The task is a considerable one, as the Eagles have seen firsthand: Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels is mature beyond his years, and he has led the Commanders to their first NFC Championship Game since the 1991 season.

Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio had nothing but praise for Daniels, who threw five touchdown passes for Washington in its comeback victory over the Eagles in Week 16 in Landover, Md.

"He's a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape," said Fangio, who said Daniels is playing the best a rookie quarterback has played that he's seen in his long coaching career. "The guy is playing extremely well. You can tell how much they think he's playing so good by the volume of their offense and the things they trust him to do. He's come through for them in a big way and he's tough to handle."

Daniels leads the Commanders into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday and he has a complement of weapons around him – a strong receiving corps led by wide receiver Terry McLaurin and tight end Zach Ertz, running backs Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson, Jr., and a good offensive line.

The running dimension of Daniels' game is also a concern – he ran for 81 yards on 9 carries in that 36-33 win one month ago and gashed the defense with some long runs on critical downs.

"He has the added dimension of the gun-run game (running out of shotgun formation). He can have designed runs for the quarterback or he can pull it and keep it. That adds another level to an offense," Fangio said. "He excels at that. I assume he was doing it in college and it just comes natural to him."

Washington scored 22 points in the fourth quarter of the most recent meeting between the teams to win the game, with Daniels in charge. How do you play him? Doesn't sound like Fangio has anything fancy in store.

"We just have to do a good job of rushing," Fangio said. "Rushing four, or five and make sure we don't give him lanes (to run)."

Kellen Moore's offense has "really, really powerful combination"

Pick your poison. That's how the Eagles want to run their offense, featuring quarterback Jalen Hurts and his multi-dimensional skills, and the game-breaking running of back Saquon Barkley. As the Eagles prep for Washington, coordinator Kellen Moore has both very much in mind.

So do the Commanders when the Eagles see Hurts with the football making the read on whether to hand off to Barkley or keep the football himself.

"Certainly the combination of Saquon and Jalen in the backfield is really, really powerful," Moore said. "I think Jalen does an excellent job of making decisions within those. Obviously, he has to make decisions within those runs whether to hand it or keep it. He does an excellent job."

The decision Hurts made on the team's first drive to keep the football resulted in a 44-yard touchdown run and that set the tone for the big-play running game.

Philadelphia's passing game didn't produce the numbers that everyone wants, and that is something Moore and the coaching staff are working to improve. Washington's defense has seen the Eagles twice and played it tough both times.

"They're really well coached," Moore said. "Obviously I know Dan (Quinn, head coach) and Joe (Whitt Jr., defensive coordinator). They do an excellent job with that group. They play fast. They play physical. They play confident. That's the secret sauce. They do an excellent job – you can tell they're all aligned and they're not going to give you any freebies. They're not going to give you any easy things. You have to earn it."

Special teams has hands full against Washington on Sunday

When the Eagles played at Washington, the Commanders set themselves up with some big kickoff returns – Luke McCaffrey averaged 30.7 yards on six returns, including a 47-yarder – and Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay has since seen the Eagles improve in that part of the game.

Jake Elliott is now handling kickoffs and on Sunday he had five touchbacks on eight kickoffs.

"I have so much trust in Jake and the kickoff unit," Clay said, "especially as of late covering the ball very well. We have a big test again against Washington this time. It wasn't good enough in that moment in time. These guys are so prideful and they want to make their presence felt on special teams to help out the offense and defense. Ever since that Washington game, I think we've done a really good job of improving our fundamentals, tackling, and making some plays."

Clay has immense respect for the Commanders and what they do. He has a list of what is the group's priorities.

"Everything is on top of mind," he said. "We gotta make sure we, 1) Flip the field on kickoff and punt coverage and from the punt standpoint we also gotta make sure we protect. Washington has a couple of exotic rushes … ball security and we've done a fairly good job in that regard. Playing penalty free, especially in the playoffs. it's important to play a clean game not just from a core four but from a field goal and field goal block standpoint."