The playoffs commence for the Eagles this Sunday, hot on the heels of a 2025 regular season in which a generally dominant defense fueled an NFC East title run despite a shaky offensive attack.
The 49ers, who missed on a chance to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed in a home loss to Seattle last Saturday, limp to Lincoln Financial Field as the Eagles’ wild-card round opponent.
Will the Birds run their home playoff winning streak to six games with a victory? Our writers make their predictions:
No, the Eagles didn’t get the No. 2 seed and missed out on a chance to play a compromised Green Bay Packers team, but as far as NFC matchups go, this one is pretty favorable for them.
The 49ers don’t have the same menacing defense they used to. And while their offense has sometimes been among the best in the NFL, the injury bug has bitten them at the worst time. Maybe left tackle Trent Williams ends up playing, but even if he does, he obviously won’t be at 100% after missing last week and the start of this practice week with a hamstring injury.
The Eagles, meanwhile, could get their star tackle, Lane Johnson, back, and they’re getting linebacker Nakobe Dean back, too. Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle still offer a big challenge for the Eagles’ defense, but McCaffrey had his worst game of the season in Week 18 and touched the ball more than any other skill position player this season. Tired legs or a really good Seattle defense? I think it was both. And the Eagles have the defensive front — a healthier one with Jalen Carter back — and the linebackers to defend the 49ers at a high level.
It hasn’t been an encouraging season from the Eagles’ offense, to put it mildly, but the 49ers are down multiple linebackers and don’t have an abundance of talent in the secondary. If the Eagles don’t beat themselves, which you can’t rule out, they should be able to establish a running game that gets the offense back on track.
Whether the Eagles can win this game will hinge on the defense’s ability to dominate, just as it has all season.
History is on defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s side. He boasts a 3-1 head-to-head record against Kyle Shanahan as head coaches or coordinators. Shanahan’s offenses haven’t scored a meaningful touchdown in those four games.
The 49ers offense could get a boost if Williams and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall play. But the primary focus of the Eagles defense ought to be slowing down McCaffrey, who ranks second in the NFL in scrimmage yards (not including return yardage). That’s a tough task, but not impossible for a defense that has excelled against the run in all but two games this season.
Brock Purdy can extend plays and scramble, but the Eagles have been better against mobile quarterbacks in recent weeks, especially since last month’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
In theory, the Eagles offense should be able to take advantage of a banged-up 49ers defense, and the game shouldn’tcome down to Fangio. But expectations ought to be low for an Eagles offense whose starters were shut out for an entire half the last time they faced a playoff-bound team in the Buffalo Bills.
Maybe the Eagles can finish what the Seahawks started last week and continue to punish the 49ers on the ground. Maybe Jalen Hurts and the passing attack can exploit the 49ers’ thin inside linebacker corps with passes over the middle of the field. Neither has been characteristic of the offense this season, though.
Or, maybe, the defense will stifle Shanahan’s offense while Nick Sirianni, Kevin Patullo, and the Eagles offense do just enough to get by. It wouldn’t be the first time.
How do you beat the 49ers? Do what Seattle did: run the football and pressure Purdy. The Eagles should be able to do that as the 49ers lost yet another linebacker this week and could again be without Williams at left tackle.
Yes, the Birds would much rather be playing Sunday against the Packers, but perhaps last week’s rest is what the offensive line needed to perform the way it did last postseason. Saquon Barkley averaged 147.3 yards last season in the NFC playoffs, so the focus on Hurts seems a bit much. For the Eagles to repeat, they’ll need to run the ball better, and Barkley has just two 100-yard games since Halloween. Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet — Seattle’s two-headed rushing attack — combined for 171 yards last week vs. the 49ers, who allowed opponents to run for 110 yards or more in four of their final five regular-season games.
Christian McCaffrey will be a focal point for the 49ers offense, as usual.
McCaffrey has been electric as always, but most of his success this season has come on short passes. The Eagles could take that away if they get to Purdy the way Seattle did. The Seahawks applied constant pressure en route to three sacks and eight quarterback hits. Jalyx Hunt and Jaelan Phillips could change this game. Pearsall, who has been slowed by a knee injury all season, could also be out, giving Purdy one fewer option to pair with McCaffrey and Kittle. The Niners had a great finish to the season before their dud against the Seahawks, but they just seem too banged up to hang with the Eagles.
Monday is an anniversary of sorts for Nakobe Dean, but not one to celebrate. When the linebacker takes the field for the Eagles on Sunday — yes, he will play — it will be 364 days after he was knocked from the Eagles’ wild-card playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Dean watched the Eagles win the Super Bowl from the sideline. He danced in place with the help of crutches while streams of Champagne and beer flew around the championship locker room until there was no more alcohol to soak in.
Then, a long rehabilitation from a patellar tendon tear in his left knee began. There were long days of training, and the 25-year-old even dipped his toes in ballet classes to improve his flexibility. But while Dean recovered, the Eagles also drafted his eventual replacement, Jihaad Campbell, in the first round. Then he started the 2025 season on the physically unable to perform list and didn’t debut until Week 6.
Patellar tendon tears are difficult injuries to come back from, but Dean has barely missed a beat. He overtook Campbell and returned to his starting role next to Zack Baun by Week 8. Dean has been one of the best blitzing linebackers in the NFL since he returned. He has four sacks in 10 games after having three sacks in 15 games last season. He has been solid in coverage, too. All eyes will be on Dean and Baun on Sunday as the Eagles face a talented San Francisco offense built around running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle.
Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean is helped off of the field during the second quarter of last year’s wild-card playoff game against the Packers.
There are the on-field elements on Dean’s mind. The 49ers, he said, do things no other team does with their use of the fullback and their dynamic schemes. The Eagles will need to have “good eyes,” Dean said, and focus on their footwork and technique while making sure to be physical. But there’s the personal element, too. Dean said football is always personal to him, but Sunday, almost a year to the day from the sport being temporarily taken from him, will have extra significance.
“It’s always personal,” Dean said Wednesday. “You got a timeline to play this game of football that you love.”
Dean has learned that the hard way a few times. The 2022 third-round pick, among the first wave of Georgia Bulldogs to the Eagles’ defense, had his 2023 season ended after five games because of a foot injury. Then the knee injury in the playoffs last year forced him to be a spectator during what would have been some of the biggest games of his career. Then, even as he helped the Eagles’ playoff push this season, he was again forced to the sideline after suffering a hamstring injury against Washington in Week 16.
Dean said he probably could have played through the hamstring injury, but the rest served him well.
“They want me in the playoffs the best I can be,” Dean said of the Eagles’ decision to sit him down for a couple of weeks.
Dean thinks he’s a better player today than he was a year ago as he prepared for the playoff run. “The more ball I play, the better I see it, the more I understand it,” he said. He’s said he’s not surprised he came back from his devastating injury in this manner.
Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (center) suffered a hamstring injury during a Week 16 win over the Commanders.
“When you’re going through an injury, and I got a goal that I set for myself, I’m going to come back and be the best,” Dean said. “I’m not shooting to just get to where I was before. No, I’m shooting to get better and get better every day.
“I’m a human. I have emotions. But I never lost faith that everything would be great. I never lost confidence in myself.”
Dean said the journey helped him grow as a person and football player.
“Everything I talk about, or I’ve talked about in the past before I hurt my knee, I had to stand on it,” he said. “I had to stand on being that positive person who’s taking a day at a time, who puts one foot in front of the other. The message hasn’t changed for me. But I had to stand on what I believed in and what I talked about.”
He has spent part of this week providing perspective to younger players like Campbell and fellow rookie Smael Mondon on what it means to be in the postseason — “a lot of people want to be where we’re at,” he said — and what to expect from the atmosphere at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. (“It’s like someone talking about an amusement park that they’ve never been to before and I’ve been,” he said.)
It’s the playoffs, and every game could be the last. For Dean, that reality is especially true. This is the final year of his contract, and his future with the Eagles certainly is up in the air. The Eagles have a lot invested in Campbell, and Dean has played well enough after returning from his injury to earn a decent contract, one that could come from another team. It is a thought that Dean said has crossed his mind after the Eagles won their Week 17 game in Buffalo.
Dean then reminded himself that he needed to be present. Sunday will mark his first playoff game since he was carted off the Eagles’ sideline last January. He wants to enjoy what’s in front of him.
“I got to live in the moment,” Dean said. “I got a lot of guys that I played with in college. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m just enjoying every second, every moment with them, with Zack and my linebacker room, everybody in the locker room. Just living in the moment and not even thinking about it.”
It is, after all, time for “playoff ball,” Dean said.
“It’s time to get to it, time to turn it up a notch.”
The Eagles and San Francisco 49ers meet at Lincoln Financial Field in the playoffs Sunday for the second time in four seasons.
And while some things have changed since that NFC championship game won by the Eagles in January 2023, others remain the same.
It’s a high-powered 49ers offense against a pretty good Eagles defense, and a fairly average Eagles offense against a pretty unremarkable 49ers defense.
Who has the edge? Oddsmakers say the Eagles. But here’s a look at some numbers and trends that could play a part in the final result Sunday:
2.93
This isn’t a shocking development, but news flash: Hall of Fame tackles are a big deal.
The Eagles sorely miss right tackle Lane Johnson whenever he’s not in the lineup. (Luckily for them, he’s on track to return Sunday.) Likewise, the 49ers operate their offense at a different level when Trent Williams is starting at left tackle compared to when they’re forced to plug in a 28-year-old journeyman who made his first NFL start last week. All due respect to Austen Pleasants.
Brock Purdy entered last week as one of only two quarterbacks in the NFL (the other being Caleb Williams) to average a time to throw of more than three seconds. But without Williams, who missed Week 18 with a hamstring injury, Purdy’s average time to throw was 2.93 seconds — his second-lowest number in nine games this season, according to Next Gen Stats.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy passes against the Eagles in 2023.
Williams will be evaluated throughout the week, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday, and his absence obviously was a big one.
The caveat here is that Seattle has one of the best defenses in the NFL, but without Williams, Purdy was pressured on 34.1% of his drop backs Saturday. That’s slightly above the 49ers’ average pressure rate allowed of 31.9% and much higher than San Francisco’s previous two contests (23.7%, 22.2%). Only nine teams protect the quarterback at a better rate than San Francisco does.
The Eagles, meanwhile, have a 35% pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks. Their ability to disrupt the pocket for Purdy, and make him get rid of the ball quicker than he likes, will be a key factor.
The Eagles might have the 24th-ranked offense in yards per game, but they are the best in the NFL at converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns. It’s getting to the red zone that has been a problem.
The Eagles score touchdowns on 70.45% of their red zone trips. Cincinnati ranked second during the regular season at 66.67%. The difference between the Eagles and some of the teams at the bottom is drastic. Houston, for example, had the worst conversion rate for a playoff team at 46.3%, 30th in the league.
There are a lot of things that have gone wrong in Kevin Patullo’s first season as Eagles offensive coordinator, but his red zone designs are something to hang his hat on. He probably helped Dallas Goedert earn some extra money in his next contract, too, since Goedert is up to a career-high 11 touchdowns and all but one of them were in the red zone (many of them in the deep red zone).
Dallas Goedert is having a career year at age 31 thanks to his usage in the red zone.
The Eagles’ ability to move the ball against a defensive unit that has struggled and is a bit banged-up will be a big factor, but once they get in the red zone, San Francisco’s ability to hold the Eagles to field goals will be critical. The 49ers have the 12th-ranked red zone defense and allow touchdowns on 53.85% of red zone trips.
413
And you thought Saquon Barkley had too many touches during his record-breaking 2024 season with the Eagles?
Christian McCaffrey played in all 17 of the 49ers’ games this season and finished with 311 carries and 102 receptions. His 413 touches during the regular season were 44 more than the next player on the list (Jonathan Taylor).
That’s a lot of work, and maybe it’s not such a coincidence that Saturday was one of the least productive games of McCaffrey’s NFL career. Again, Seattle’s defense is elite, but McCaffrey still managed 142 all-purpose yards when they met in Week 1. He struggled to get anything going on Saturday with just 23 yards on eight carries and six catches for 34 yards.
Eagles safety Sydney Brown tackles 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in a 2023 meeting.
Purdy had trouble moving the ball down the field, and once he checked down to McCaffrey, the running back who was second in the league in yards from scrimmage didn’t find a whole lot of room to run.
The Eagles certainly will be studying the film to see what Seattle did well and try to emulate it. Slowing McCaffrey down and keeping San Francisco in third-and-long scenarios will make everything easier for Vic Fangio’s defense.
For the first time all season, the Eagles will have a second consecutive home game. Hard to believe. How did the NFL treat its Super Bowl champion from a season ago? It made the Eagles the first champion in league history to not have back-to-back home games on the schedule.
Eagles fans cheer as players take the field for warmups at Lincoln Financial Field last Sunday.
Home field for the Eagles has been a big deal in the playoffs, which may sting come next week if the Eagles advance and have to travel to Chicago for a road divisional-round matchup.
The Eagles, with Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts in charge, are 5-0 with a plus-105 point differential in home playoff games. The 31-7 NFC title game victory over the 49ers during the 2022 playoffs helped pad that differential.
Gapare, a senior, missed Villanova’s first three Big East games for what the team called a “personal” reason. Gapare “elected to depart” from the program, the school said in its announcement.
Gapare, who was with Villanova coach Kevin Willard last year at Maryland, played in nine of the Wildcats’ 14 games this season. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 16.3 minutes.
Villanova’s rotation has gotten shorter with Gapare’s absence, as well as the knee injury freshman backup guard Chris Jeffrey suffered that required surgery.
After victories over DePaul and Butler last week moved Villanova to 12-2 this season with a perfect 3-0 start to Big East play, it was fair to wonder whether the Wildcats would see their name in the Associated Press top 25 rankings Monday for the first time since November 2023.
If only they ranked 26 teams.
Villanova was just outside the rankings released Monday afternoon. The Wildcats fell just five ballot points shy of 25th-ranked Central Florida for the final spot.
Relatively meaningless rankings release aside, Villanova is playing really good basketball right now. The Wildcats have won five consecutive games. They were a slight road underdog at Butler on Saturday and won by 18. They flipped the script in the second half one game earlier and beat DePaul on New Year’s Eve. They controlled the second half and won comfortably at Seton Hall before the holiday break. And they rallied in overtime to beat Wisconsin in a neutral-site game in Milwaukee on Dec. 19 that was effectively a road game.
“We’re battle-tested,” first-year Villanova coach Kevin Willard said after the road win at Seton Hall, his old stomping grounds. His team spent its next two outings proving his words wise.
Villanova’s Acaden Lewis chasing a loose ball against DePaul. He is averaging 12 points a game.
Villanova entered Monday rated 17th in the NCAA’s NET rankings and 21st in the KenPom metrics. Further, ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi had the Wildcats slotted in as a No. 6 seed in his latest Bracketology out Tuesday morning. Villanova is comfortably a tournament team through 14 games.
A season with limited expectations, in Willard’s first year after taking over for Kyle Neptune, has gone about as well as one could reasonably hope. The Wildcats have two losses to teams ranked in the top 10 in the country. They are 2-2 in Quad 1 games and 10-0 in the rest.
With 17 games to go — all of them Big East contests — has what some would have considered a rebuilding year turned into NCAA Tournament or bust?
Defying the expectations
It’s worth starting with the idea that preseason expectations in this new college hoops landscape are a bit unserious. The amount of player turnover that happens on a year-to-year basis make projecting records a bit like throwing darts after being over-served at the local dive.
KenPom metrics had Villanova rated 50th before the season started. Lunardi had the Wildcats on the bubble in his preseason Bracketology. Villanova rising 29 spots at KenPom has the Wildcats among the biggest climbers from preseason expectations to current performance.
But while the outsiders were unsure about Villanova, Willard himself was assertive about where he thought the 2025-26 season could go.
“We got to win,” Willard told The Inquirer in June. “From my perspective, laying the groundwork for the future and what we’re doing is extremely important. That’s more important than winning.
“But we got to win. I expect to win. We spent a good number on this roster. I think we have a really good roster.”
Coach Kevin Willard has Villanova off to a 12-2 start, including 3-0 in Big East play.
Missing the tournament while rebuilding for the future was “not my plan,” Willard said.
“There’s difficulties [in] taking over and really starting over and doing all that, but this is where my ego comes in a little bit,” he said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job in years past of doing that and I think we’ve done a really good job of putting together a good roster that I expect us to win games, yeah.
“I don’t look at Year 1 anymore like you have a two-year grace period. I think that’s [BS] nowadays. I didn’t take this job and say, ‘I now get two years where I don’t have to work.’ We’ve got to produce.”
So far, so good.
How they’re doing it
The roster Willard put together has been better than many expected. The Wildcats start a freshman, a redshirt freshman, a redshirt sophomore, a junior, and a senior. That’s a pretty young roster in the modern college basketball world. KenPom metrics have Villanova ninth among the 11 Big East teams in experience. The Wildcats rank 256th in KenPom’s minutes continuity metric.
Point guard Acaden Lewis has excelled in his freshman season and is up to 12 points, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game against just 1.6 turnovers. Redshirt sophomore Bryce Lindsay, a James Madison transfer, leads Villanova with 16.9 points per game and is shooting 44.7% from three-point range. Senior big man Duke Brennan, a Grand Canyon transfer, is at 12 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He’s the fifth-best rebounder in the country.
Bryce Lindsay leads Villanova with 16.9 points per game.
Junior Tyler Perkins (10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds), the lone returner to the roster with game experience, has played well at both ends. And redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge rounds out a starting five that all average double figures with 10.8 points and 4.4 rebounds.
Willard talked before the season about a deep roster and how he wanted to play as many as 10 guys. But injuries and slower development have led to a shortening of the bench. Villanova played just eight players Saturday vs. Butler.
Willard has also adjusted his own coaching preferences. Villanova shoots a three-pointer on 46.4% of its shot attempts, which ranks 48th in the country, far more than any other team Willard has coached (this is his 19th season as a head coach). The next closest was 41.7% by his 2012-13 Seton Hall team. Last year’s Maryland team, by comparison, took a three-pointer on 35.3% of its shots. (The Terrapins had a star big man, Derik Queen.)
A shorter-than-expected bench has also forced Willard to play a little slower than he usually likes. The Wildcats are 352nd out of 365 Division I teams in KenPom’s adjusted tempo metric. Maryland, meanwhile, was 66th last season.
Willard has also been working wonders in the second half of games. Villanova outscored Butler, 43-34, in the second half on Saturday. The Wildcats have been outscored in a second half just once this season, their overtime victory over Wisconsin.
Tournament talk
So, back to the question at hand: NCAA Tournament or bust? The analytics site Torvik had Villanova’s NCAA Tournament chances at 96.9% on Monday. Missing the dance at this point would be a disappointment and would require a major collapse.
While Villanova’s marquee wins are over Seton Hall (41 NET), Butler (46), and Wisconsin (63), getting through the nonconference slate without a hiccup against a lesser opponent was a big deal.
Villanova’s bench reacts after a three-point play against DePaul on Dec. 31.
A 3-0 start in Big East play, including two wins on the road, makes it pretty hard to imagine Villanova slipping up to a degree that would bump the Wildcats out of the tournament field — even if there are still four games to go against No. 4 UConn and a St. John’s team that is underperforming but will still provide a big challenge.
Up next is a home game Wednesday vs. Creighton. The Bluejays were 44th at KenPom and 52nd in the NET rankings on Monday. It’s a Quad 2 game, and after that is a Quad 3 game on the road at Marquette.
Slip-ups in one or both would change the math a little bit. But right now, all roads seem to lead from the Main Line to meaningful basketball in March.
Editor’s note: Jeff Neiburg is an AP top 25 men’s basketball voter. He had Villanova ranked 21st on his ballot this week.
One team had a meaningful game with a lot on the line and everything in its control. The other had a meaningful game with a lot on the line and only some things in its control.
The Eagles, the latter team, went the conservative route and rested most of their regulars. The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, played a big game in prime time Saturday and lost at least one starter for the playoffs in the process.
Of course, had the Eagles been in a situation in which a win guaranteed them the No. 2 seed in the NFC, Nick Sirianni likely would have made a different decision for Week 18 vs. Washington.
As it happens, the decision may have cost the Eagles a chance at a second home playoff game, but what it did guarantee was them entering wild-card weekend with the healthiest roster they could have. It was an extra week for right tackle Lane Johnson and linebacker Nakobe Dean to continue working toward their returns from foot and hamstring injuries, respectively. It was a day off for defensive tackle Jalen Carter to give his ailing shoulders a break. Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips got to rest his ankle injury. Tight end Dallas Goedert got to stay off his knee.
Lane Johnson (left) and Jaelan Phillips rested during the Eagles’ loss to Washington.
The 49ers, meanwhile, lost linebacker Tatum Bethune to what coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters was a season-ending groin injury during their Saturday night loss to Seattle. San Francisco remains without star linebacker Fred Warner (ankle), who has been out since Week 6 and is unlikely to be ready until at least the NFC championship game. Bethune started in Warner’s stead. Two other linebackers, Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quadriceps), will be evaluated this week for their injuries, Shanahan told reporters on Monday. Winters has played 92% of the 49ers’ defensive snaps this season.
The Eagles could be facing a hodgepodge of linebackers on Sunday (4:30 p.m., Fox29).
San Francisco also was without star left tackle Trent Williams for its game Saturday. Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury, and the 49ers struggled offensively without him, although the Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the NFL. San Francisco was held to 173 yards and managed just nine first downs vs. the Seahawks, while 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was sacked three times. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall practiced in a limited fashion last week but was ruled out for the game with knee and ankle injuries.
Johnson, the Eagles’ star tackle, seems to be trending toward returning for the postseason. Dean’s status remains unclear, but his Week 16 injury was not expected to be long-term. “Good news is, I don’t think it’s too serious and I don’t think we’re done seeing him for this season,” Vic Fangio said on Dec. 23. The Eagles could end up starting their postseason run with all of their active-roster regulars ready for action. (Rookie safety Drew Mukuba is on injured reserve.)
“I think it’s always a fine line of there’s two things that need to happen,” Sirianni said Monday. “[You’ve] got to have your players available, and you do different things to make sure that happens throughout the year, but it is so important that you continue to get better as the season goes on.
“Our guys know how to practice. They know how to practice efficiently. So we’ve had a tendency of getting better while also having guys healthy.”
Resting the regulars meant Tank Bigsby got the start at running back with Saquon Barkley on the sideline.
Bigsby has flashed in his limited role as a backup, and he showed Sunday why some are clamoring for more of him.
Bigsby rushed 16 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. He also turned a check-down completion into a 31-yard gain, making Washington’s Jordan Magee miss with a nifty cut in the process. Bigsby, however, played just two snaps in the fourth quarter and did not have a touch after the third quarter during the 24-17 loss.
Eagles running back Tank Bigsby rushed for 75 yards on 16 carries on Sunday.
“He runs hard,” Sirianni said. “He’s got extremely good ability to make you miss while also being able to put his shoulder down and finish runs through contact.
“The way he walks through, the way he practices, it really does show up in the game with how hard he runs and how hard he plays.”
Perhaps the Eagles will feature more of him, especially if they find success on the ground vs. a weakened San Francisco front seven.
The Eagles (11-6) will face the San Francisco 49ers (12-5) Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on Fox in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Here’s the full wild-card schedule.
Eagles running back Tank Bigsby started Sunday’s game against the Commanders.
Resting the regulars meant Tank Bigsby got the start at running back with Saquon Barkley on the sideline.
Bigsby has flashed in his limited role as a backup, and he showed Sunday why some are clamoring for more of him.
Bigsby rushed 16 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. He also turned a check-down completion into a 31-yard gain, making Washington’s Jordan Magee miss with a nifty cut in the process. Bigsby, however, played just two snaps in the fourth quarter and did not have a touch after the third quarter during the 24-17 loss.
“He runs hard,” Nick Sirianni said. “He’s got extremely good ability to make you miss while also being able to put his shoulder down and finish runs through contact.
“The way he walks through, the way he practices, it really does show up in the game with how hard he runs and how hard he plays.”
Perhaps the Eagles will feature more of him, especially if they find success on the ground vs. a weakened San Francisco front seven.
49ers are paying the price for not resting their starters
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Tatum Bethune (48) will miss the entire postseason with a groin injury.
One team had a meaningful game with a lot on the line and a lot of things in their control. The other had a meaningful game with a lot on the line and only some things in their control.
The Eagles, the latter team mentioned above, elected to go the conservative route and rest most of their regulars. The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, played a big game in prime time Saturday and lost at least one starter for the playoffs in the process.
Of course, had the Eagles been in situation where a win guaranteed them the No. 2 seed in the NFC, Nick Sirianni would have made a different decision than the one he made for Week 18 vs. Washington.
As it happens, the decision may have cost the Eagles a chance at a second home playoff game, but what it did guarantee was the Eagles entering the wild-card weekend with the healthiest roster they could have. It was an extra week for right tackle Lane Johnson and linebacker Nakobe Dean to continue working toward their returns from foot and hamstring injuries, respectively. It was a day off for Jalen Carter to give his ailing shoulders a break. Jaelan Phillips got to rest his ankle injury. Dallas Goedert got to stay off his knee.
The 49ers, meanwhile, lost starting linebacker Tatum Bethune to a season-ending groin injury during their loss to Seattle. San Francisco remains without star linebacker Fred Warner, who is unlikely to be ready until at least the NFC championship game. Two other linebackers, Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quad), will be evaluated this week for their injuries.
San Francisco was also without star left tackle Trent Williams for their game Saturday. He is dealing with a hamstring injury, and the 49ers really struggled offensively without him, though the Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Johnson, the Eagles’ star tackle, seems to be trending toward returning for the postseason. Dean’s status remains unclear. But the Eagles could start their postseason run Sunday with all of their active-roster regulars ready for action.
“I think it’s always a fine line of there’s two things that need to happen,” Sirianni said Monday. “You got to have your players available, and you do different things to make sure that happens throughout the year. But it is so important that you continue to get better as the season goes on.
“Our guys know how to practice. They know how to practice efficiently. So we’ve had a tendency of getting better while also having guys healthy.”
LBs Tatum Bethune (groin) is out for the rest of the season. The other two LBs, Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quad) will be evaluated later this week.
Eagles early favorites vs. 49ers in wild-card round
The Eagles will face Brock Purdy and the 49ers Sunday in the first round of the playoffs.
The Eagles will host the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs after they missed out on the No. 2 seed.
The Birds ended the regular season with with a loss to the Commanders, settling for an 11-6 record to go with their NFC East title. Meanwhile, the 49ers finished with a 12-5 record after their recent loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but had to settle for a wild-card spot.
Now, both teams will meet at Lincoln Financial Field as they try to keep their Super Bowl hopes alive, and the Eagles are early favorites over the Niners in their first-round matchup.
Jonathan Gannon has been fired by the Cardinals after three seasons.
Jonathan Gannon is the fourth head coach to lose their job on Black Monday
The Arizona Cardinals announced they have parted ways with Gannon, who they hired away from the Eagles in 2023 under a five-year deal that ran through the 2027 season and drew allegations of tampering resolved by swapping draft picks.
The former Birds defensive coordinator went just 15-36 (.294) in three seasons with the Cardinals, and his team was completely uncompetitive in the NFC West (0-6). In fact, the Cardinals lost more games last season (14) than the rest of the NFC West combined (13).
As Peter King put it in his weekly newsletter, “He’s a defensive coach, and they gave up 37 points a game in their last five games. Is that a team playing hard for the coach?”
To add insult to injury, the team wished Gannon a happy birthday on social media Sunday.
The Dolphins also requested interviews with 49ers VP of Player Personnel Tariq Ahmad and director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams for their GM job, per sources.
The Raiders have fired head coach Pete Carroll after just one season.
Three NFL coaches have been fired on Black Monday, and it isn’t even noon yet.
Pete Carroll joined the ranks of the unemployed Monday, with the Las Vegas Raiders announcing they parted ways with their 74-year old coach.
“We appreciate and wish him and his family all the best,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a statement.
Carroll’s team tied for the NFL’s worst record (3-14), and the Raiders had already fired offensive coordinator (and former Eagles coach) Chip Kelly during the season.
The move also means Davis will be paying three former coaches who are no longer with the team — Carroll, Antonio Pierce, and Josh McDaniels. The team was also forced to pay Jon Gruden an undisclosed lump-sum after he resigned in 2021 due to an email scandal.
Notably, Tom Brady — who will be called the Eagles’ wild-card game on Fox Sunday — will be part of the Raiders’ search for a new head coach.
Peter King calls Eagles’ decision to rest starters a ‘missed opportunity’
Nick Sirianni decision to rest his starters is being second-guessed across the league.
Add longtime NFL writer Peter King to the list of pundits who think Nick Sirianni made a mistake by resting his starters with the No. 2 seed on the line.
King, in a weekend newsletter, called the decision a “missed opportunity” for the Eagles and pointed out why the No. 2 seed offers a much easier path to the Super Bowl than the No. 3 seed.
“If you’re the 2 seed and you win the Wild Card game, you’re home for two playoff games,” King wrote. “If you’re the 3 seed and the 2 seed wins the Wild Card game, you’re home for only one playoff game.”
94.1 WIP morning show co-host and former Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie was more blunt Monday morning.
“It was a mistake,” Ritchie said. “The fact you could have had the easy path, and instead you completely forfeited that opportunity… this team has the players to win a Super Bowl if the path is the right path, and we forfeited that possibility.”
Sirianni defended his decision to reporters following Sunday’s loss, saying it came down to what he felt was best for the team and his players.
“The one thing I could guarantee was giving them rest,” Sirianni said. “I couldn’t guarantee anything else.”
“Going into the playoffs healthy is a big deal for us,” Sirianni added.
Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski agreed, writing the Eagles got some rest and “eliminated any risk they’d be shorthanded to a significant degree” against the San Francisco 49ers.
“Do the Eagles have a harder road back to the Super Bowl now? Maybe, but not necessarily,” Sielski wrote. “The defending champs let everything play out, and now they really get to take their chances, to show that being healthy and healed up is a bigger advantage than anything they might have gained from treating Sunday’s game like their season depended on it.”
Jalyx Hunt pulled off a first in the Eagles’ 93-year history
Jalyx Hunt made the Eagles’ history books Sunday.
If Jalyx Hunt looked like a defensive back breaking on Josh Johnson’s sideline throw intended for Deebo Samuel on Sunday evening, you can thank his background as a safety, the position he originally played in college at Cornell before transitioning to the defensive line at Houston Christian.
Hunt’s interception was his third of the season and separated him from what was a four-way tie for the team lead with two interceptions.
It also put him in the Eagles’ history book. For the first time since the Eagles were established in 1933, the same player led the team in interceptions and sacks. Hunt’s two sacks in Buffalo last week gave him a team-high 6½ sacks on the season.
Hunt, a third-round pick in 2024, also became the second player in franchise history to post 6-plus sacks and 3-plus interceptions in the same season. Seth Joyner did it twice, in 1991 and 1992.
“He’s living good,” Zack Baun said of Hunt. “He’s doing something in his life that karma is just treating him right.
“He’s super impressive. Thinking about his transition in positions in college and high school, it’s insane. Got to give credit to guys like that that work really hard to put themselves in good positions and then, at the end of the day, it pays off for them.”
Brandon Graham played a lot more snaps Sunday than he did in Week 17.
There were varying reasons for who played Sunday and who didn’t, who played sparingly and who played more.
The Eagles, for example, decided to let DeVonta Smith play nine snaps and catch three passes on four targets for 52 yards so he could get the 44 yards he needed to reach 1,000 yards on the season. Nick Sirianni said the Eagles were “safe with him as far as what kind of routes we were running and what he was doing.”
Smith exited the game after his third catch.
Some Eagles got the entire night off. Safety Reed Blankenship said he was looking back with no regrets after the Eagles rested their starters and squandered a chance at the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
“I’d rather have a week of rest and let my body recover than go out there and be in a dog fight and then feel bad going into a playoff game,” he said.
For some other Eagles regulars, Sunday was almost a normal day.
Jalyx Hunt played 52% of the 69 defensive snaps, Moro Ojomo played 51%, and Jordan Davis 49%. There was a healthy dose of Byron Young (78%) and Ty Robinson (74%) on the interior, but defensive line isn’t a position where the Eagles could rest everyone. Even 37-year-old Brandon Graham played 28 snaps, 21 more than he played a week earlier.
“The plan was that you rotate on the defensive line,” Sirianni said. “To keep somebody in there and just make them go the whole time, that’s not how D-line play works. You always want to have fresh bodies in there and so we knew they would play into the fourth and we tried to limit their reps as best as we possibly could by giving the other guys some more reps, but we knew that we would have to play them the whole time through because just the way the nature of that position works.”
The other regulars who played Sunday were right guard Tyler Steen and tight end Grant Calcaterra, both of whom played 28 snaps. Backup tackle Fred Johnson, who has been filling in as a starter for Lane Johnson, played all 64 offensive snaps.
NFL playoff schedule: Birds playing Sunday afternoon
The Eagles are making their fifth-straight playoff appearance under head coach Nick Sirianni.
The first round of the NFL playoffs begins this weekend, with the No. 3 Eagles hosting the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers Sunday afternoon at the Linc at 4:30 p.m. on Fox.
Kevin Burkhardt will be in the booth alongside Tom Brady, who will be calling his sixth Eagles game this season. It will also be his fourth Birds playoff game, which included last year’s Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fox is broadcasting two wild-card games this weekend, while CBS, NBC, and ESPN each get one.
One game will also stream exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video, which just finished up its fourth season as the home of Thursday Night Football.
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
The No. 1 Seattle Seahawks will face the lowest-remaining NFC seed in the divisional round. Same goes for the No. 1 Denver Broncos in the AFC.
Full 2025-26 NFL playoff schedule
Wild-card round: Saturday, Jan. 10, to Monday, Jan. 12
Divisional round: Saturday, Jan. 17, to Sunday, Jan. 18
Super Bowl LX (or 60, for those who don’t like Roman numerals) is being held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of the San Francisco 49ers.
NBC will broadcast this year’s Super Bowl, with Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth on the call.
Here are the sites announced for future Super Bowls:
Surprisingly few No. 3 seeds have made it to the Super Bowl
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are hoping to overcome history during their playoff run.
There are a lot of opinions about Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest the Eagles starters in Sunday’s loss, especially after the Chicago Bears’ loss opened the door for the Birds to land the No. 2 seed.
But that’s all academic now. The Eagles will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, a position that’s produced a surprisingly small amount of Super Bowl teams.
Wharton professor Deniz Selman crunched the numbers. Since 1975, when the current playoff seeding began, just five No. 3 seeds have made it through the playoffs and ended up in the Super Bowl. By comparison, 55 No. 1 seeds, 24 No. 2 seeds, and 11 No. 4 seeds have made it to the big game.
The most recent No. 3 seed to advance to the Super Bowl was the Kansas City Chiefs, who made it to Super Bowl LVIII in the 2023 season and defeated the No. 1 San Francisco 49ers.
The last time a No. 3 seed in the NFC made it all the way to the Super Bowl was the Carolina Panthers in 2003, when they went on to lose to the New England Patriots.
The Eagles were the No. 3 seed in 2013, but lost to the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round at the Linc. They also didn’t advance past the wild-card round as a No. 3 seed in 2010, while in 2006 their postseason run ended in the divisional round.
The Birds made it to the NFC Championship game as the No. 3 seed during the 2001 playoffs, but lost to the then-St. Louis Rams 29-24 when Aeneas Williams intercepted Donovan McNabb with less than two minutes remaining.
Here are the five NFL teams that entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed and advanced to the Super Bowl:
Kevin Stefanski is the fourth head coach to be fired this season.
The Cleveland Browns fired Kevin Stefanski Monday morning, becoming the fourth NFL team this season to part ways with their head coach.
The former NFL Coach of the Year (an award he won twice) and a Philadelphia native, Stefanski’s sixth season with the Browns was a disappointment. While the Browns have a history of burning through head coaches (12 since 2000), Stefanski’s three playoff games was the most for the franchise since Marty Schottenheimer’s tenure during the mid-1980s.
Overall, Stefanski went 45-56 (.446) with the Browns, the franchise’s best winning percentage since Bill Belichick’s short tenure in Cleveland in the early 1990s (not counting the eight games Gregg Williams served as the team’s interim coach in 2018).
Expect most teams with a head coaching vacancy, including the New York Giants, to have interest in Stefanski, who is just 43.
They will open the playoffs at home against a 49ers team that is coming off a sloppy loss on Saturday in its third game in 13 days. San Fran’s offense scored just three points.
The Eagles and 49ers have met twice previously in the postseason. San Fran shut out the Birds, 14-0, in a muddy wild-card game at the old Candlestick Park after the 1996 season. Three years ago, the Eagles thumped San Fran, 31-7, in the conference championship game.
Niners quarterback Brock Purdy was a rookie that season. He got hurt on the first possession, and the 49ers had an uphill climb.
Coincidentally, he was replaced that day by Josh Johnson, who on Sunday led Washington to a win over the Eagles, which knocked the Eagles out of the conference’s No. 2 seed and set up the meeting next weekend with the 49ers. Small world.
Purdy had been red-hot until Seattle shut him down in a 13-3 Seahawks win on Saturday. In the three games prior, he had 11 TD passes and two interceptions.
This will be his seventh postseason start. He’s thrown one interception in 171 playoff passes, and San Fran is 4-2 with losses to the Eagles and the Chiefs.
Lane Johnson, seen here arriving for Sunday’s game.
Offensive tackle Lane Johnson hasn’t played since suffering a Lisfranc sprain in his foot back in Week 11. He’s expected to return to the team for Sunday’s wild-card game, per the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Safety Brandon Johnson, who started alongside Sydney Brown, injured his ankle while attempting to pick off a deflected pass in the second quarter.
Tight end Grant Calcaterra hurt his ankle and knee on a hip-drop tackle from Reaves in the third quarter.
Offensive lineman Brett Toth was evaluated for a concussion in the fourth quarter and did not return to action.
Other players dealing with injuries include defensive tackle Jalen Carter (hip), linebacker Nakobe Dean (hamstring), linebacker Jaelan Phillips (ankle), tight end Dallas Goedert (knee), and safety Marcus Epps (concussion).
If Aaron Rodgers is back next season, he’ll face the Eagles at the Linc next season.
While the 2025 season is still going on for the Eagles, we now know all the Birds’ opponents for the 2026 season.
Their final opponent was decided Sunday night. Not only did the Pittsburgh Steelers win the AFC North and punch the final ticket to the playoffs, they’ll now face the Eagles at the Linc in 2026.
The Eagles also face the first-place teams in the NFC South (Carolina Panthers) and AFC North (Pittsburgh Steelers), and will play every team in both the AFC South and the NFC West, which sent three teams to the playoffs this season.
The Birds are scheduled to play nine home games next season, which increases the likelihood we’ll see the Eagles in an international game. That could include a return to Brazil or hosting a game in Munich, Mexico City, or London.
Home games: Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Away games: Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears
Falcons kick off Black Monday on Sunday by firing Raheem Morris
Jonathan Gannon is just 15-36 (.294) in three seasons with the Cardinals.
Black Monday, the NFL’s annual send off of underperforming head coaches, kicked off Sunday night in Atlanta.
The Falcons fired both general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris, despite Atlanta finishing the season on a four-game winning streak and tied for first place in the NFC South with an 8-9 record.
“I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons, but I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement.
Two NFL coaches were fired during the regular season: Brian Daboll with the New York Giants and Brian Callahan with the Tennessee Titans.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the San Francisco 49ers, the Eagles’ first-round opponents in the playoffs?
“Got to stop their run, Christian McCaffrey,” Brandon Graham said.
It is where the game plan and film review starts for good reason. McCaffrey was second in the NFL during the regular season in yards from scrimmage with 2,126 (1,202 rushing yards, 924 receiving yards). On Sunday, the sixth-seeded 49ers will bring to Lincoln Financial Field a high-powered offense with McCaffrey as the focal point, and a defense that is nothing like the one that helped San Francisco reach four NFC title games — and two Super Bowls — during a five-season stretch from 2019 to 2023.
Reactions from the Eagles inside their locker room after they fell, 24-17, to the Washington Commanders in their regular-season finale were pretty similar.
Graham didn’t know which team the Eagles were playing until reporters told him. He had other things to worry about during the course of Sunday’s game since he dressed and played. But Reed Blankenship and Zack Baun, two defensive starters who had the night off, each expressed a similar mindset: “It doesn’t matter who we play,” Blankenship said. “We’re all excited. A lot of us had a week off and we’re ready to play. I feel like that was the best decision that Coach made and I feel fresh. We don’t know when we’re going to play them, but whatever day it is, [they’ve] got to come over here and come back to Philly.”
The Eagles and 49ers have some recent history. A mini-rivalry of sorts formed after the Eagles blew out the banged-up 49ers in the NFC title game, 31-7, during their run to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2022 season. The 49ers exacted revenge just over 10 months later in a 42-19 victory that kick-started the Eagles’ miserable collapse to finish the 2023 season.
During that latter game, McCaffrey rushed 17 times for 93 yards and a touchdown and added three catches for 40 yards.
“Christian McCaffrey is a dog,” Blankenship said. “We played them in ’23 and then obviously in ’22, so I played them twice. They have a really good offensive core and obviously it’s going to be a challenge. It’s the playoffs. Everybody is good. It’s going to be good on good. It’s win or go home, but we’re ready. We’re prepared for that. We’ve been through that.”
DeVonta Smith said the playoff opener is “just another game, but it’s the playoffs. We don’t want to go home, so everybody’s going to have a little more oomph.”
The 49ers have been bringing the oomph. They were 6-4 through 10 weeks and then won six consecutive games before falling, 13-3, Saturday night at home to Seattle against one of the best defenses in the NFL. They are 7-2 in games quarterback Brock Purdy has started.
Brock Purdy has helped lift the 49ers when healthy this season.
The Eagles will likely be leaning on Saturday’s low-output offensive effort from the 49ers as they prepare for their first postseason matchup. Like top-seeded Seattle, the Eagles have one of the best defenses in the league, and while the Eagles offense has been inconsistent, San Francisco’s strength isn’t its defense. The 49ers gave up 38 points to Chicago on Dec. 28 and needed a red-zone stand to keep their hopes alive for the No. 1 seed. The Eagles, who opened as 3½-point favorites, probably feel their ability to take care of the ball and play good defense is the recipe for a win.
“[We’ve] just got to be us and bring the energy,” Graham said. “Play fast on defense and put the offense in a great position. It’s going to be [about] field position in that game.
“I know the 49ers are going to definitely come here and try to get one on our field and [we’ve] got to defend it.”
Blankenship and Baun both said they felt rested and ready for the postseason run. It was the obvious topic of conversation after the Eagles lost and missed out on a chance to secure the No. 2 seed in the conference. The Eagles chose rest over the possibility of moving up a spot, and Blankenship said he wasn’t going to look back with any regrets.
Nick Sirianni talked earlier in the week about his decision, and one of the things he pointed to was the Eagles resting their starters in Week 18 last season and entering the postseason healthy and rested.
Last season’s playoff run ended with a Lombardi Trophy and a parade on Broad Street. Why, despite the ups and downs, might this team have another run in them?
“I think we’re really ramping it up,” Baun said. “I feel like we’re in a good position as a team, as a collective. Especially as a defense, we’re playing really good football right now.”
It all starts next weekend.
“It’s a big game,” Baun said. “It’s the postseason. It’s the playoffs, and this team definitely turns it on in the playoffs.”
“That’s what they call it?” Cooper asked with a smile Thursday, four months after he dazzled as an undrafted Eagles free agent during practices and preseason games.
The wide receiver out of FCS Tarleton State benefited from a few injuries during camp, but he forced his way onto the 53-man roster with his work ethic and all-around game. A converted high school quarterback, Cooper was second in all of Division I (FBS included) last season in receiving yards with 1,450 on a school-record 76 catches. He also holds Tarleton State’s career receiving yards record.
He was, in simplest terms, the man. But life in the NFL, on a team with one of the best wide receiver tandems in the sport, sometimes means taking a back seat.
“I kind of think about it like my transition from high school to college,” Cooper said. “The first couple of years, I was a big special teams guy. Then, boom, you get your opportunity. It’s kind of the same mindset. I’ve been here before.”
Darius Cooper is brought down by Chargers safety Tony Jefferson during the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ Monday night loss on Dec. 8.
Cooper has played 158 offensive snaps so far during his rookie season, and 138 of those were after Week 7. His role has increased as the season has progressed, but he has been targeted just six times and has six catches for 59 yards.
Life behind A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Jahan Dotson means a lesser role than Cooper has been used to in his team’s offensive game planning. Cooper’s best play this season isn’t a catch, it is a block from Week 14. The Eagles lined up in the Tush Push formation and instead ran a toss to Saquon Barkley to the left side of the alignment. Cooper worked his way into the second level and got a body on Los Angeles Chargers safety R.J. Mickens. The broadcast camera picked up the sound of the hit.
“That was a big one,” Cooper said. “I think that was the most I got excited on the field for sure.”
Sunday offers an opportunity for Cooper to get excited about plays on which the ball is in his hands. It certainly will come his way more than it has in a game this season. He may match or exceed his season-long targets in Sunday’s game alone. The Eagles are resting regulars for their season finale vs. Washington, and Cooper likely will start on the other side of Dotson with Tanner McKee doing the quarterbacking.
Cooper’s rookie season has been a whirlwind. The 24-year-old found out he made the team on cutdown day in a meeting with Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman. He left that meeting and called his wife, Kennady, a relationship that began when they attended Missouri’s Hazelwood West High School. Their professional lives would start in a big NFL market, thanks to his performance at camp.
Cooper changed his number from No. 41 to No. 80, a more reasonable number for a receiver, not one handed to a player near the bottom of the 90-man camp roster. Then he got to work on his development. He learned tips and tricks from Brown, Smith, and Dotson, “so many small things you don’t even think about that I never got taught,” Cooper said.
Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee celebrates a touchdown pass with wide receiver Darius Cooper late during a preseason game on Aug. 7.
“He’s another guy that works really hard, and I think that’s a product of the guys that he’s around,” Sirianni said. “He works hard because he has that in him, and that’s the standard of our guys. He continues to get better because you got no choice when you work that way, when you love football, when you’re tough, like all of those things that Darius is.”
Cooper is like most backups in that he tries to prepare every week like he’s going to have a big role because anything can happen. This week, then, was about sticking to that process, even though he knew his role was going to be bigger from the outset of the practice week.
“If you change your mindset and change your preparation, you’re making it bigger than what it is,” Cooper said. “At that point, I feel like you’re not just out there free and playing. You’re kind of overthinking it. You don’t ever want to overthink, especially in this game. You just want to fly around and have fun and make plays.”
But Cooper is cognizant of the fact that he’s still a rookie making first impressions and trying to put good film out there. He won training camp in 2025, but 2026 is another year.
“When your number is called, you got to step up to the plate,” Cooper said. “This week is a very big week, but you can’t overthink it. You just got to have fun. It’s still a game, at the end of the day.”
Injury report
The Eagles ruled out Jalen Carter (hip), Nakobe Dean (hamstring), Marcus Epps (concussion), Dallas Goedert (knee), Lane Johnson (foot), and Jaelan Phillips (ankle) for Sunday’s game vs. Washington. Most of them were not expected to play anyway.
Carter’s hip injury is new this week. He said it happened during the game vs. the Buffalo Bills, but it’s not something to worry about keeping him out of next week’s playoff opener.
Washington will start Josh Johnson at quarterback after ruling out Marcus Mariota (hand/quad). Star left tackle Laremy Tunsil (oblique) is out, too.
But even so, Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field presents the potential for the Eagles to move up a spot and into the No. 2 seed in the NFC if they win and Detroit is able to pull off a road win at Chicago.
Will the Eagles’ backups do their part? Or will Washington end a miserable season on a high note? Here’s what our writers think:
And, really, is there anything near as interesting as the Eagles’ backup quarterback on Sunday? Sure, there are some young players whose progress and development will be on display, but this wacky season deserves nothing more than a phony quarterback controversy to start the postseason run.
In all seriousness, Tanner McKee and whichever amalgamation of offensive players take the field for the Eagles’ first series Sunday still have a very real chance at winning the game and putting the fate of the playoff seeding in the hands of the Bears.
We can expect to see a similar McKee that we saw in Week 18 last season. He’s a capable passer who can operate the offense at a pretty high level. And Washington’s defense is really bad.
The Commanders, meanwhile, are expected to start third-stringer Josh Johnson at quarterback. His cross-field throw into the waiting hands of Cooper DeJean in Week 16 is all you really need to know about the Commanders’ offense with Johnson playing quarterback. Jacory Croskey-Merritt got free for a 72-yard touchdown last Thursday, but otherwise he had 10 carries for 33 yards.
The Eagles don’t typically stack the box, but if their backups are able to stop the run with success, it may be tough for Johnson to beat them with his arm. The Eagles will have some capable players on the field on defense. Imagine how long Josh Uche has been waiting to rush the quarterback in a game?
Games like this are really hard to predict. Who plays? And for how long? But the Eagles have the advantage at quarterback, and they’re the team with more football to play beyond Week 18. I’ll take that combination in this one.
Will there actually be a quarterback controversy? McKee will probably play well enough that the sports radio callers will engage in the absurdity. Happy New Year.
The million-dollar question this week: Can the Eagles backups beat the Commanders?
McKee will certainly give them a chance. Whenever he has been called upon, both in the preseason and the regular season, the 2023 sixth-rounder out of Stanford has risen to the occasion. In his last start, he led the Eagles to a 2024 Week 18 victory against the New York Giants.
But McKee isn’t throwing the ball to himself, blocking for himself, nor trying to stop the Johnson-led Commanders offense. Is this Eagles team as deep as they were last season at every other position?
That’s up for debate. The players adding secondary depth were more experienced in Week 18 of last year, with players such as Avonte Maddox and Isaiah Rodgers starting at safety and cornerback, respectively. Kelee Ringo and Jakorian Bennett are likely to get the nod at cornerback, while Sydney Brown will likely start at safety.
On the offensive line, Drew Kendall could earn his first start at center. Last year, it was sixth-year veteran Nick Gates in that role.
Still, the Eagles can’t rest all of the starters. Perhaps a few such as Jihaad Campbell see some playing time on Sunday.
The Commanders aren’t exactly operating at full strength. Center Tyler Biadasz went on injured reserve this week and left tackle Laremy Tunsil isn’t expected to play, either.
While the Eagles will be motivated to win, the banged-up Commanders have more experience playing together this season. Plus, they may still have a bad taste in their mouths given the scrum that occurred late in the Week 16 game at Northwest Stadium.
