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Eagles must be wary of old friend Marcus Mariota, whose legs pose a threat they have struggled with

Only one team allows more quarterback rushing yards than the Eagles, which could be a problem Saturday when they visit the Washington Commanders.

Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota is 2-5 as a starter this season, helped Washington end a long losing streak on Sunday against the Giants.
Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota is 2-5 as a starter this season, helped Washington end a long losing streak on Sunday against the Giants. Read moreSeth Wenig / AP

The biggest obstacle standing between the Eagles and clinching another NFC East championship on Saturday was probably going to exist whether Jayden Daniels played or not.

Daniels was shut down for the rest of the season Monday by the 4-10 Commanders. Washington’s season is basically over. A trip to the NFC championship game last season was followed up with a miserable 2025 campaign that featured injuries and a regression to the mean by the oldest team in the NFL.

But Daniels being out doesn’t change what is arguably the biggest challenge facing the Eagles defense on Saturday: the quarterback running game. Sure, Daniels is more fleet of foot than Marcus Mariota, who will continue to start with Daniels done for the season. But Mariota is an effective runner.

The Eagles know that well. Mariota was in the building in 2023 and has been in the league since 2015. The running and scrambling abilities have always been a big part of his game.

» READ MORE: What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 16 vs. the Commanders

That should worry Vic Fangio as the Eagles prepare for a Commanders team that is coming off a 29-21 victory over the Giants on Sunday, Washington’s first victory since Oct. 5. Mariota was just 10-for-19 through the air, but he racked up 211 passing yards because he went 7-for-11 for 181 yards and a touchdown on throws greater than 10 air yards, according to Next Gen Stats. Couple that with his 10-carry, 43-yard performance when carrying the ball and the Eagles have plenty to worry about.

This isn’t Kenny Pickett, another backup, leading a woeful Raiders offense. The Commanders are where they are in the standings in large part because they are second in yards allowed per game and give up nearly 27 points per game on defense — only six teams allow more points per game.

Mariota has started seven games for Washington this season as Daniels has dealt with multiple injuries. The Commanders are 2-5 in those games, but Mariota has had some solid individual performances. In his last start before Sunday, a 27-26 overtime loss to a Broncos team that now has 12 wins and sits atop the AFC standings, the 32-year-old went 28-for-50 for 294 yards through the air — with two touchdowns and one interception — and rushed 10 times for 55 yards.

“Marcus obviously had played a lot of football and he’s been in this league for a long time,” Nick Sirianni said Tuesday. “I have so much respect for Marcus — the person, first and foremost, the player, the teammate. Marcus was just a great pro."

Great pros tend to know how to play their position and when to do certain things. Example A is Justin Herbert, who was under duress for most of the game vs. the Eagles in Week 14 but found a way to move his team down the field by utilizing his legs. Herbert, who rushed 10 times for 66 yards, was just the latest quarterback to hurt the Eagles in the scramble game or with designed runs.

» READ MORE: The Eagles’ success has been riding on the defense this year. The 1991 team remembers what that’s like.

Patrick Mahomes amassed 66 yards on seven carries in Week 2. Jaxson Dart rushed 13 times for 58 yards in Week 6, although the Eagles schemed a way to stop him two weeks later. Other opposing quarterbacks haven’t reached that type of yardage, but some of them have had impactful scrambles. Dak Prescott’s game-tying 8-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Week 12 was a scramble. Carson Wentz kept a Minnesota drive alive with a 16-yard scramble on a fourth-quarter third-and-10 near midfield in Week 7.

The Eagles, according to Pro Football Reference, have allowed 329 total rushing yards this season to opposing quarterbacks. Only one team, the Giants, has allowed more (357).

The Eagles are allowing more than 5 yards per carry to quarterbacks. Mariota, meanwhile, is picking up 6.1 yards per carry on his 49 rushes so far in 2025.

His legs will have an impact Saturday one way or another. Either he successfully extends drives and keeps the Commanders in the game, or the Eagles contain him.