PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Eagles host the Washington Commanders on Sunday and are trying to make the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons. One more win — that's all that separates the Eagles from a trip to New Orleans.
Jalen Hurts is off the injury report and ready to go after suffering a knee injury last week on a sack against the Rams. Hurts never missed a snap to help the Eagles win their ninth straight home game.
Hurts has thrown for only a combined 259 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in playoff wins against Green Bay and Los Angeles.
“We try to put Jalen in safe situations. We want him to put himself in safe situations,” coach Nick Sirianni said Friday. “We understand that there are a lot of things that Jalen does in the running game that help us run the football. As we go through it, we do whatever we’ve got to do to win the game. But his safety is always at the forefront of our mind.”
Hurts says the team is excited and ready for the opportunity against the Commanders.
"I think everyone's done a good job of being diligent and taking it a day at a time, and ultimately ... having a 'whatever it takes,' mentality. That's definitely what's being enforced here right now," Hurts said.
He talked about the team's mindset with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
"This is really trying to embrace the opportunity and take advantage of the opportunity. Everybody's worked really hard this week and worked really hard all year to be where we are, and so we just want to take advantage of it."
Dallas Goedert says he and the other Birds who have been here the last few years have been fighting to get back to this point.
"Going to the Super Bowl two years ago, going into the season last year, having high expectations and kind of falling short. You know, it just kind of built a little bit of hunger in all of us," he said.
It's been a complete turn around for Washington. They went from one of the worst records in football last year, to entering the playoffs as the 6-seed this year, and now being in the NFC Championship.
It's thanks in large part to rookie quarterback sensation Jayden Daniels, who helped lead them in a thrilling upset last week over the 1-seed Detroit Lions.
Eagles star Jalen Carter has high praise for the Commanders quarterback.
"Making them boys win, doing what he gotta do to make 'em win. He's running the ball, throwing. He's good at throwing the ball, deep passes. He really got ... the package, whatever, and you just gotta find ways to stop it. If you can stop him from doing what he do, then you have a higher chance of winning the game."
Eagles former All-Pro center Jason Kelce said earlier this week he believes the Birds have the right stuff.
“I’ll be very candid. I think the Eagles are better at every position," Kelce said during his weekly Thursday in-studio appearance on the 94WIP Morning Show. "That is a very honest assessment."
Kelce adds that it will still be an extremely difficult game for Philadelphia, in large part due to the way Daniels is playing and how good a coach Dan Quinn is.
"It's going to be a tough game," Kelce admitted. "When your quarterback is playing that well and you are that disciplined as a team, it's really hard to beat teams like that."
Later, Kelce provided some context on X.
Kickoff in South Philly is at 3:00. The winner of this game faces the winner of Bills-Chiefs in the AFC Championship tonight.