Mark Rypien's prediction for Sunday: 'If we have the ball and a chance to score at the end, our guy will get it done'

The last time Washington was in an NFC Championship Game was January 1992, and Mark Rypien led them to victory in that game and then the Super Bowl, where he was the MVP.

And right now, Rypien is feeling the same way about these Commanders as he did back in ’92.

“What a fun year. especially these last eight or nine weeks; what Jayden Daniels has done this year has been beyond incredible, even for a guy that maybe played 10 years in the league,” Rypien told Kevin Sheehan Monday. “He’s done it at a level that I've never seen, and a calmness I've never seen out of anyone this young in my life. And it's just been so wonderful, and you couldn't be more proud of a guy and a team and the culture and the coach and the organization and Josh Harris and everything.”

Rypien remembers there was a high expectation in Washington back when he led them to the Lombardi, which is quite the opposite of what anyone thought for these Commanders – but ‘people are getting back on the bandwagon, and it’s pretty surreal to see a lot of the parallels of this run to that one,’ like the Lions and Bills being this deep in the playoff run.

Well, one thing is different: this QB, even to Rypien, might just be even more special.

“He’s unreal, I’ve never seen anything like it. You see it with him just sitting on the sidelines when they kicked the winning field goal in Tampa – his emotions are inner, but he’s brought so much joy to all of us,” Rypien said. “He has on one pinky the amount of talent we had in our whole body! It's just so cool to see him perform and do the things he's doing, and to know that he's just such a good guy adds to it. The fan base was spoiled back in the day and they’ve been dying to get back, and you can finally see the energy coming back. This thing just keeps getting better and better each week, but what Josh Harris and that whole ownership group has done, and the culture Adam Peters and Dan Quinn has built, it’s fun to watch and great to be a part of.”

And to Rip…it isn’t necessarily over.

“I do like our chances, it all depends on weather; I think if we have a clean field, I like our chances better,” Rypien said. “If it’s a slippery surface, you probably give them the edge to them just because they've relied on Saquon to make it happen and they’re big and physical – but if you give us the ball and we have a chance to go down and score at the end of the game, our guy is gonna get it done like he has all year long.”

Take a listen to Rypien’s entire visit, as he also re-lived some of the glory days with Kevin, looks at the third matchup with the Eagles, and more!