EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Eagles need another miracle to salvage playoff seeding when they take on the New York Giants Sunday (4:25 p.m., CBS TV, WIP 94.1-FM) in the regular season finale at their personal mecca of miracles, the Meadowlands.
To host a playoff game, the Eagles (11-5) must defeat the Giants (5-11), who did not go quietly a couple of weeks ago in a 33-25 loss at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles also need help from the football gods in the form of a Washington Commanders upset of the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys (11-5) hold the common opponents’ tiebreaker over the Eagles. To be of assistance to the Eagles, they need to bring their awful road act to FedEx Field and bite the dust when they oppose the Commanders (4-12). Those outcomes would give the Eagles the division pennant, the second seed and home field advantage in the NFC playoffs against all but the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers (12-4).
However, the likeliest outcome is that the Eagles begin the playoffs next weekend as the fifth seed against the NFC South champions, either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or New Orleans Saints, who both are 8-8.
Even if the Eagles prevail Sunday, the road back to the Super Bowl is full of bumps, not the least of which is finding a way to recharge in the face of a late-season slide featuring losses in four of five. That caused enough consternation that temperamental wide receiver A.J. Brown, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, apologized to the team last week for being a distraction.
Early last week, head coach Nick Sirianni weighed the possibility of keeping select players out of harm’s way Sunday. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith (ankle) and cornerback Darius Slay (knee) are the only starters who have been ruled out. D’Andre Swift could join them, as the Pro Bowl running back has an illness.
With the Eagles and Cowboys both kicking off at 4:25 p.m., even scoreboard watching figures to be a luxury as both teams have been known to blown double-digit leads.
Considering the stakes, the Eagles have little choice but to play to win the game, as Herman Edwards so eloquently said many years ago. Not a bad thing, either, for a team still trying to find itself offensively despite a wealth of talent and struggling to figure out, with less talented personnel, how new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia wants them to line up.
The latter was a major problem in the 35-31 loss last week to the lowly Arizona Cardinals, who rushed for 221 yards, including 128 by James Conner. Saquon Barkley rushed for 80 yards and one touchdown last month against the Eagles.
“We have to play together as a collective unit and everybody has to be wanting to attack that part of the game, knowing that this last couple of weeks have been an issue for us and teams are going to try us on it until we get back to where we were in those first six to eight weeks,” Eagles Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick said. “Letting them know you come in here trying to run the ball we ain’t going for it. We need to do it in this game especially getting ready to go in the playoffs. Until we do that people are going to keep attack us in the same way.”
If the Eagles are going to find their groove, doing so in a pressure situation with the playoffs on the horizon would be a pretty good time to. They’ve not put together a good game in all phases since a 34-24 win over Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, some six weeks ago.
“It’s just about executing,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “I’m no coach or anything like that, but the most important thing we can do is take advantage of our opportunities to execute and execute at a high level when opportunities are given. Definitely want to build some good rapport there and that’s the challenge. Whether it’ a must win game or just another game, they’re all equally important. The objective every game is to go out there and execute and do your jobs and ultimately put points on the board.”
If the Eagles can minimize mistakes, including Hurts who ranks among the NFL leaders with 17 turnovers, there is hope for the playoffs. They’re minus-7 in turnover ratio. In their recent Super Bowl season, the Birds were plus-8.
“As you guys see, it’s highs and lows,” Brown said. “It goes just like that. That’s why I feel like we are close to continuing to get better and take the next step. All this freaking adversity, we’re right there. That’s what happens when you’re trying to get to that next step. Gravity pulls against you. Everything pulls against you. That’s what I think this team is going through right now. Once we fight through that, push through that, we’re going to be fine. We’re going to be where we need to be because I know we’ve got great people in this locker room.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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