On Pattison Picks: Can Eagles Seize Control of NFC East vs. Commanders?

Who says there's never good matchups on Thursday Night Football? 

A week after an instant-classic that saw the Baltimore Ravens defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 35-34, TNF will play host to a matchup between the Eagles and Washington Commanders that could determine what way the NFC East goes in 2024.

The 7-2 Eagles are winners of five in a row since their bye week, including a 34-6 throttling of the Dallas Cowboys Sunday. The Commanders are coming off of a 28-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but are led by Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels. Dan Quinn is also off to a strong start in his second gig as a head coach, as the Commanders have probably already won as many games as some thought they would the entirety of the campaign. 

The Eagles are 3 1/2-point favorites over the Commanders in a game that they will host the game at Lincoln Financial Field. 

Here's what the staff at On Pattison believes will take place Thursday evening. 

Tim Kelly

Score: Eagles 27, Commanders 21

Game MVP: Saquon Barkley

I don't have a great feel for this game. Can I imagine a scenario where the Eagles win and the talking point on Friday is how the Commanders are coming back down to Earth a little bit? Yes. Can I imagine a scenario where Jayden Daniels cements his Offensive Rookie of the Year case and the Commanders escape with a crucial division win? Also yes. So this should be a fun matchup. 

Overall, I think the Eagles just have better talent, and this will be a game where Saquon Barkley firmly puts himself at the forefront of the Offensive Player of the Year, if not MVP, race. But it will hardly surprise me if a gritty Commanders team steals this one late, as the Atlanta Falcons did against the Eagles in Week 2. 

Anthony SanFilippo

Score: Commanders 24, Eagles 23

Game MVP: The Commanders' running game

Washington’s epic collapse against Pittsburgh in Week 10 may have been great for the Eagles in the fact that it moved the Birds into first place by themselves, but it also provided a bit of a double-edged sword. The Commanders now know they need to try and play ball control against the Eagles to keep Saquon Barkley and company off the field to limit the number of chances the Eagles will have.

Washington has run the ball well this year. It’s still iffy if Brian Robinson Jr. will be back after missing the last two games, and if he is, he carries a lot of the offense. And without him, Austin Ekeler has proved to be maybe the best backup RB in the sport. Add in Jayden Daniels’ ability to run, and the Commies are dangerous on this front. There’s been a lot of love - and deservedly so - for Zack Baun this week, but he and Nakobe Dean are going to be especially tested by Washington’s multi-faceted offense. Yeah the game is in Philly and Thursday night games usually favor the home team, but, the Eagles will need to figure out how to slow Washington enough to give the offense the right number of chances to score enough points to win. I’m not sure they do.

From @TimKellySports: Eagles 2024 Uniform Schedule: What Will Philadelphia Wear in Week 11?https://t.co/RookGJU3s1

— On Pattison (@OnPattison) November 14, 2024

John Foley

Score: Eagles 31, Commanders 21

Game MVP: Saquon Barkley

This is a really good Eagles team, and this is the week they prove it.

Feels like we were all a little tough on this squad early on as they adjusted to new schemes on both sides of the ball. But every week, they kept making progress and figuring out what works.

And they have a lot working right now.

The Commanders, meanwhile, are the perfect test for this moment. They’re exactly the good-but-not-great team the Birds need to beat to show they’ve reached the next level.

Close game early, but the Eagles pull away late.

Austin Krell

Score: Eagles 32, Commanders 27

Game MVP: A.J. Brown

I thought the Commanders’ game vs. the Steelers would tell a lot about how ready they were to fight for this division because they probably knew the Eagles would beat the breaks off the Cowboys and thus needed a dub to stay ahead in the NFC East. They gave it away in the second half. It lines up the inflection of the NFC East this season. As Mike Ditka said in Kicking and Screaming, “Pass the ball to [AJ Brown]”.