A rivalry has been renewed. 

Philadelphia will host the NFC championship game between the Eagles and the visiting Washington Commanders Sunday. 

Ahead of the game, the famous Rocky statue in downtown Philadelphia was dressed in gear representing the Commanders’ former identity, the Redskins. 

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The culprit is unknown. 

Dressing the statue in opposing teams’ gear has become a tradition in recent years ahead of big Eagles playoff games. Each time its happened, the Eagles have come away with wins. 

In 2022, the statue was dressed in New York Giants gear ahead of their matchup against the Eagles in the divisional round. The Eagles won that game 38-7. The following week, the statue was dressed in San Francisco 49ers gear before Niners arrived in Philadelphia for the NFC championship game. The Eagles won that game, 31-7. 

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When the Eagles won their first Super Bowl in the 2017 season, the statue was also dressed in opposing teams’ gear. 

Ahead of that season’s NFC championship game between the Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings, the statue was draped in a Vikings jersey, and the Eagles won 38-7. Before the Super Bowl, someone placed a New England Patriots jersey on the statue, and the Eagles beat the Patriots 41-33 to claim their first Super Bowl title. 

The vandalism became so frequent that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce pleaded with his own fan base not to do dress the statue in any Chiefs gear ahead of the 2023 Super Bowl. The Chiefs won that game 38-35.

“Chiefs, do not touch the f—ing Rocky memorial!” Kelce said during a February 2023 episode of his podcast, “New Heights.”  

“Do not do that and definitely don’t put an No. 87 on it!”

Former Eagles center Jason Kelce, who played against Travis and the Chiefs in that game, theorized the culprit was an Eagles fan. 

“I’m gonna be honest. I think somebody from Philadelphia is doing this now,” Jason Kelce said. 

“I don’t think this is an opposing team thing at this point. There’s no way opposing teams continue to do this. I’m convinced there is a Philadelphia fan who is putting these shirts on the Rocky statue just to get everyone fired up, and it’s working tremendously. 

“So, keep doing it. I guarantee it. There’s no way. Because it’s happened every single game. The Giants did it. The 49ers did it. There will probably be a Chiefs jersey on it this week.”

Now, Washington is up, and will look to break the trend. 

It will be the first time the rivals have met in a conference championship game and marks a high point for a rivalry that has been dormant in recent decades due to Washington’s inability to win in the playoffs since the 1990s. 

The 2024 season was the first since 2005 that Washington won a playoff game, and the first since 1991 that the franchise reached the conference championship. 

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It has been a week since the Rams’ season ended. General manager Les Snead apparently will need at least a few more days before he can start seriously thinking about the next one.

“We’re going to somehow try to get through this weekend,” Snead said Friday.

Snead probably won’t watch the NFC championship game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders on Sunday. Instead, Snead, coach Sean McVay, president Kevin Demoff and vice-president Tony Pastoors will navigate a “rejuvenation period” before diving headlong into the Rams’ major offseason issues.

“We’ll have a macro plan, macro cap, macro budget and try to, let’s call it, engineer a team that keeps the momentum going from this one,” Snead said during a news conference with reporters.

No offseason issue looms larger than quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The 16-year veteran is under contract through the 2026 season but, as the Rams uncomfortably found out last offseason, Stafford is not satisfied with what has become a below-market deal. The drama quietly played out through the draft and offseason workouts before the Rams finally bent to his demands and agreed to adjust his contract.

Another round of adjustments could be on the table.

If Stafford, who turns 37 in two weeks, does not retire, could Snead definitively say that Stafford would be back?

“He still has years with us, so he’s still a Ram,” Snead said. “I know this: We’ll sit down with all parties to work through that portion of it when we get to that. … That’s something that’s going to be a big line item.

“I think Sean mentioned it. You don’t want those types of issues dragging out throughout the offseason and kind of being a theme going into the season.”

If the Rams and Stafford cannot agree on a way to move forward, another trade involving the quarterback is not out of the realm of possibility. In 2021, two weeks after the Rams lost a divisional-round game against the Green Bay Packers, Snead traded quarterback Jared Goff, two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick to the Detroit Lions to acquire Stafford, who led them to a Super Bowl title in his first season.

“On that one,” Snead said, “Matthew probably disturbed our rejuvenation period because I think we did play in the divisional round that year and then maybe a week later is when it leaked that he would like to be traded and the Lions were thinking of trading him, so we had to get back to work a little bit quicker than we wanted to.”

Snead did not sound as if the Rams are actively shopping Stafford but also did not say he would not be traded.

“On trades, it’ll take someone calling or us reaching out if we want to do that,” he said. “Those are the things that’ll be determined down the road.”

Receiver Cooper Kupp’s situation is the other major issue. Early this season, the Rams pondered dealing the 2021 offensive player of the year and Super Bowl most valuable player, but kept him and then watched his production wane. Asked if the Rams would trade the receiver if he does not agree to restructure the extension he signed in 2022, Snead said he could not answer that because they had not spoken to Kupp about the situation.

Snead mentioned that Stafford and Kupp were among “a subset of players” — one that almost certainly includes right tackle Rob Havenstein and tight end Tyler Higbee — “that are coming to the end of their careers,” and contracts.

“Do you keep going forward with that same contract?” Snead said. “Do you restructure it in some way? For many reasons. Those are all issues we’ve got to really sit down and talk through.”

The Rams brain trust also will discuss offensive lineman Jonah Jackson’s situation. Last March the Rams gave the free-agent offensive lineman a contract that included $34 million in guarantees. Jackson suffered a shoulder injury early in training camp, however, was placed on injured reserve after the second game and did not reestablish himself as a starter.

Jackson is scheduled to earn $9 million in each of the next two seasons, but none of the salary is guaranteed, according to Overthecap.com.

Snead noted that despite Jackson’s injuries and the continuity that other linemen established during his absence, Jackson displayed a professional attitude and accepted his role.

“It’s hard to move on from quality offensive linemen,” Snead said.

A possible extension for running back Kyren Williams also is “something that’s going to be on the plate,” Snead said.

The Rams have had success in the last two drafts, finding stars such as receiver Puka Nacua and defensive tackle Kobe Turner in 2023 and edge rusher Jared Verse and defensive lineman Braden Fiske, among others, last year.

The Rams have the 26th pick in this draft. They do not have a second-round pick.

“Twenty-six is an interesting place to be,” Snead said. “Do you move up? Do you move back? Do you stay and pick?

“”That one’s a hard one to try and guess.”

Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews took to Instagram on Thursday, breaking his silence following multiple fourth-quarter miscues — a lost fumble and dropped two-point conversion to tie the game — during the team’s 27-25 AFC divisional loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

“It’s impossible to adequately express how I feel. I’m absolutely gutted by what happened on Sunday,” Andrews wrote. “I’m devastated for my teammates, my coaches and Ravens fans. I pour every ounce of my being into playing at the highest level possible, because I love my team and the game of football like nothing else. That is why it’s taken me until now to collect my thoughts and address this publicly.”

In the days following Baltimore’s season-ending loss, a GoFundMe fundraiser, originally organized by Bills fan Nicholas Howard, has accumulated over $100,000 across more than 3,000 donations to a charity close to Andrews’ heart, Breakthrough T1D. Established in 1970, the non-profit organization focuses on global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy for those who, like Andrews, have been impacted.

“Despite the negativity, I’ve seen heartfelt love and encouragement, including from those who have generously donated to the Breakthrough T1D organization,” Andrews wrote on Thursday. “Even when the moment seems darkest, perspective can reveal that there’s still a lot of light in this world. I’m now going to do my part to bounce back and contribute to it.”

Mark Andrews on IG: pic.twitter.com/pToANmX2NF

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 23, 2025

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What’s next for Andrews?

That Andrews didn’t speak to reporters after Sunday’s game and again wasn’t present in the locker room Monday was out of character for the veteran tight end. He’s long been one of the Ravens’ most accessible and accountable players. He was awarded the Ravens’ Media Good Guy earlier in his career for his cooperation with the media.

Obviously, his comments on his Instagram account aren’t going to make this a non-story. Whenever Andrews next meets the media, his fourth-quarter fumble and the drop of a potential game-tying two-point conversion pass in a two-point loss to the Bills will remain prominent storylines. However, it wasn’t going to be hard for the Ravens and for Andrews to move forward from this bitter loss without the tight end addressing it in some fashion.

This was already shaping up to be an interesting offseason for Andrews. He’s in the final year of a four-year, $56 million contract. His salary-cap number rises to $16.9 million in 2025. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh maintained Wednesday that Andrews is a huge part of the team’s future, but complicating matters is the fact that Baltimore’s other two tight ends, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar, are both headed into the final year of their contracts.

General manager Eric DeCosta acknowledged that the team will have some difficult decisions to make at the tight end position going forward. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens senior writer

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(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)