Eagles mailbag: What is Commanders QB Jayden Daniels' history in cold weather games?

With the Philadelphia Eagles set to take on the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, it's a good time to answer some questions, solicited from readers on Twitter, Bluesky, and Threads. This is Part II of a two-part mailbag (Part I here).

Question from drbrando: What is Jayden Daniels' record in cold weather games? I know he is a rookie and the Commanders' stadium (if it can even be called that) is outdoors, but he went to Arizona State and LSU (hot weather) and his first 2 playoffs games were not cold. Could it be a factor for Sunday (even though the forecast is that it won’t snow)?

As you mentioned, his home games at Arizona State and LSU almost certainly never dipped below 40 degrees. And just eyeballing his college road games and the times of the year they occurred, it's highly unlikely any of those games were super cold. So the short answer is that he hasn't played much in the cold.

Here he is wearing a ski mask at practice in mid-October (via@Scott7News):

The only game his rookie season that dipped below 40 degrees at kickoff was... drumroll... against the Eagles Week 16. That was was 32 degrees with 8 MPH winds, per pro-football-reference.com. I can confirm it was cold there that day. It might be a little windier during the NFC Championship Game, but it shouldn't be colder than it was Week 16.

Daniels made a ton of plays that day with his legs and he threw for 5 TDs, but he also had 2 INTs. He sailed one INT well over the head of Luke McCaffrey:

And his second INT would've cost the Commanders the game if DeVonta Smith didn't drop a key third down throw.

That INT was more "bad decision" than "bad throw."

Anyway, if given the choice, I'm sure he'd rather play in warm weather (I mean, who wouldn't?), but if anyone thinks that this kid will be affected mentally by the cold, that's probably a reach.

Question from @EagleaFan29: At a high-level, would you consider a loss Sunday a successful season? Before this year, if someone had said "NFC Championship Game appearance" I would have been ecstatic. But now, given the remaining teams, anything less than a Super Bowl win would be a disappointment.

Well, the Bills and Chiefs would both be behemoth Super Bowl opponents, though I agree with your sentiment that the road to the Super Bowl has been easy, relative to a typical path for a 2 seed. They will have played a 7 seed, a 4 seed, and a 6 seed.

I think that any season that doesn't end in a Super Bowl win is a disappointment because it always ends either in a loss or without any postseason games at all.

Question from @phillyocean (via Bluesky): Where would a loss to the Commanders rank on worst NFC Championship Game losses in Eagles history?

Worst NFC Championship Game losses in Eagles history power rankings:

1) Eagles vs. Bucs, 2002 season: The stars were aligned for an Eagles trip to the Super Bowl after falling short to a better Rams team the year before. But the Bucs dominated the Eagles, and Ronde Barber sealed the deal with a pick 6.

2) Eagles vs. Panthers, 2003 season: Some would have this game ahead of the Bucs loss the year before, and I wouldn't argue too hard if that's how you feel. The Eagles got nothing going offensively, as Ricky Manning Jr. bullied Todd Pinkston all day and had as many INTs (3) as the Eagles had points.

3) Eagles at Cardinals, 2008 season: This Eagles team needed a miracle to get into the playoffs, and they handled their end of the bargain in the final regular season game, beating the Cowboys in the 44-6 game. They then beat the 3 seed Vikings and and 1 seed Giants on the road, setting up a date with the 4 seed Cardinals, probably their easiest matchup of the playoffs. But, Kurt Warner could come up with a clutch late-game drive, and Donovan McNabb could not.

4) Eagles at Rams, 2001 season: The up-and-coming Eagles were expected to get beaten handily by the juggernaut Rams, but the Birds gave them a scare before a late-game drive fell short.

If the Eagles lost to the Commanders, I'd have to see exactly what that game looked like before I could place it somewhere above, but it'd probably be pretty high on the list.

Question from @miketheeagle (via Bluesky): Who would be on the All-Pro team using just the players from the 4 remaining teams?

Let's just do a starting lineup on each side of the ball:

Offense

QB: Josh Allen, Bills

RB: Saquon Barkley, Eagles

WR: A.J. Brown, Eagles

WR: Terry McLaurin, Commanders

WR: DeVonta Smith, Eagles

TE: Travis Kelce, Chiefs

LT: Jordan Mailata, Eagles

LG: Joe Thuney, Chiefs

C: Creed Humphrey, Chiefs

RG: Trey Smith, Chiefs

RT: Lane Johnson, Eagles

Defense

EDGE: Greg Rousseau, Bills

DT: Chris Jones, Chiefs

DT: Jalen Carter, Eagles

EDGE: George Karlaftis, Chiefs

LB: Zack Baun, Eagles

LB: Frankie Luvu, Commanders

CB: Trent McDuffie, Chiefs

CB: Christian Benford, Bills

SCB: Cooper DeJean, Eagles

S: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Eagles

S: Reed Blankenship, Eagles

So, you know, the Eagles are loaded. But the QB...

Question from @fullspectrumed (via Bluesky): How crazy is the Bryce Huff situation? I assume the locker room is strong enough to keep the situation from going bad bad this year?

I'm sure Huff isn't happy about his role, but it's not like he's some kind of influential figure in the locker room.

Question from @richbobbe (via Bluesky): Why don’t the Eagles run slants to A.J. Brown 15 times a game?

🤷‍♂️.

(They should.)

Question from @ChrisLuvcGoBirds: When a defense loads the box against Saquon, does it sorta create an "all or nothing" result? Way better chance to stop him for only a yard. But also: Higher percentage chance he breaks a 60-yarder if he doesn't get stopped near LOS?

Yes. You'll often see running backs rip off long runs at the end of games because defenses are selling out to stop the 4-minute offense. And certainly Barkley has gotten a few of those himself this year.

Question from @silverdj7: Would it have made sense for Barkley not to score on his 2nd TD now knowing how close things got at the end of the Rams game (take a knee)?

No, Barkley was right to score, in my opinion. There was still more than four minutes left in the game. If it were closer to 2, maybe he's better off sitting down at the 1 yard line, and then you call a few kneel downs and kick the field goal to go up 10. Maybe. Even then I don't love that idea with how many field goals get blocked these days.

Question from @Supamandatho: Why are these never called?

It's almost like the NFL was like, "Yeah, we can't really adjudicate this play out of the game, but we still hate it and if the defense lines up in the neutral zone, we're just not calling that."

Honestly, if the officials aren't calling Landon Dickerson offsides because they're mistaking his hand for the center's (or other such nonsense), just consider that a win.

Question from @saxncymbals (via Bluesky): How worried should we be about Zach Ertz ripping the Eagles' hearts out?

Ertz has rejuvenated his career in Washington and has played well this season. I could absolutely see him having an impact, particularly in the red zone.

That said, while Ertz certainly has his fans in Philly, and rightfully so given his caeer here and his Super Bowl performance, I think he kinda ruined his chances of being a Philly legend for life. He could've been revered like Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, and Brandon Graham, but he forced his way out and is now playing against the Eagles in an NFC Championship Game. He will never be on the level of those other four guys in this city.

MORE: Eagles-Commanders staff picks and odds

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