The Philadelphia Eagles have their sights on something bigger after becoming the first repeat NFC East champion in 20 years with their win over Washington.
The defending Super Bowl champs played one of their most complete games of the season offensively and defensively against the Commanders to clinch the division, marking the first time since Philadelphia won four in a row between 2001–04 that any NFC East team captured consecutive titles.
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Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) talk after an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, center, leaves the field after a win over the Washington Commanders in an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni talks to the media during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts talks to the media during a news conference following an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
“Obviously, in this division, we’ve seen the data says it’s hard to repeat as winners in this division,” coach Nick Siranni said. “We’ll celebrate it. We’ve got a lot to clean up. And then we got a lot more goals on our mind.”
Namely, a second straight Lombardi Trophy.
Two weeks ago, that would have been laughed off by even the most ardent Eagles fans after three straight losses had Philadelphia looking nothing like the team that defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. But things can change quickly in the NFL and the Eagles followed a 31-0 get-well home blowout of the hapless Raiders on Dec. 14 with a really strong showing at Washington.
Jalen Hurts looked as good as he has all season while throwing for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with a 111.1 passer rating, and rushing for 40 more yards.
The same can be said for running back Saquon Barkley, who gained 132 yards and a score on 21 carries, including a punishing 12-yard TD run in the fourth quarter during which he broke at least five tackles to reach the end zone. He later broke off a 48-yard scamper to help ice the game.
Afterward, their comments about winning the division were muted compared to the outstanding performances they had just put forth.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Hurts said. “So, I’m just happy we were able to check that off the box.”
Said Barkley: “It’s a big deal. But it’s kinda like, you enjoy it for — you’re going to enjoy it now, take the day off, and then right back to work.”
Offense and defense. Hurts looked as sharp as he has all season in connecting with receivers, eluding the pass rush and finding running lanes when the pass protection broke down. He found A.J. Brown plenty, too, hitting the star receiver nine times for 95 yards on 12 targets in a season that has seen Brown disgruntled at times by what he felt like was a diminished role. But the two are back to making plays like they did on Philadelphia’s championship run last season.
Barkley won’t reach 2,000 yards on the ground this season like a year ago, but he now has rushed for 1,072 yards and appears to be finding his stride after admittedly saying he was in a funk earlier in the season. Tight end Dallas Goedert has been consistent all season and made a stellar, leaping 15-yard touchdown with 3:27 left in the third quarter that put Philadelphia ahead for good.
Defensively, the Eagles held Washington to 130 passing yards, making it three consecutive games in which opposing offenses have failed to reach 150 yards through the air. Defensive back Cooper DeJean had a key interception of third-stringer Josh Johnson with 32 seconds left in the third quarte. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis made six tackles, four of which were solo, and stuffed the Commanders’ rushing attack.
Special teams. Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff return, setting Washington up for a chip-shot field goal to open the scoring. Of even bigger concern was the play of Jake Elliott. The normally reliable kicker officially missed two field goals, from 43 and 52 yards, and didn’t connect on a 57-yarder that was nullified due to penalty. All three were wide left.
Goedert. After making his 10th touchdown reception, he's one away from breaking the single-season club record by tight ends, set by Pete Retzlaff in 1965.
Tush Push. Philadelphia’s once seemingly unstoppable short-yardage play has suddenly bottomed out. The Eagles were unsuccessful on all three tries against the Commanders, getting stopped once and twice being pushed back 5 yards by their own false starts.
LB Nakobe Dean (hamstring) left with 6 1/2 minutes to play in the first quarter and didn’t return.
5 — The number of consecutive seasons in which Philadelphia has reached the postseason, tying the franchise mark set between 2000–04.
Philadelphia plays at the Bills next Sunday before finishing the regular season by hosting Washington in Week 18. The impending playoff scenarios will determine how the Eagles approach those contests.
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Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) talk after an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, center, leaves the field after a win over the Washington Commanders in an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni talks to the media during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts talks to the media during a news conference following an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
PHOENIX (AP) — The next presidential election is three years away, but Turning Point USA already knows it wants Vice President JD Vance as the Republican nominee.
Erika Kirk, leader of the powerful conservative youth organization, endorsed him on opening night of its annual AmericaFest convention, drawing cheers from the crowd.
But the four-day gathering revealed more peril than promise for Vance or any other potential successor to President Donald Trump, and the tensions on display foreshadow the treacherous waters that they will need to navigate in the coming years. The “Make America Great Again” movement is fracturing as Republicans begin considering a future without Trump, and there is no clear path to holding his coalition together as different factions jockey for influence.
After a weekend of debates about whether the movement should exclude figures such as antisemitic podcaster Nick Fuentes, Vance came down on the side of open debate.
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform,” Vance said Sunday during the convention's closing speech. He decried “self-defeating purity tests" and said there was a place for you in the movement “if you love America.”
“We don’t care if you’re white or Black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between,” Vance said.
He did not name Fuentes, but his comment came in the midst of an increasingly contentious debate over whether the MAGA movement should include Fuentes and his followers.
The Republican Party’s identity has been intertwined with Trump for a decade. Now that he is constitutionally ineligible to run for reelection, the party is starting to ponder a future without him at the helm.
So far, it looks like settling that question will require a lot of fighting among conservatives. Turning Point featured arguments about antisemitism, Israel and environmental regulations, not to mention rivalries between leading commentators.
“Who gets to run it after?” asked commentator Tucker Carlson, summing up the core fight in his speech at the conference. “Who gets the machinery when the president exits the scene?”
Carlson said the idea of a Republican “civil war” was “totally fake.”
“There are people who are mad at JD Vance, and they’re stirring up a lot of this in order to make sure he doesn’t get the nomination," he said. Carlson describe Vance as “the one person” who subscribes to the “core idea of the Trump coalition,” which Carlson said was “America first.”
Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet framed the discord as a healthy debate about the future of the movement, an uncomfortable but necessary process of finding consensus.
“We’re not hive-minded commies,” he wrote on X. “Let it play out.”
Erika Kirk, who took over as Turning Point’s leader when her husband, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated, said Thursday that the group wanted Vance “elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.” The next president will be the 48th in U.S. history.
Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a nationwide volunteer network that can be especially helpful in early primary states, when candidates rely on grassroots energy to build momentum. In a surprise appearance, rapper Nicki Minaj spoke effusively about Trump and Vance.
Kirk's endorsement carried “at least a little bit of weight” for 20 year-old Kiara Wagner, who traveled from Toms River, New Jersey, for the conference.
“If someone like Erika could support JD Vance, then I can too,” Wagner said.
Vance was close with Charlie Kirk. After Kirk’s assassination on a college campus in Utah, the vice president flew out on Air Force Two to collect Kirk’s remains and bring them home to Arizona. The vice president helped uniformed service members carry the casket to the plane.
“I’m honored to be on Turning Point's team,” Vance said.
Not everyone in the GOP stands with Vance.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. said Vance represents a turn away from the limited government, pro-trade, low-tax orthodoxy that has defined the Republican Party for generations. The GOP should stick with its roots, he said, and that is not Vance.
“All these protariff protectionists, they love taxes. And so they tax, tax, tax, and then they brag about all the revenue coming in,” Paul said on ABC’s This Week. “That has never been a conservative position.”
Vance appeared to have the edge for the 2028 nomination as far as Turning Point attendees are concerned.
“It has to be JD Vance because he has been so awesome when it comes to literally any question,” said Tomas Morales, a videographer from Los Angeles. He said “there’s no other choice.”
Trump has not chosen a successor, though he has spoken highly of both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, even suggesting they could form a future Republican ticket. Rubio has said he would support Vance.
Asked in August whether Vance was the “heir apparent,” Trump said “most likely.”
“It’s too early, obviously, to talk about it, but certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favorite at this point,” he said.
Any talk of future campaigns is complicated by Trump's occasional musings about seeking a third term.
“I’m not allowed to run," he told reporters during a trip to Asia in October. "It’s too bad.”
The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is close to Vance and advocated for him to get the vice presidential nomination in 2024. Trump Jr. echoed Vance’s vision for the United States to take a step back from its role ensuring global security and said immigration is negatively changing the nation’s identity.
“A country cannot survive when it imports people who don’t share their values,” Trump Jr., said. “We don’t owe the world a thing. We owe Americans their American dream.”
Erika Kirk speaks during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Nicki Minaj speaks during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Erika Kirk greets Vice President JD Vance during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Vice President JD Vance speaks during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Attendees sit in prayer during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Attendees observe the National Anthem during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Attendees applaud during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
