Turnovers, officiating doom Washington Commanders in NFC Championship Game loss

For three quarters, Sunday's NFC Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders was much closer than the score indicated. The difference was three costly fumbles and some inconsistent officiating, before Philly eventually poured it on. If there was one play that truly changed the game, it came at the end of the third quarter.

Trailing 23-34 with the ball at midfield, Austin Ekeler fumbled after catching a quick pass from Jayden Daniels and the ball seemed to be recovered by Washington's Tyler Biadasz. However, the Eagles were awarded the ball because Zack Baun was ruled down prior to Biadasz ripping it away. WATCH: Washington Commanders playoff games live in-market without cable It was the perfect encapsulation of a game that was decided by the gradual buildup of small mistakes at inopportune times by Washington, while Shawn Hochuli's crew did the Commanders no favors.

Ekeler's fumble was the third of the game for the Commanders, after Dyami Brown and Jeremy McNichols had additionally given the ball away earlier on. There would be four Washington turnovers in total after Jayden Daniels threw a late interception with the game out of reach. Then, there was the officiating.

It's probably unfair on the blame on the refs in a game that ended up being a 55-23 blowout, but Washington was repeatedly given the short end of the stick in that regard during the first half. A clear hold was missed on the Eagles on a fourth-down play, an extremely questionable late hit was called on Mike Sainristil for tackling Saquon Barkley out of bounds on a third down, and Marshon Lattimore was penalized 15 yards for having his helmet ripped off by A.J.

Brown. Those were just a few of the many grievances Washington fans can hold against Hochuli's crew on Sunday -- and that's not even getting into a late third-quarter sequence in which they threatened to award the Eagles a free touchdown should the Commanders continue jumping off-sides at the goal line. Nevertheless, there were plenty of other factors involved in the Commanders' loss, and at the end of the day, the result of Sunday's game shouldn't cloud what was a dream season for Washington.

Now, it's all about how they respond to expectations..