Morning Coffee: Can the Commanders shock the Eagles in the NFC Championship?

The Washington Commanders were 150-to-1 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel back in the summer.

After defying the odds to reach the NFC Championship, Jayden Daniels and company have an opportunity to do something that’s been done only twice before.

With a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Commanders would match the longest pre-season odds for a Super Bowl participant since the league adopted a 16-game schedule all the way back in 1978.

Washington was 40-to-1 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel when the postseason started – the longest odds of any NFC team.

Following back-to-back upset wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions, the Commanders are +235 to beat the Eagles on Sunday.

Can the rookie phenom Daniels do the unthinkable and lead Washington to a Super Bowl in his first NFL season?

Our NFL analyst Davis Sanchez believes the Commanders are a live underdog once again this week.

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday January 23rd, 2025.

Can The Commanders Shock The Eagles In The NFC Championship?

Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams stunned the football world as a 150-to-1 pre-season long shot to win the Super Bowl back in 1999.

22 years later, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals nearly won it all as a 150-to-1 long shot but ultimately fell just short against the Los Angeles Rams on the big stage.

Now it’s Daniels and the Commanders trying to complete the most improbable championship run of the century.

Washington beat Tampa Bay as a +138 underdog.

The Commanders stunned Detroit as a +350 underdog.

FanDuel opened Philadelphia -5.5 and -275 on the moneyline for the NFC Championship.

The Eagles are up from -5.5 to -6.5 this morning.

Washington is +235 to win outright at FanDuel.

Can the Commanders pull off at least one more upset win in Philadelphia to advance to the Super Bowl?

Our NFL analyst Davis Sanchez made the case for Washington ML +235 as his Early Lean for Championship Sunday on Sportscentre on Tuesday.

As somebody who gave out the Eagles versus the Kansas City Chiefs as the exact Super Bowl match-up back in the pre-season, I can’t backtrack now with Philadelphia as a 6.5-point favourite for the NFC Championship.

Still, the Commanders have defied expectations all year, and with the Eagles dealing with several notable injuries, there’s no doubt that Washington is very capable of another upset in Philadelphia on Sunday.

In terms of a FanDuel Best Bet, I jumped on the rookie quarterback’s pass-catching running back with a play on Austin Ekeler over 21.5 receiving yards.

The veteran running back has averaged 3.5 receptions for 33.5 receiving yards so far this postseason.

He’s registered 26 or more receiving yards in both playoff games.

Ekeler also delivered his best performance of the year as a pass catcher in Washington’s loss in Philadelphia back in November when he had eight receptions for 89 yards on nine targets.

To have a shot against the Eagles, Washington will need another strong performance from Ekeler.

I’ll go with Ekeler over 21.5 receiving yards as a best bet.

In case you missed it, here is my full card for Championship Sunday to date:

Chiefs ML -120 over Bills

Noah Gray over 13.5 receiving yards

Khalil Shakir over 55.5 receiving yards

Saquon Barkley over 125.5 rushing yards

Jalen Hurts over 29.5 rushing yards

Austin Ekeler over 21.5 receiving yards

One important note, I got a DM asking about my view on the Hurts knee injury after posting his rushing prop on Tuesday morning.

My positions is that Hurts was able to finish the game in very cold conditions and there’s no reason not to expect him to play on Sunday at this point.

Hurts was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday.

Quinyon Mitchell told reporters after practice he’s good to go for Sunday’s game.

At this point, the expectation is the same for Hurts.

His rushing prop has already ticked up from 29.5 to 31.5.

Hopefully, the knee is good to go and he can get me the 30 rushing yards I’ll need from him on Sunday.

The same goes for Ekeler, who had his best receiving performance of the season against the Eagles and will need another big game on Sunday to help Washington pull off the upset win in hostile territory.

Did I miss a best bet that I should jump on for Championship Sunday?

Give me a follow at @Domenic_Padula on X and let me know.

I’d love to hear what you all think about my plays for Championship Sunday and what I should be adding as a smart play that I haven’t locked in already.

Have a great day, everyone!