PHILADELPHIA — Despite a miserable four-loss December, a defensive coaching change, a slew of unhappy players and declining production from their stars, the Philadelphia Eagles can still earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
Unlikely, perhaps. Yet still in play.
The Eagles (11-5) need to beat the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys have to lose to Washington for Jalen Hurts & Co. to win the NFC East and finish behind only the 49ers in the conference.
But if Dallas wins - and they are 13 1/2-point favorites, according to FanDuel SportsBook - the Cowboys are the NFC East champs no matter Philadelphia’s outcome. And that means the Eagles - the reigning NFC champions, a team that opened the month 10-1, a team with Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith - would become the No. 5 seed and open the playoffs on the road against the winner of the NFC South division.
“We understand we are at the mercy of another team to win the division,” coach Nick Sirianni said.
The scenario was inconceivable just five weeks ago.
Consecutive losses to San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle started the malaise and the collapse was complete with a stunning home loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals.
Only five teams - last done by Tampa Bay in 2020 - have ever won three road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl.
“When you’re not seeing the rewards of it, you’re upset, but you can only be upset for so long, and you can only be down for so long because you’ve got to get back up and figure out what the solutions are and what the answers are to the issues that are going on,” Sirianni said.
WHAT’S WORKING
Not much these days. The good news is the Eagles are 17-3 in their last 20 games against the Giants and have won the last five (including playoffs). Philadelphia’s 18 road wins since 2021 are tied with the 49ers for most in the NFL.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
The defense has not made any positive strides since Sirianni stripped defensive coordinator Sean Desai of his duties and handed them to Matt Patricia. After three games, it’s clear the move didn’t have the desired effect - Arizona finished with 449 yards of offense. The Cardinals scored touchdowns on four straight drives in the second half. Patricia even dropped linebacker Haason Reddick, with his team-best 11 sacks, into pass coverage seven times against the Cardinals. Reddick has been among the most visibly angry Eagles player on the sideline.
Sirianni said he had no regrets over the coaching shakeup.
“Every decision that I make is with the thought of the team first and what is best for the team,” he said. “The adjustments that I made a couple weeks ago were in attempts to do what was best for the team, and I still believe that. We made some adjustments. Coming off a game like that, no one is going to be satisfied about anything that happened. But I do believe in the guys that we have on the field.”
STOCK UP
Safety Sydney Brown picked off Kyler Murray on third-and-7 at the Philadelphia 1 and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. He became the first Eagles rookie to return an interception for a score since Jordan Hicks in 2015. He also became the first Eagles rookie to accomplish the feat at home since 1991.
STOCK DOWN
A.J. Brown. The Eagles wideout was targeted just five times and had four catches for 53 yards. He hasn’t had a 100-yard receiving game in any of the last four games. Brown has had just one 100-yard game since he ended an NFL-record streak of six straight games with at least 125 yards. Brown declined to talk to the media Sunday for the second straight game.
“He’s always going to want to change the game because he knows he’s capable and that’s just him being the playmaker he is,” Sirianni said. “I know this, and I said this to you guys on the record, off the record, there’s nobody that is as good of a teammate. There is nobody that’s as good of a person as A.J., and shoot, he’s one of our very best players and one of our best players since I’ve been here in the past three years.”
So maybe the Eagles should use him.
INJURIES
WR DeVonta Smith injured his ankle and is using crutches and wearing a walking boot.
“He’ll do everything he possibly can to get himself back on that field as fast as he possibly can,” Sirianni said.
KEY NUMBER
1,000 - Fourth-year player D’Andre Swift topped 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career. The Eagles will have a 4,000-yard passer (Hurts), two 1,000-yard receivers (Brown and Smith) and a 1,000-yard rusher in the same season for the first time in team history if Hurts throws for 197 yards this weekend.
NEXT STEPS
Beat the Giants and root for the Commanders.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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