The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team.
The Washington Commanders are kicking off their 2026 season with a road test against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are three keys to starting 1-0.
1. Have an answer for Saquon Barkley.
Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones put it best when asked about Barkley. "Saquon is special," he said. "I don't think, it's...a one-man job [defending him]. It's a team effort."
Though Barkley obviously wasn't as effective in 2025 as he was in his 2,000-yard campaign in 2024, he's still one of the most potent offensive weapons in the league. He faced eight-man boxes on 30.71% of his runs last season, which ranked 14th in the league, and still managed to rank eighth in yards before contact (689). He'll be facing a Commanders defense that struggled to stop the run last season, giving up 4.8 yards per rush and 18 rushing touchdowns.
But this is not last year's defense. The Commanders invested money and draft picks to improve the unit's personnel. They brought in Jones, who brought in a new system that will borrow concepts from a Minnesota Vikings scheme that will create disruption at the line of scrimmage. Players like Daron Payne and Frankie Luvu are back, but the rest of the front seven looks drastically different with the additions of K'Lavon Chaisson, Leo Chenal and Sonny Styles.
It will be difficult to completely bottle up Barkley, but the Commanders are confident that their investments will pay off. Players like Tim Settle Jr. should help clog running lanes between the tackles, and Chaisson has the athleticism to keep up with Barkley on perimeter runs. But if they can limit some of his dynamic ability, it would both show Washington's improvement on defense and give the team a better chance at a win.
2. Put the pressure on Jalen Hurts.
Hurts' comfort level in Philadelphia's new offense has been a talking point surrounding the team this offseason. He'll need to be under center more often, and the offense will center around using the scheme to get players open rather than relying on them to win one-on-one matchups. In many ways, the Eagles are putting more responsibilities on his plate.
It will be the Commanders' job to make that transition more difficult for Hurts. Part of their reasoning behind overhauling their defense was to put more pressure on quarterbacks, and Hurts is a good example of why that is important. When under pressure last season, Hurts tied for 37th in completion rate; when kept clean, his completion rate jumps from just under 50% to 70.2%, which ranked 11th among quarterbacks with at least 240 attempts.
It will be easier said than done to pressure Hurts, though, because of Philadelphia's offensive line. The group's pass block win rate might not appear that impressive (they ranked 17th), but they also gave Hurts 2.98 seconds to throw the ball, which was seventh in the NFL.
The Commanders' top edge rushers -- Chaisson and Odafe Oweh -- are both on the injury report, so their status will be something to monitor over the weekend. If they are cleared to play, it will be pivotal for them to make Hurts as uncomfortable as possible. It might not lead to many turnovers, as Hurts has only thrown double-digit interceptions in a season once in his career, but it would help disrupt the offense's flow.
3. Stick to the run.
If there was a "heart" of the Eagles' defense, or as head coach Dan Quinn called it, "the straw that stirs the drink," it would be the interior duo of Jalen Carter, who received a contract extension this past offseason, and Jordan Davis. Carter only has 13.5 sacks in three seasons, but he has generated 143 pressures in that span. Davis is coming off the best season of his career with 72 tackles in 2025, which represents nearly half of the tackles he's made in the last four seasons.
The duo is going to make it difficult to run the ball, which will be a challenge for a team like Washington that wants to have a strong ground presence. They ranked ninth in attempts as well as fourth in yards per rush, and they want to boost those numbers even further with David Blough's scheme. If all goes well this season, the trio of Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Rachaad White and Kaytron Allen will be key pieces of the game plan, and their success will help elevate the entire unit.
That can happen against the Eagles, although they will be a daunting obstacle to start the season. Last year's averages (124.4 yards allowed per game) suggest they could be taken advantage of, but the personnel says otherwise. Aside from Carter and Davis, players like Nolan Smith and Zach Baun have proven themselves as having enough athleticism to hawk down running backs. As a result, there might be fewer explosive runs and more hard-fought yards, particularly when running between the tackles.
It will be important for the Commanders to remain confident in their ground attack despite those uglier runs. They will need to remain balanced to take down the Eagles, which means having to settle for gains of two or three yards on runs. Eventually, those small chunks could get bigger with patience.
