LANDOVER, MD. -- Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata couldn't understand why teammate Jordan Davis kept screaming "20 years!" during pregame warmups and then repeated the call as he ran up the tunnel after their 29-18 win over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night.
Mailata had forgotten they could clinch the NFC East with a win, and that it would mark the first time a team won the division in consecutive seasons since 2004.
The goals are much bigger for the defending champs, but the Eagles took a moment to soak in the accomplishment postgame, posing for pictures and dapping up one another as they wore division champion gear, including T-shirts that read: "Been There, Won That."
"It's hard to do this," said coach Nick Sirianni, who has led Philadelphia to the postseason in each of his five seasons at the helm. "In this division, we've seen the data that says it's hard to repeat as winners, and we're happy about that. We'll celebrate it. We've got a lot to clean up. And then, we got a lot more goals on our mind."
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley led the way offensively with 132 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. He had 84 yards after contact, his most in a game since 2019 (also a Week 16 game at Washington, when he had 119 with the Giants).
"My mindset this game was run like I'm 230, 235 [pounds]," Barkley said. "That's what my coach [Jemal Singleton] said. There's times I don't. I have games where I rush for 200 yards because I'm able to be more like a scatback because God blessed me with that ability.
"That was the mindset and just want to build on it."
The play that epitomized his approach occurred on a 12-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter. Barkley burst up the seam, lowered his shoulder to absorb initial contact, spun and muscled his way past would-be tacklers for the score.
"That was an angry run by [Barkley]," Mailata said. "He wanted it. ... Angry runs are the best. You feed off it."
Quarterback Jalen Hurts had a quality outing as well. He ended 22-of-30 for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. He added 40 rushing yards on seven carries.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP has led the Eagles to the playoffs every year since taking over as the full-time starter in 2021. This season has not been the smoothest for Hurts or the offense, but the Eagles appear to be rounding into form with the postseason on the horizon.
"These times, they're rare times," Hurts said. "So, something that we all need to soak in and we relish in this moment right now, and take it a day at a time, as we always have."