Going into Sunday afternoon, not many were giving the Washington Commanders a chance against the Philadelphia Eagles. After all, the Commanders were sporting a rookie quarterback and a very young team, overall.
it had been a fun ride, but the Commanders were going up against a juggernaut Eagles team with key guys having significant postseason experience. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is just two years removed from the Super Bowl stage, and he was looking to get back there by putting out a statement in this year's NFC Championship Game.
Truly, Washington didn't stand a chance, right? All of the talk this week, from Commanders critics, would be proven correct, right?
In a nutshell ... right.
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The Eagles completely dominated the Commanders and took home the NFC Championship by a score of 55-23. It was as one-sided as a game like this could have gotten. Philly established themselves as the superior team pretty quickly, and as the game wore on, the Commanders had less and less hope.
As the Eagles headed off the field and into the locker room following their initial celebration, The Athletic's Brooks Kubena caught defensive tackle Jalen Carter on video with a subtle, simple message to Washington.
Jalen Carter: “Sent y’all to Cancun.” pic.twitter.com/KvH1dlaUxw
— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) January 26, 2025
The typical postgame response and/or joke to a team's season coming to an end, of course, is to point out the idea that they can now go on vacation; i.e. a trip to Cancun.
Carter saw his shot and made sure he didn't miss.
Jalen Carter's NFC Championship performance helped propel the Eagles to the Super Bowl
If the average fan were to simply look at the box score following this game, they may not see exactly how mcuh of an impact Carter had Sunday against the Commanders. No, he didn't have the flashy stats like he did in the Divisional Round when Carter totaled five tackles (three solo), two sacks, three quarterback hits and a pass breakup.
But, against the Commanders, Carter led the Eagles with a team-high eight quarterback pressures (all eight of them qualified as hurries, too). For context, the next-closest were Moro Ojomo and Nolan Smith tied with four apiece, per Pro Football Focus.
In total, the Eagles were able to generate a whopping 29 pressures on quarterback Jayden Daniels. This was good for a pressure rate of over 60 percent on the game for Philadelphia's vaunted defense.
If anybody deserved to celebrate in whimsical fashion, it was Carter. Now, the young defensive lineman is headed to the big stage as the Eagles earned their second Super Bowl bid in three years.