PHILADELPHIA >> The magic ran out, but hope is alive.

In one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NFL history, the Washington Commanders followed a disastrous 2023 campaign with one of their finest seasons in decades, winning 12 regular season games, upsetting the NFC’s No. 1 seed and making it all the way to the conference championship game for the first time in 33 years.

Led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Commanders defied the odds for nearly five months. They were fun. They were likable. And they were the embodiment of resilience and belief.

But their season ended here, at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night, against a superior Philadelphia Eagles team bound for its third Super Bowl appearance in eight seasons. The Commanders took their most lopsided loss of the season, 55-23, after costly turnovers, troubling penalties and a defensive unraveling.

The Eagles amassed 459 yards and eight touchdowns, and Washington’s offense couldn’t keep up and couldn’t overcome the team’s mistakes. The Commanders turned the ball over four times, which Philadelphia turned into 28 points, and committed nine penalties for a loss of 47 yards.

Daniels finished 29 for 48 for 255 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a 72.8 passer rating. He added a team-high 48 rushing yards and a nine-yard touchdown. In the locker room afterward, the typically even-keeled quarterback was visibly set, his eyes watery and puffy.

“This s- * sucks. Excuse my language,” he said. “ … We believed we belonged here.”

A weighted silence fell over the Commanders’ locker room. Many players sat dejected, staring off as they tried to grasp the moment. There were tears and red eyes, and no interest in looking back fondly over their journey there. Not then.

Some veteran players, including wide receiver Terry McLaurin and linebacker Bobby Wagner, hugged younger players and offered words of encouragement.

“‘Remember these moments,’” Wagner recalled telling them. “I remember my rookie year [in Seattle]. We were playing against Atlanta and we were down and then we came back and tied the game. Then they came back, ran three plays, kicked a field goal and we lost. I still remember the picture that they got of me and Bruce Irvin on the sideline. We vowed never to have that feeling again, and we went to the Super Bowl the next year.”

Coach Dan Quinn told his players to “savor these moments,” he said. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about missed opportunities. That wasn’t tonight for them.”

The Commanders’ unflappability, especially late in games, had become the hallmark of their season. They embraced the “anybody, anywhere, anytime” mantra Quinn preached throughout his first season.

Once the laughingstock of the NFL, the Commanders transformed into a contender thanks largely to Daniels, who had one of the, if not the, finest campaigns of any rookie quarterback ever. He punctuated it with the best playoff run of any first-year player, surpassing Russell Wilson (572 yards) on Sunday for the most playoff passing yards by a rookie.