The Cinderella run had no fairytale ending for the Washington Commanders. And the 55-23 score screams of a reality check, handed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game. What derailed Jayden Daniels and Co. were the turnovers, a whopping four in total. Philadelphia punished them each time, scoring 28 points off them. However, Skip Bayless felt Washington was done much before they coughed up the ball. In the game’s opening drive, in fact.
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Bayless hated that coach Quinn opted to settle for a field goal on the opening drive. Washington has been excellent on fourth down. They converted a massive 87% of the time (20/23) on fourth down in the regular season. They hit at a 60% rate (3/5) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round. In the Divisional Round, they converted at a 75% clip (3/4) against the Detroit Lions.
“It’s 4th-and-3 at the [Philadelphia] 16-yard [line]… in Philadelphia… and Dan Quinn shocked me. He did not go for it. He sent out the field goal team, and effectively that was game over. That took some of the heart out of… Jayden Daniels’ team,” he initially said on the Skip Bayless Show.
Washington even converted two fourth downs on the opening drive. Yet, in the red zone, Quinn pulled back on the reins and decided to go for three points.
“He’s gonna convert it. He’s gonna score a touchdown. And 7-0 would have felt way different than 3-0… Dan Quinn let that team down. That was his only hope, was to cash on 4th-and-3. Cash a touchdown and show the Eagles, ‘we came here [on] serious business. We’re all business’,” Bayless added.
Philadelphia then took the lead on their first offensive play on the back of a 60-yard run from Saquon Barkley. And Bayless could not help but admire how Barkley and Jalen Hurts ensured the momentum never shifted from that point in the game.
Bayless praises Barkley and Hurts
Bayless had picked the Eagles to make the Super Bowl even before the season began. Despite “[hating] the Philadelphia Eagles [and] their vomit green uniforms”, he was ecstatic with the successful prediction. He liberally showered praise on Philadelphia’s biggest offensive pieces — Barkley and Hurts.
“Saquon goes 15 times for 118 yards… the Eagles just amaze me. The character of this team oozes, radiates from [Hurts]. He’s just extreme intangibles. He can throw the hell out of it… when it’s time to make a throw, he makes the throw,” said Bayless.
Some of Bayless’ affinity comes from respect for a competitor. He surely wishes his Dallas Cowboys could build a roster as deep as the Eagles. He also desires a similar level of postseason run from the Cowboys. Unfortunately, he doesn’t believe Jerry Jones is progressing toward that goal.
Bayless is not the only one worried about Dallas’ future. For the time being, though, he can focus on watching the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX two weekends from now, and possibly predict the winner. Philadelphia will challenge the Kansas City Chiefs for the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 9.
