Alex Smith gutted out a win over the Eagles. Now he has to find a way in the playoffs.

“It speaks way more about the team and the character we have,” Smith said when asked about what the moment meant to him. He listed “everything stacked against us this year,” including a coaching change, a name change, a roster rebuild. Then he grinned. “Divisional champs. Still alive.”

This game — a sloppy one intent on testing the patience of its audience — was a fitting tribute to the 2020 NFC East. That it decided the division championship seemed like audacious fiction, a sentiment only furthered by Smith playing through a right calf strain that limited his movement. Coach Ron Rivera said he considered benching Smith, but he stuck with the 36-year-old, who had spent many predawn hours this past week in rehab. Smith gutted through the 20-14, title-clinching victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Such trust might not work Saturday night, when Washington hosts Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs. The Buccaneers have a fearsome pass rush and hit the quarterback an average of 7.3 times per game this season, tied for the second most in the league, according to Sportradar. But what Smith did Sunday, finishing 22 for 32 for 162 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, still meant something to his teammates, who would never question his toughness.

Star wide receiver Terry McLaurin played through a high-ankle sprain, and he said he and Smith saw each other in the training room every day last week at about 6 a.m.

“He was probably in there even longer than I was,” McLaurin said. “You can’t give him enough credit for that. I like to see myself as built the same way, doing whatever I can to help this team.”

In the first quarter, the pair met up again in the end zone. Smith had noticed McLaurin outside one-on-one against Grayland Arnold, a safety the Eagles converted to cornerback because of injuries at the position. It was one of the man-coverage looks Smith would later say “we were able to take advantage of.” He put the ball in the back left corner of the end zone. McLaurin, clearly hobbled himself, snared it. Washington had scored on its opening drive for the first time this season.

The Washington offense replicated that success on only one of its other 11 possessions. Smith pushed 55 yards in nine plays just before halftime for the touchdown that proved to be the difference. Later, he admitted the calf bothered him more and more during the game, and it was apparent on the field as he struggled to avoid the pass rush and took sacks. Rivera said he thought offensive coordinator Scott Turner tried to protect Smith by getting the ball out of his hands quickly and became “a little too cautious.” Even at halftime, just after the scoring drive, Rivera considered subbing in backup Taylor Heinicke.

“The opening drive and the two-minute drive are about as good as it gets. It really is,” Rivera said. “It just goes to show you that, when we are clicking, we can click. There is room for improvement for us as a football team, though.”

Yet the cause for concern about Smith’s calf may be less about how it limited him and more about how it came about. Smith said his limited mobility was not the result of a tweak or an aggravation, a re-injury that could heal this week. It was the natural result of being on his feet for so long in a game, what he called “normal wear and tear.” He sounded frustrated when he acknowledged “we left a lot out there on offense in the second half.”

This frustration was soothed by the final score. But the root cause of it — a balky calf making slow progress — could reappear in a new light Saturday. The Buccaneers could tee up blitzes against a wounded quarterback who can’t escape them, as the Eagles did in the second half Sunday. The ultimate concern, perhaps, is that it could prevent Turner from calling the best offense possible and hamstring an already limited unit.

There’s no doubt Smith will spend hours in the training room this week, again putting him in the best position to succeed. The question remains whether his body will let him.

Eight days before the win over the Eagles, Smith’s wife, Elizabeth, gave him what he called “one of the best Christmas gifts I’ve ever gotten.” It was a remodeled version of a fixator, the elaborate brace he had worn after his devastating leg injury two years ago. Elizabeth had it fashioned to look like the Lombardi Trophy, a reminder, she wrote on Instagram, that “no matter the outcome, Alex has already won.”

Even though the odds are long, and his leg might not want to cooperate, Smith would like to be on the field to give his team the best shot possible at the real thing.