NFC championship: Commanders surprise Eagles with fake punt for third 4th-down conversion of the day

With Sunday's NFC championship threatening to get out of hand, the Washington Commanders decided to gamble.

It paid off.

The Philadelphia Eagles scored touchdowns on each of their opening drives to take an early 14-3 lead. Then Washington's third drive stalled, and the Commanders s out their punt unit on fourth-and-6 at their own 31. But Tress Way did not punt the ball.

Instead, the Washington punter lofted a perfect pass down the middle to tight end Zach Ertz, who ran through the secondary uncovered and corralled the ball near midfield for a 23-yard gain and a first down.

The conversion kept alive a drive that ended with a field goal to cut Philadelphia's lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter. Instead of giving the ball back to Philadelphia down 11 points, Washington cut its deficit to one possession.

The conversion continued an aggressive trend for the Commanders, who went for and converted two fourth downs on their opening drive that also ended with a field goal. A Commanders team that got this far by playing aggressive and trusting its players to make plays wasn't about to change its stripes with a trip to the Super Bowl on the the line.