A dream season for the Washington Commanders lives on for at least one more week.
Who will the Commanders play in the NFC Championship Game?
The Commanders are still alive. We break down what’s next for them in the NFC Championship of the 2025 NFL Playoffs.
Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
After Jayden Daniels delivered a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first NFL playoff game, Daniels and the Commanders stormed into Ford Field on Saturday night and knocked off the top-seeded Lions by a final score of 45-31. Washington hung 28 points on the scoreboard in the second quarter alone to take a 31-21 lead into the halftime break, and built a lead of 45-28 with under eight minutes remaining.
From there the Commanders held on for the win, intercepting Jared Goff just shy of the end zone with less than a minute remaining to seal the win.
Now, Washington is headed to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1991 NFL season. That year Washington advanced to Super Bowl XXVI, defeating Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills by a final score of 37-24. Mark Rypien was the MVP of that game.
They defeated the Lions 41-10 in the NFC Championship Game that season.
As for where the Commanders will travel next, Washington awaits the winner of Sunday’s other NFC Divisional Round Game between the No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, and the No. 4 Los Angeles Rams. The Eagles are consensus favorites in that game and won a regular-season meeting between those two teams by a final score of 37-20 back in November.
Regardless of who wins that game the Commanders, as the No. 6 seed in the NFC, will be on the road for the third straight week.
Washington split their season series with the Eagles, losing to Philadelphia 26-18 in mid-November. They won the rematch by a final score of 36-33 in December when Daniels connected with Jamison Crowder on a nine-yard touchdown pass with under ten seconds remaining.
As for the Rams, Washington has not squared off with Los Angeles since Week 15 a season ago. The Rams won that game in Los Angeles by a final score of 28-20.
Game update: The NFC Championship Game will be an all-NFC East affair. Thanks to their 28-22 win over the Rams, the Eagles are headed to the NFC title game. They will host the Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, January 26 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
See More:
