers after being traded from Baltimore. He also posted a 17.3% pressure rate, sixth among players with at least 200 pass-rush attempts per Next Gen Stats.
His status for Sunday is uncertain because of a calf injury, but if he plays, he is the kind of edge threat the Eagles have to track snap after snap.
Then there is Styles, the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft. The rookie linebacker has already earned trust, reportedly wearing the green dot at practice, and he arrives with the speed and athleticism that made him such a high pick.
A former safety, Styles is expected to play a major role right away, and Washington is hoping he becomes the defense’s next steady leader, the way London Fletcher once was from 2007 to 2013. For the Eagles, the goal is simple: make the rookie look like one, and keep him from controlling the action in the backfield.
In Other News...
Eagles Fans Are Losing A Familiar Game Day Voice This Season
Ron Jaworski will be a familiar voice no longer on Eagles game days next season, after announcing he will not return to ESPN or NBC Sports Philadelphia for the 2026 NFL season. The former Eagles quarterback spent four years on the teams pregame and postgame shows, bringing the perspective and polish that come with a long broadcasting career built after his playing days.
Jaworski said the decision comes from a desire to spend more time with family, closing a run that stretched well beyond Philadelphia and into national NFL coverage. NBC Sports Philadelphia acknowledged his departure and praised what he brought to its coverage, leaving the Eagles broadcast setup facing a noticeable change as another season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Suddenly Have A Very Different Week 4 Problem
For much of the week, the Eagles were preparing for a familiar kind of headache, the sort that comes with lining up against Myles Garrett and everything he can disrupt off the edge. Instead, Garrett is expected to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and land on injured reserve, which removes him from the Rams Week 4 matchup and changes the conversation in a hurry.
Philadelphia now has to redirect its attention toward the rest of a Rams defense that still has plenty of bite, with Aaron Donald looming as the obvious central concern. The Eagles game plan will look different without Garrett in the picture, and while the broad strategic adjustments are easy to imagine, the real question is how much this sudden shift alters what had been a very specific week of preparation. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Finally Showed Their Hand Behind Jalen Hurts
The Eagles spent the week keeping their backup quarterback plan under wraps, and on game day they finally revealed who would be behind Jalen Hurts. Andy Dalton will serve as the No. 2 quarterback against the Washington Commanders, a choice that had been intentionally left open as Nick Sirianni tried to preserve a competitive edge.
Dalton and Tanner McKee both worked as possible options throughout the week, so Philadelphia was able to keep Washington guessing until shortly before kickoff. It is a small detail in the larger game plan, but one that shows how carefully the Eagles are managing even the spots behind Hurts as they head into a divisional matchup. [Read more 🡒]