Philly sports talkers are likely to debate the decision all week, but what’s done is done. The Eagles will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, a position that has produced surprisingly few 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.
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 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 Eagles’ four Super Bowl appearances have all come as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, including last year’s victory against the Chiefs.
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 Eagles were the No. 3 seed in 2013, but they lost to the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round at Lincoln Financial Field. 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:
The game is scheduled for Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on Fox.
The Eagles missed out on a chance to land the No. 2 seed, which they had an opportunity to snag after the Detroit Lions defeated the Chicago Bears Sunday.
The final playoff spot was claimed in dramatic fashion Sunday night, with the Pittsburgh Steelers edging out the Baltimore Ravens in a wild fourth-quarter that saw three lead changes. As a result, the Steelers win the AFC North and will host the Houston Texans in the wild-card round.
Despite losing Saturday night, the Carolina Panthers were crowned NFC South champions Sunday, thanks to the Atlanta Falcons’ win against the New Orleans Saints.
The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South by defeating the Tennessee Titans Sunday, but missed out on landing the No. 1 seed, which went to the Denver Broncos for the first time since 2015, when they won Super Bowl 50.
The Seattle Seahawks claimed the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed with their 13-3 win against the San Francisco 49ers Saturday night.
Which team will the Eagles play in the playoffs?
Brock Purdy and the 49ers will face the Eagles at the Linc in the wild-card round.
As the No. 3 seed, the Eagles will host the 49ers in the wild card round.
The 49ers missed out on winning the NFC West Saturday night, losing to the Seahawks. They dropped down to the No. 6 seed after the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals Sunday.
2026 wild-card playoff schedule
Here is the full schedule for the wild-card round of the playoffs, which the NFL announced Sunday night:
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 seed Seahawks and No. 1 seed Broncos get byes, and will host the lowest-remaining team during the divisional round of the playoffs.
NFC playoff picture
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 Panthers clinched the NFC South Sunday, claiming the NFC’s final playoff spot.
Despite the Panthers losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night, the Falcons’ win against the Saints created a three-way tie at 8-7 atop the NFC South. The tiebreaker fell to their head-to-head record, with the Panthers (3-1) edging out the Buccaneers (2-2) and Falcons (1-3).
Here how the NFC playoffs will look:
No. 1 seed: Seahawks
No. 2 seed: Bears
No. 3 seed: Eagles
No. 4 seed: Panthers
No. 5 seed: Rams
No. 6 seed: 49ers
No. 7 seed: Packers
AFC playoff picture
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 Broncos claimed the AFC’s No. 1 seed by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday.
The win drops the New England Patriots down to the No. 2 seed, with the Jaguars claiming the AFC South and the No. 3 seed.
The Steelers won the AFC North for the first time since 2020 and enter the playoffs as the No. 4 seed.
Here how the AFC playoffs will look:
No. 1 seed: Broncos
No. 2 seed: Patriots
No. 3 seed: Jaguars
No. 4 seed: Ravens
No. 5 seed: Texans
No. 6 seed: Bills
No. 7 seed: Chargers
Full 2025 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:
While the Eagles are prioritizing next week’s wild-card game, Sunday’s matchup against the Commanders is the sole focus of one announcer who grew up rooting for the Birds.
Tucker, a Wyomissing native and former NFL offensive lineman, has called a number of Eagles games on radio for Westwood One, where he’s worked since 2015. But Sunday will be his first chance broadcasting a Birds game on TV for CBS.
“It’s super cool for me on multiple levels,” Tucker said. “I grew up an Eagles fan, and all my friends are Eagles fans, so this will be really neat for them.”
It’s a stroke of luck on many fronts. Ordinarily, Tucker works games on CBS’s No. 6 crew alongside Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy. But Harlan’s normal broadcast partner, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, is off this weekend to attend his son’s wedding, opening a slot for Tucker.
Despite that, the Eagles game wasn’t on Tucker’s radar, since Fox traditionally is the home of NFC games. But under new TV deals that began in 2021, the NFL is only required to schedule one of each NFC divisional matchup on Fox, which aired Eagles-Commanders in Week 16.
Tucker didn’t know he landed the Birds game until CBS announced their broadcast lineups Tuesday.
“I knew I was doing the game with Kevin for about three or four weeks, but I had no idea it would turn out to be the Eagles game,” Tucker said. “It’s really fortuitous.”
This will be the first game Tucker and Harlan have called together on TV, but the two have been paired on radio a bunch on Westwood One, including for playoff games. Harlan has called games alongside plenty of analysts during his 40-year career, but thinks Tucker’s insight as a former offensive lineman in a broadcasting world dominated by former quarterbacks is enlightening.
“Ross picks up nuance and the right way to capture what a line is doing or not doing, and I just find that refreshing,” Harlan said.
With the Eagles resting their starters, it turned out to be a prescient move by CBS to turn to Tucker, who watched every preseason snap and knows the Birds’ backups better than most. Harlan also calls preseason games for the Green Bay Packers, but that won’t help him much when it comes to the Birds’ backups.
“It’s a great challenge to come in and do a bunch of players I’m not really familiar with,” Harlan said. “I’m probably going to let Ross kind of lead things that he finds interesting to get the ball rolling, and then we’ll let the game take it from there.”
Calling Sunday’s Eagles game certainly is a milestone for Tucker, but he remains a workhorse. In addition to calling NFL games for CBS and Westwood One (where he’ll broadcast playoff games), he calls college football games and continues to host the daily Ross Tucker Football Podcast. He also nearly replaced Angelo Cataldi as the morning host on 94.1 WIP, but a daily commute from Reading to Philadelphia for a 6 a.m. show wasn’t in the cards.
“I still feel like I’m just grinding and trying to move up the ranks and doing the best I can,” Tucker said.
Ross Tucker (right) called NFL games on CBS in 2025 alongside Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy.
Tucker’s only regret is not being able to call his first Eagles game alongside McCarthy. The two have been friends since McCarthy called Tucker’s college football games at Princeton. And McCarthy, in his 12th season calling NFL games for CBS, has yet to land the Eagles, though he remains the only announcer not named Jim Nantz to call a game with Tony Romo.
“He is the best,” McCarthy said of Tucker. “Just a tremendous partner. We have had such an amazing year.”
But McCarthy has a nice consolidation prize. He will be in Cincinnati Sunday calling the Bengals’ matchup against the Cleveland Browns, where he’ll have the chance to voice Myles Garrett breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record (22), currently held by Michael Strahan.
Where on TV is Eagles-Commanders airing
Among other places, Sunday’s Eagles game is airing in Tampa, where a lot of Birds fans call home.
This season, the Eagles have had their fair share of nationally televised games. That won’t be the case Sunday.
In addition to the Philadelphia TV market, Eagles-Commanders also is airing in Washington, D.C., and throughout most of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The game also will be available on CBS in Tampa, Fla., which an outsized number of Eagles fans call home.
It’s airing in two TV markets home to teams the Eagles have a chance of facing in the first round of the playoffs — San Francisco and Green Bay, along with most of Minnesota and all of Detroit.
It’ll also broadcast in Chicago, where Bears fans will be flipping to see which team ends up with the No. 2 seed.
Los Angeles Rams fans will be out of luck, though. While the Eagles likely will face the Rams, CBS2 in Los Angeles is locked into airing the Chargers’ game against the Denver Broncos, where the AFC’s No. 1 seed is on the line.
Other NFL games airing Sunday in Philadelphia
D’Andre Swift and the Bears will lock down the No. 2 seed with a win Sunday.
Eagles fans in Philadelphia will get plenty of games Sunday impacting the playoffs.
Saturday night on ESPN, Carolina Panthers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely decide the winner of the NFC South (although the Atlanta Falcons could play spoilers Sunday) while the winner of Seattle Seahawks-San Francisco 49ers will claim the NFC West crown and the No. 1 seed.
Sunday afternoon, Fox will air Detroit Lions-Chicago Bears at 4:25 p.m. If the Eagles win and the Bears lose, the Birds will head to the playoffs as the No. 2 seed and host the Packers in the wild-card round. Otherwise the Birds will be the No. 3 seed and face the 49ers or Rams.
Sunday night, NBC has a win-or-go-home game in the Baltimore Ravens at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The winner heads to the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 4 seed.
Here are the games airing on TV in and around Philadelphia in Week 18:
Saturday
Panthers at Buccaneers: 4:30 p.m., ESPN (Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick, Katie George, Peter Schrager)
Seahawks at 49ers: 8 p.m., ESPN/6abc (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge)
Sunday
Packers at Vikings: 1 p.m., CBS3 (Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala)
In 2025, Philadelphians said goodbye to a beloved group of broadcasters, radio personalities, sports heroes, and public servants who left their mark on a city they all loved.
Some were Philly natives, including former Eagles general manager Jim Murray. Others, including beloved WMMR host Pierre Robert, were transplants who made Philly their adopted home. But all left their mark on the city and across the region.
Pierre Robert
Former WMMR host Pierre Robert, seen in his studio in 2024.
A native of Northern California, Mr. Robert joined WMMR as an on-air host in 1981. He arrived in the city after his previous station, San Francisco’s KSAN, switched to an “urban cowboy” format, prompting him to make the cross-country drive to Philadelphia in a Volkswagen van.
At WMMR, Mr. Robert initially hosted on the weekends, but quickly moved to the midday slot — a position he held for more than four decades up until his death.
— Nick Vadala, Dan DeLuca
Bernie Parent
Former Flyers goaltender Bernie Parent, seen at his home in 2024.
Bernie Parent, the stone-wall Flyers goalie for the consecutive Stanley Cup championship teams for the Broad Street Bullies in the 1970s, died in September. He was 80.
A Hall of Famer, Mr. Parent clinched both championships with shutouts in the final game as he blanked the Boston Bruins, 1-0, in 1974 and the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0, in 1975. Mr. Parent played 10 of his 13 NHL seasons with the Flyers and also spent a season in the World Hockey League with the Philadelphia Blazers. He retired in 1979 at 34 years old after suffering an eye injury during a game against the New York Rangers.
He grew up in Montreal and spoke French as his first language before becoming a cultlike figure at the Spectrum as cars throughout the region had “Only the Lord Saves More Than Bernie Parent” bumper stickers.
— Matt Breen
David Lynch
David Lynch, seen here at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles in 2019.
David Lynch, the visionary director behind such movies as Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man and the twisted TV show Twin Peaks, died in January of complications from emphysema. He was 78.
Mr. Lynch was born in Missoula, Mont., but ended up in Philadelphia to enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1965 at age 19. It was here he developed an interest in filmmaking as a way to see his paintings move.
He created his first short films in Philadelphia, which he described both as “a filthy city” and “his greatest influence” as an artist. Ultimately, he moved to Los Angeles to make his first feature film, Eraserhead, though he called the film “my Philadelphia Story.”
— Rob Tornoe
Ryne Sandberg
Former Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, seen here at spring training in 2018.
Ryne Sandberg, the Hall of Fame second baseman who started his career with the Phillies but was traded shortly after to the Chicago Cubs in one of the city’s most regrettable trades, died in July of complications from cancer. He was 65.
Mr. Sandberg played 15 seasons in Chicago and became an icon for the Cubs, simply known as “Ryno,” after being traded there in January 1982.
He was a 10-time All-Star, won nine Gold Glove awards, and was the National League’s MVP in 1984. Mr. Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and returned to the Phillies in 2011 as a minor-league manager and, later, the big-league manager.
— Matt Breen
Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker, seen here before a Brewers game in 2024.
Bob Uecker, a former Phillies catcher who later became a Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers and was dubbed “Mr. Baseball” by Johnny Carson for his acting roles in several movies and TV shows, died in January. He was 90.
Mr. Uecker spent just six seasons in the major league, two with the Phillies, but the talent that would make him a Hall of Fame broadcaster — wit, self-deprecation, and the timing of a stand-up comic — were evident.
His first broadcasting gig was in Atlanta, and he started calling Milwaukee Brewers games in 1971. Before that, he called Phillies games: Mr. Uecker used to sit in the bullpen at Connie Mack Stadium and deliver play-by-play commentary into a beer cup.
— Matt Breen and Rob Tornoe
Harry Donahue
Harry Donahue, seen here at Temple University in 2020.
Harry Donahue, 77, a longtime KYW Newsradio anchor and the play-by-play voice of Temple University men’s basketball and football for decades, died in October after a fight with cancer.
His was a voice that generations of people in Philadelphia and beyond grew up with in the mornings as they listened for announcements about snow days and, later, for a wide array of sports.
— Robert Moran
Alan Rubenstein
Judge Rubenstein, then Bucks County district attorney, talks to the media about a drug case in 1998.
Alan M. Rubenstein, a retired senior judge on Bucks County Common Pleas Court and the longest-serving district attorney in Bucks County history, died in August of complications from several ailments at his home in Holland, Bucks County. He was 79.
For 50 years, from his hiring as an assistant district attorney in 1972 to his retirement as senior judge a few years ago, Judge Rubenstein represented Bucks County residents at countless crime scenes and news conferences, in courtrooms, and on committees. He served 14 years, from 1986 to 1999, as district attorney in Bucks County, longer than any DA before him, and then 23 years as a judge and senior judge on Bucks County Court.
“His impact on Bucks County will be felt for generations,” outgoing Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said in a tribute. U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) said on Facebook: “Alan Rubenstein has never been just a name. It has stood as a symbol of justice, strength, and integrity.”
— Gary Miles
Orien Reid Nix
Orien Reid Nix, seen here being inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2018
Orien Reid Nix, 79, of King of Prussia, retired Hall of Fame reporter for KYW-TV and WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, owner of Consumer Connection media consulting company, the first Black and female chair of the international board of the Alzheimer’s Association, former social worker, mentor, and volunteer, died in June of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Charismatic, telegenic, empathetic, and driven by a lifelong desire to serve, Mrs. Reid Nix worked as a consumer service and investigative TV reporter for Channels 3 and 10 in Philadelphia for 26 years, from 1973 to her retirement in 1998. She anchored consumer service segments, including the popular Market Basket Report, that affected viewers’ lives and aired investigations on healthcare issues, price gouging, fraud, and food safety concerns.
— Gary Miles
Dave Frankel
Dave Frankel in an undated publicity photo.
Dave Frankel, 67, a popular TV weatherman on WPVI (now 6abc) who later became a lawyer, died in February after a long battle with a neurodegenerative disease.
Mr. Frankel grew up in Monmouth County, N.J., graduated in 1979 from Dartmouth College, and was planning to attend Dickinson School of Law to become a lawyer like his father. But an internship at a local TV station in Vermont turned into a news anchor job and a broadcast career that lasted until the early 2000s.
— Robert Moran
Lee Elia
Former Phillies manager Lee Elia, seen here being ejected from a game in 1987.
Lee Elia, the Philadelphia native who managed the Phillies after coaching third base for the 1980 World Series champions and once famously ranted against the fans who sat in the bleachers of Wrigley Field, died in July. He was 87.
Mr. Elia’s baseball career spanned more than 50 seasons. He managed his hometown Phillies in 1987 and 1988 after managing the Chicago Cubs in 1982 and 1983.
After his playing career was cut shot by a knee injury, Mr. Elia joined Dallas Green’s Phillies staff before the 1980 season and was coaching third base when Manny Trillo delivered a crucial triple in the clinching game of the National League Championship Series. Mr. Elia was so excited that he bit Trillo’s arm after he slid.
— Matt Breen
Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman, seen here playing at the Curtis Institute of Music Orchestra Concert at Verizon Hall in 2006.
Gary Graffman, a celebrated concert pianist and the former president of the Curtis Institute of Music, died in December in New York. He was 97.
The New York City-born pianist arrived at Curtis at age 7. He graduated at age 17 and played roughly 100 concerts a year between the ages of 20 and 50 before retiring from touring due to a compromised right hand. Diagnosed with focal dystonia (a neurological disorder), he went on to premiere works for the left hand by Jennifer Higdon and William Bolcom.
Mr. Graffman returned to Curtis as a teacher in 1980, became director in 1986, and was named the president of the conservatory in 1995, with a teaching studio encompassing nearly 50 students, including Yuja Wang and Lang Lang among others. He performed on numerous occasions with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1947 to 2003.
— David Patrick Stearns
Len Stevens
Len Stevens was the co-founder of WPHL-TV Channel 17.
Len Stevens, the cofounder of WPHL-TV (Channel 17) and a member of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame, died in September of kidney failure. He was 94.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Stevens was a natural entrepreneur. He won an audition to be a TV announcer with Dick Clark on WFIL-TV in the 1950s, persuaded The Tonight Show and NBC to air Alpo dog food ads in the 1960s, co-owned and managed the popular Library singles club on City Avenue in the 1970s and ’80s, and later turned the nascent sale of “vertical real estate” on towers and rooftops into big business.
He and partner Aaron Katz established the Philadelphia Broadcasting Co. in 1964 and launched WPHL-TV on Sept. 17, 1965. At first, their ultrahigh frequency station, known now as PHL17, challenged the dominant very high frequency networks on a shoestring budget. But, thanks largely to Mr. Stevens’ advertising contacts and programming ideas, Channel 17 went on to air Phillies, 76ers, and Big Five college basketball games, the popular Wee Willie Webber Colorful Cartoon Club, Ultraman, and other memorable shows in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
— Gary Miles
Jim Murray
Former Eagles general manager Jim Murray (left), seen here with Dick Vermeil and owner Leonard Tose following the 1980 NFC championship game in January 1981.
Jim Murray, the former Eagles general manager who hired Dick Vermeil and helped the franchise return to prominence while also opening the first Ronald McDonald House, died in August at home in Bryn Mawr surrounded by his family. He was 87.
Mr. Murray grew up in a rowhouse on Brooklyn Street in West Philadelphia and watched the Eagles at Franklin Field. The Eagles hired him in 1969 as a publicist, and Leonard Tose, then the Eagles’ owner, named him the general manager in 1974. Mr. Murray was just 36 years old and the decision was ridiculed.
But Mr. Murray — who was known for his wit and generosity — made a series of moves to bring the Eagles back to relevance, including hiring Vermeil and acquiring players like Bill Bergey and Ron Jaworski. The Eagles made the playoffs in 1978 and reached their first Super Bowl in January 1981. The Eagles, with Murray as the GM, were finally back.
— Matt Breen
Michael Days
Philadelphia Daily News Editor Michael Days celebrates with the newsroom after word of the Pulitzer win.
Michael Days, a pillar of Philadelphia journalism who championed young Black journalists and led the Daily News during its 2010 Pulitzer Prize win for investigative reporting, died in October after falling ill. He was 72.
A graduate of Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Mr. Days worked at the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers before joining the Daily News as a reporter in 1986, where he ultimately became editor in 2005, the first Black person to lead the paper in its 90-year history. In 2011, Mr. Days was named managing editor of The Inquirer, where he held several management roles until he retired in October 2020.
As editor of the Daily News, Mr. Days played an essential role in the decisions that would lead to its 2010 Pulitzer Prize, including whether to move forward with a story about a Philadelphia Police Department narcotics officer that a company lawyer said stood a good chance of getting them sued.
“He said, ‘I trust my reporters, I believe in my reporters, and we’re running with it,’” recounted Inquirer senior health reporter Wendy Ruderman, who reported the piece with colleague Barbara Laker. That story revealed a deep dysfunction within the police department, Ruderman said, and led to the newspaper’s 2010 Pulitzer Prize win.
— Brett Sholtis
Tom McCarthy
Tom McCarthy, seen here in 2002.
Tom McCarthy, an award-winning theater, film, and TV actor, longtime president of the local chapter of the Screen Actors Guild, former theater company board member, mentor, and veteran, died in May of complications from Parkinson’s disease at his home in Sea Isle City. He was 88.
The Overbrook native quit his job as a bartender in 1965, sharpened his acting skills for a decade at Hedgerow Theatre Company in Rose Valley and other local venues, and, at 42, went on to earn memorable roles in major movies and TV shows.
In the 1980s, he played a police officer with John Travolta in the movie Blow Out and a gardener with Andrew McCarthy in Mannequin. In 1998, he was a witness with Denzel Washington in Fallen. In 2011, he was a small-town mayor with Lea Thompson in Mayor Cupcake. Over the course of his career, Mr. McCarthy acted with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Cloris Leachman, Robert Redford, Donald Sutherland, John Goodman, and other big stars.
— Gary Miles
Carol Saline
Carol Saline, seen here at her Philadelphia home in 2021.
Carol Saline, a longtime senior writer at Philadelphia Magazine, the best-selling author of Sisters, Mothers & Daughters, and Best Friends, and a prolific broadcaster, died in August of acute myeloid leukemia. She was 86.
On TV, she hosted a cooking show and a talk show, was a panelist on a local public affairs program, and guested on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Inside Edition, Good Morning America, and other national shows. On radio, she hosted the Carol Saline Show on WDVT-AM.
In June, she wrote to The Inquirer, saying: “I am contacting you because I am entering hospice care and will likely die in the next few weeks. … I wanted you to know me, not only my accomplishments but who I am as a person.
“I want to go out,” she ended her email, “with a glass of Champagne in one hand, a balloon in the other, singing (off key) ‘Whoopee! It’s been a great ride!’”
— Gary Miles
Richard Wernick
Richard Wernick, seen here before a concert at the 2002 Festival of Philadelphia Composers.
Richard Wernick, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, acclaimed conductor, and retired Irving Fine Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania, died in April 25 of age-associated decline at his Haverford home. He was 91.
Professor Wernick was prolific and celebrated as a composer. He wrote hundreds of scores over six decades and appeared on more than a dozen records, and his Visions of Terror and Wonder for a mezzo-soprano and orchestra won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for music. In 1991, his String Quartet No. 4 made him the first two-time winner of the Kennedy Center’s Friedheim Award for new American music.
“Wernick’s orchestral music has power and brilliance, an emphasis on register, space, and scale,” Lesley Valdes, former Inquirer classical music critic, said in 1990.
— Gary Miles
Dorie Lenz
Dorie Lenz, seen here on Channel 17 in 2015.
Dorie Lenz, a pioneering TV broadcaster and the longtime director of public affairs for WPHL-TV (Channel 17), died in January of age-associated ailments at her home in New York. She was 101.
A Philadelphia native, Ms. Lenz broke into TV as a 10-year-old in a local children’s show and spent 30 years, from 1970 to 2000, as director of public affairs and a program host at Channel 17, now PHL17. She specialized in detailed public service campaigns on hot-button social issues and earned two Emmys in 1988 for her program Caring for the Frail Elderly.
Ms. Lenz interviewed newsmakers of all kinds on the public affairs programs Delaware Valley Forum, New Jersey Forum, and Community Close Up. Viewers and TV insiders hailed her as a champion and watchdog for the community. She also talked to Phillies players before games in the 1970s on her 10-minute Dorie Lenz Show.
— Gary Miles
Jay Sigel
Jay Sigel, seen here after winning the Georgia-Pacific Grand Champions title in 2006.
Jay Sigel, one of the winningest amateur golfers of all time and an eight-time PGA senior tour champion, died in April of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
For more than 40 years, from 1961, when he won the International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament as an 18-year-old, to 2003, when he captured the Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am title at 60, the Berwyn native was one of the winningest amateur and senior golfers in the world. Mr. Sigel won consecutive U.S. Amateur titles in 1982 and ’83 and three U.S. Mid-Amateur championships between 1983 and ’87, and remains the only golfer to win the amateur and mid-amateur titles in the same year.
He won the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship 11 times, five straight from 1972 to ’76, and the Pennsylvania Open Championship for pros and amateurs four times. He also won the 1979 British Amateur Championship and, between 1975 and 1999, played for the U.S. team in a record nine Walker Cup tournaments against Britain and Ireland.
— Gary Miles
Mark Frisby
Mark Frisby, seen here in the former newsroom of the Daily News in 2007.
Mark Frisby, the former publisher of the Daily News and associate publisher of The Inquirer, died in September of takayasu arteritis, an inflammatory disease, at his home in Gloucester County. He was 64.
Mr. Frisby joined The Inquirer and Daily News in November 2006 as executive vice president of production, labor, and purchasing. He was recruited from the Courier-Post by then-publisher Brian Tierney, and he went on to serve as publisher of the Daily News from 2007 to 2016 and associate publisher for operations of The Inquirer and Daily News from 2014 to his retirement in 2016.
Mr. Frisby was one of the highest-ranking Black executives in the company’s history, and he told the Daily News in 2006 that “local ownership over here was the big attraction for me.” Michael Days, then the Daily News editor, said in 2007: “This cat is really the real deal.”
— Gary Miles
Leon Bates
Leon Bates, seen here at the Settlement Music School in Germantown in 2018.
Leon Bates, a concert pianist whose musical authority and far-reaching versatility took him to the world’s greatest concert halls, died in November after a seven-year decline from Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
The career of Mr. Bates, a leading figure in the generation of Black pianists who followed the early-1960s breakthrough of Andre Watts, encompassed Ravel, Gershwin, and Bartok over 10 concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra between 1970 and 2002. He played three recitals with Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and taught master classes at Temple University, where he also gave recitals at the Temple Performing Arts Center.
In his WRTI-FM radio show, titled Notes on Philadelphia, during the 1990s, Mr. Bates was what Charles Abramovic, chair of keyboard studies at Temple University, described as “beautifully articulate and a wonderful interviewer. The warmth of personality came out. He was such a natural with that.”
— David Patrick Stearns
Lacy McCrary
Lacy McCrary in an undated photo.
Lacy McCrary, a former Inquirer reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize at the Akron Beacon Journal, died in March of Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was 91.
Mr. McCrary, a Morrisville, Bucks County native, won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize in local general or spot news reporting as part of the Beacon Journal’s coverage of the May 4, 1970, student protest killings at Kent State University.
He joined The Inquirer in 1973 and covered the courts, politics, and news of all sorts until his retirement in 2000. He notably wrote about unhealthy conditions and fire hazards in Pennsylvania and New Jersey boardinghouses in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and those reports earned public acclaim and resulted in new regulations to correct deadly oversights.
— Gary Miles
Roberta Fallon
Roberta Fallon, seen here in an undated photo.
Roberta Fallon, 76, cofounder, editor, and longtime executive director of the online Artblog and adjunct professor at St. Joseph’s University, died in December at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital of injuries she suffered after being hit by a car. She was 76.
Described by family and friends as empathetic, energetic, and creative, Ms. Fallon and fellow artist Libby Rosof cofounded Artblog in 2003. For nearly 22 years, until the blog became inactive in June, Ms. Fallon posted commentary, stories, interviews, reviews, videos, podcasts, and other content that chronicled the eclectic art world in Philadelphia.
— Gary Miles
Benita Valente
BENI26P Gerald S. Williams 10/18/00 2011 Pine st. Philadelphia-based soprano Benita Valente has sung all over the world. At age 65, she is making her Oct. 29 performance with the Mendelssohn Club at the Academy of Music her last. 1 of 3: Benita goes over some music at the piano in her upstairs music room.
Benita Valente, a revered lyric soprano whose voice thrilled listeners with its purity and seeming effortlessness, died in October at home in Philadelphia. She was 91.
In a remarkable four-decade career, Ms. Valente appeared on the opera stage, in chamber music, and with orchestras. In the intimate genre of lieder — especially songs by Schubert and Brahms — she was considered one of America’s great recitalists.
“Hey! I don’t hear any [expletive] anymore Chiefs fans!” Sirianni yelled as he left the field. “See ya!”
Things went downhill from there. The Eagles went on to lose five of their next six games in an epic collapse that cost them an NFC East title, followed by an early playoff exit.
That trash-talking Sirianni was back following Sunday’s win against Buffalo, where the Birds coach offered a similar-sounding taunt aimed at Bills fans.
“There was a lot of talking by those Buffalo fans coming in. Not so much anymore!” Sirianni shouted as he exited the field. “Not so much anymore.”
Wide receiver A.J. Brown, who was walking in next to Sirianni, didn’t appear too impressed by his coach’s outburst. Neither was 94.1 WIP morning show host Joe DeCamara.
“Can he just not help himself?” DeCamara said during Monday’s broadcast. “I think he’s a great coach. This is an aspect of his thing I could do without.”
So what got Sirianni so worked up? During an interview Tuesday morning on WIP, Sirianni said it didn’t have anything to do with growing up in nearby Jamestown, N.Y., or having friends and family in the stands. Instead, he offered a simpler explanation.
“Football is fun,” Sirianni said. “It’s OK to show emotion. It’s fun to show emotion. Like, it’s OK to be excited.”
The outbursts might cause some fans to cringe, but you can’t question the results. Since Sirianni took over as head coach in 2021, the Eagles have advanced to the playoffs five straight seasons, played in two Super Bowls, and took home a Lombardi Trophy last season. Sirianni already ranks second in wins in franchise history (including the playoffs), and is just one of five head coaches in NFL history with a career winning percentage above .700.
Even during Sunday’s game, Sirianni was seen on the sideline jawing with Bills players and celebrating following a first-quarter touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert.
“We had fun winning that game,” Sirianni said. “And, yeah, you’re going to be emotional after the game and you’re going to be emotional in the game.”
“I love seeing our guys show emotion after they make a big play, and I show emotion after they make a big play,” Sirianni added. “That’s one of the reasons why you get into coaching. You can’t make plays anymore, and you want to help other people make plays.”
“We still have time,” Sirianni said. “There’s benefits to rest, there’s benefits to play, and we’ve just got to do what we think is best for the football team.”
The Eagles will likely enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed and face either the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round. But the Birds could move up to the No. 2 seed and face the Green Bay Packers with a win Sunday and a loss by the Chicago Bears against the Detroit Lions.
Columnist David Murphy thinks Sirianni’s lack of a straight answer is a signal he’s giving serious thought to resting his starters.
“If the Eagles punt on Week 18, it will allow the coaching staff and front office to spend an extra week preparing for the playoffs. It will give Jalen Hurts and the rest of the starters the ability to participate in that scouting and game-planning process,” Murphy wrote. “That’s a big, big deal.”
The Eagles will host a playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field during the first round of the NFL playoffs, and got a clearer sense of who their opponent will be Monday night.
The Los Angeles Rams (11-5) lost to the Atlanta Falcons (7-9) Monday night, a surprising outcome that could have a big impact on the NFC playoff picture, not to mention which team the Birds (11-5) will face in their wild-card game.
Here’s everything on the line and how it could impact the Eagles:
NFC playoff picture
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}}});
NFC West playoff scenarios
The math is pretty easy here. The winner of Week 18’s matchup between the San Francisco 49ers (12-4) and the Seattle Seahawks (13-3) will end up deciding the NFC West champion and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Rams had an outside chance at claiming the division, but they were officially eliminated from contention by the 49ers’ win Sunday night. Now the best Los Angeles can do is the No. 5 seed.
Who will the Eagles play in the wild-card round?
Which team the Eagles face in the first round of the playoffs will ultimately be decided by what happens in Week 18. The Rams loss Monday night eliminates the possibility the Eagles will face the Seahawks first in the postseason.
It also makes it most likely the Eagles will face the Rams in the wild-card round.
Here is a breakdown of the Eagles’ potential wild-card opponents, excluding ties:
No. 2 Eagles vs. No. 7 Packers: Eagles win vs. Commanders AND Bears loss to the Detroit Lions (8-8)
No. 3 Eagles vs. No. 6 Rams: Eagles loss or Bears win
No. 3 Eagles vs. No. 6 49ers: Rams win vs. Cardinals AND Seahawks win vs. 49ers
The Falcons can ruin the NFC South’s win-and-you’re-in game
With both teams losing Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9) and Carolina Panthers (8-8) will face off in a Week 18 win-and-you’re-in game for the NFC South title.
The winner will claim the division crown and the NFC’s No. 4 seed, which means it will host a game against the No. 5 seed.
Unless the Falcons and Buccaneers win in Week 18, which would force a three-way tie at 8-9 atop the NFC South.
In that unlikely case, the first tiebreaker would be head-to-head among the three teams, which the Panthers would win.
Two AFC divisions will be decided in Week 18
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}}});
AFC North: The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7) and Baltimore Ravens (8-8) will meet with a playoff berth on the line. The winner becomes the AFC’s No. 4 seed and claims the conference’s final postseason spot, while the loser watches the playoffs from the couch.
AFC South: The Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4) will claim their first division crown since 2022 with a win against the Tennessee Titans (3-13) or a Houston Texans (11-5) loss to the Indianapolis Colts (8-8). The Texans need a win and a Jaguars loss to win the AFC South.
Unfortunately, it won’t be to the No. 1 seed. The Birds’ were mathematically eliminated from ending the season in the NFC’s top playoff spot by the San Francisco 49ers’ win last week against the Indianapolis Colts.
But the 49ers helped the Eagles Sunday night by defeating the Chicago Bears in a high-scoring thriller, keeping the Birds’ hopes for the No. 2 seed alive.
Thankfully, the Birds can’t drop below the No. 3 seed, because the Carolina Panthers lost to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday.
The big winner of Sunday’s games was the NFL. Thanks to losses by the Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the league will have two win-and-you’re-in games in Week 18: Panthers at Buccaneers for the NFC South and Ravens at Steelers for the AFC North.
Two other divisions will also be decided in Week 18: The NFC West and AFC South.
The Colts were officially eliminated from the playoffs by the Houston Texans’ win against the Los Angeles Chargers Saturday night. Thanks to the win, the Texans clinched a playoff spot and the Denver Broncos clinched the AFC West.
And thanks to the Eagles win, the New England Patriots clinched the AFC East, ending the Bills five-year reign as division champions.
Here are all the remaining NFL playoff scenarios and potential clinches:
How the Eagles can get the No. 2 seed
The Eagles are heading to the playoff for the fifth straight season under Nick Sirianni.
The Eagles entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed last season, and ended up winning the Super Bowl.
The Birds had two different paths to the No. 2 seed, but needed the Seattle Seahawks to lose their final two games of the season. But the Seahawks defeated the Carolina Panthers Sunday, leaving just one scenario remaining for the Eagles to end the season as the No. 2 seed:
Eagles win in Week 18 against the Washington Commanders AND the Bears lose to the Detroit Lions.
Which team will the Eagles play in the playoffs?
If the season were already over, the Eagles would host the Rams in a wild card game.
While the Birds still have a path to the No. 2 seed, it’s far more likely they’ll end the season as the No. 3 seed.
In that case, the Eagles would host a wild card game against the No. 6 seed at the Linc, currently against the Los Angeles Rams. But the Birds could also face the 49ers or Seahawks, depending how the NFC West shakes out.
If the Eagles do end up the No. 2 seed, they’d host the Packers at the Linc during the first round of the playoffs.
NFC playoff picture
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 NFC playoff picture is pretty much set, with just two divisions and one postseason spot still up for grabs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers will face off in Week 18, with the winner claiming the NFC South title and moving forward to the playoffs.
Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers
The math is pretty easy here. The winner of Week 18’s matchup between the 49ers and Seahawks will end up deciding the NFC West champion and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Rams had an outside chance at claiming the division, but were officially eliminated from contention by the 49ers’ win Sunday night. Now the best Los Angeles can do is the No. 5 seed.
Chicago Bears
Thanks to the Packers’ loss to the Ravens Saturday night, the Bears officially clinched their first NFC North title since 2018.
Because of their loss to the 49ers, the Bears can no longer end the season as the No. 1 seed. But Chicago will end up the No. 2 seed with a win or an Eagles’ loss in Week 18.
Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Panthers entered Sunday with a chance to clinch the NFC South, but let it slip away by losing to the Seahawks.
Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Miami Dolphins Sunday. That means the Panthers vs. Buccaneers game in Week 18 will decide who wins the NFC South and claims the NFC’s final playoff spot.
That is, unless the Atlanta Falcons defeat the Rams Monday night. If that happens, a Falcons and Buccaneers win next week could force a three-way tie at 8-9 atop the NFC South. In that case, the first tiebreaker would be head-to-head among the three teams, which the Panthers would win.
AFC playoff picture
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}}});
Just like the NFC, just one playoff spot remains up for grabs in the AFC.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will face off in Week 18 for the AFC North title. The winner will be the AFC’s No. 4 seed heading into the playoffs, while the loser will go home.
Denver Broncos
Thanks to the Chargers’ loss Saturday night, the Broncos clinched the AFC West for the first time since 2015. But they’ll have to wait until Week 18 before the could clinch the No. 1 seed.
New England Patriots
Thanks to the Bills loss to the Eagles, the Patriots have officially clinched the AFC East for the first time since 2019.
To finish the season as the No. 1 seed, the Patriots need to defeat the Dolphins in Week 18 and have the Broncos lose to the Chargers.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Because of the Texans’ win Saturday night, the Jaguars missed out on a chance to clinch the AFC South in Week 17.
But thanks to their win Sunday against the Colts, the Jaguars will clinch the AFC South with a win in Week 18 against the Tennessee Titans or a Texans’ loss to the Colts.
Buffalo Bills
Because of their loss to the Eagles, the Bills will enter the playoffs as a wildcard team. Which seed the Bills end up with will be determined by what happens in Week 18.
Meaning the Bills game against the New York Jets last week could be the final game at Highmark Stadium, their home since 1973, when it was known as Rich Stadium.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers lost to the Cleveland Browns Sunday, which sets up a showdown against the Ravens for the AFC North in Week 18, with the winner advancing to the playoffs and ending the loser’s season.
Houston Texans
Not only did the Texans clinch a playoff spot with their win against the Chargers Saturday night, Houston remains alive in the hunt for an AFC South title.
The Texans will need to beat the Colts in Week 18 and have the Jaguars lose one of their final games against the Titans to claim the division title.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens remain alive in the playoff hunt thanks to their win Saturday night against the Packers and the Steelers’ loss Sunday. The two teams would face off for the division title in Week 18.
When do the NFL playoffs start?
The first playoff game will take place on wild-card weekend, beginning Jan. 10.
Six games will take place in the first round of the playoffs, airing across Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC. Amazon will also exclusively stream a wild-card game on Prime Video for the second straight season.
Full 2025 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:
Nineteen people remained hospitalized on Wednesday, one in critical condition, officials said. All residents and staff had been accounted for as of Wednesday.
Reports of a gas odor preceded the explosion at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said a lot of “unanswered questions” remained during a news conference Tuesday night. The cause of the blast remains under investigation.
// Timestamp 12/24/25 4:58pm
NTSB investigators arrive at scene of explosion
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates pipeline accidents, said it responded Wednesday morning to the scene of the explosion at the Bristol Township nursing home.
Peco crews had responded to the nursing home earlier Tuesday to reports of a gas odor just before the explosion, and firefighters reported the heavy odor of gas before a second explosion.
“The team won’t be able to fully evaluate the natural gas service line, which extends below ground from the main near the road to the interior of the building, until a safe path is cleared, which could take several days,” said agency spokesperson Peter C. Knudson.
“Once it’s safe for investigators, they will continue documenting the accident scene and conducting further examinations of the pipeline and equipment involved,” Knudson said.
The NTSB investigation will cover three primary areas: human factors, the pipeline system, and the operating environment, Knudson said.
“Witnesses to the accident or those who may have surveillance video or other information that could be relevant to the investigation are asked to contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov,” Knudson said.
Victim remembered as immigrant who wanted to work as nurse and ‘make a difference’
Rose Muema stands with family and friends of Muthoni Nduthu on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025 in Bristol Township, Pa. Muthoni Nduthu was killed in the explosion at Bristol Health and Rehab Center on Tuesday.
The night before she died in the explosion, Muthoni Ndutu cooked spiced chicken for her husband and three adult sons to share on Christmas, her friend Rose Muema said Wednesday outside Ndutu’s one-story brick home in Bristol.
Ndutu, 52, was working a nursing shift Tuesday night when she was caught in the blast. Another woman also died.
An immigrant from Mombasa, Kenya, Ndutu earned her nursing degree from Jersey College, Muema said, and had worked at the home for more than a dozen years.
“She came here to work,” Muema said. “She came here to make a difference.”
Ndutu had three sons — Clinton, 30; Joseph, 24; and K.K., 18 — and a 4-year-old granddaughter.
Her family declined to speak Wednesday but stood beside Muema as she talked.
Muema, who also immigrated from Kenya, described her friend as bubbly, hardworking, and devoted to her family and community. She called Ndutu her sister. “That’s what we do in Kenya,” she said. “We call each other sisters, not friends.”
She said the two attended nursing school together. “We had plans,” Muema said — plans now cut short.
Ndutu was a devout Catholic and a longtime member of St. Ephrem Catholic Church in Bensalem. She was part of a close-knit Kenyan community in the area, Muema said, many of whom gathered around her family Wednesday to offer support.
Muthoni Nduthu 52, was working a nursing shift at at Bristol Health and Rehab Center and died in the blast Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. Another woman also died.
Natalie, 35, was almost finished with her Tuesday shift when the facility that she’d worked at for five years suddenly imploded.
The certified nursing assistant was among those pulled from the wreckage after an explosion and fire ripped through Bristol Health and Rehab Center Tuesday afternoon, said her mother, Andrea Taylor. Taylor asked that her daughter be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy.
Natalie, who has a 6-year-old daughter, remained hospitalized Wednesday with a punctured lung and bruising throughout her body, Taylor said. She can’t recall the explosion, where she was, or how she was found, her mother said, but she is expected to make a full recovery.
“She doesn’t remember anything,” Taylor said. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”
Taylor said she was laying down for a nap when she received a harrowing text from her daughter’s boyfriend: “Natalie’s building blew up.”
The rest of the night was a blur, she said, as the family tried to get information and updates on the nursing assistant’s condition. She was on her way to visit her daughter Wednesday morning.
Taylor said she and her family are grateful to first responders and are counting their blessings entering the Christmas holiday that Natalie is alive.
Peco gas technician was seriously injured by explosion, union rep says
A Peco gas technician who responded to reports of a gas leak at a Bristol nursing home on Tuesday was seriously injured in the blast and then attempted to rescue other people from the damaged building, according to the union president who represents Peco workers.
Larry Anastasi, president of IBEW Local 614, said the technician arrived at Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Tuesday afternoon to address a reported gas leak. The technician was working alone in the basement of the nursing home to assess the problem when he resurfaced to get more tools from his truck.
As he was walking back toward the nursing home, the building erupted.
“If he was in the building, he’d be dead,” Anastasi said.
The cause of the blast remains under investigation. Local 614 represents more than 1,500 electric linemen, gas technicians, and office support staff at Peco.
The technician, whose name has not been made public, was being treated at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Burn Center. He suffered severe burns to his face and hands, as well as injuries caused by shrapnel. Anastasi said the technician was expected to be released Wednesday.
After suffering those injuries, the technician tried to help others escape from the blast area, Anastasi said.
“He was trying to go in and get more people,” his union rep said. “[First responders] had to grab him and said ’brother, you need to stop and go in the ambulance.’”
Anastasi said the near-death experience highlights the risks Peco technicians face when responding to gas leaks. They often work alone, sometimes in dangerous conditions, while dealing with leaks in enclosed spaces.
He said the situation at the nursing home also highlights why gas meters are now required to be located outside and aboveground.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Tuesday declined to answer questions about the gas meter’s location in the building’s basement. The agency, which regulates utility operators like Peco across the commonwealth, ordered utility companies in 2011 to relocate all indoor gas meters outdoors, in an effort to bring safety standards up to date.
It remains unclear why that meter relocation never occurred at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, formerly known as Silver Lake.
“My [technicians] are putting themselves in a great deal of danger,” Anastasi said. “So we’re hoping that Peco does a very thorough investigation.”
Shapiro and Mayor Parker order flags half-staff in Bucks County and Philly
Today, I ordered Pennsylvania flags on all Commonwealth facilities, buildings, and grounds in Bucks County to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of the Silver Lake Nursing Home explosion.
To the Bristol community, we all stand with you — and we'll continue to provide…
Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered all Pennsylvania flags on state buildings and property within Bucks County to fly at half-staff in honor of the victims of the explosion at Bristol Health & Rehab Center.
“To the Bristol community, we all stand with you — and we’ll continue to provide the support your community needs as you begin to rebuild and recover,” Shapiro said in a post to X.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker also ordered flags to be flown half-staff in Philadelphia across city buildings in solidarity.
“This solemn gesture of remembrance and support for the victims and their families will be observed until Tuesday, December 30,” the city said in a statement on X Wednesday.
.@PhillyMayor Cherelle L. Parker has issued an immediate order to lower the flags on City buildings to half-staff as a tribute to the victims of the explosion and fire that tragically occurred at Silver Lake Nursing Home in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, December 23. pic.twitter.com/e9YH3X2nJx
Nursing assistant identified as one of two nursing home explosion victims
Muthoni Nduthu, a 52-year-old woman, is one of the two people who died in the nursing home explosion, according to the Bucks County Coroner’s Office.
Nduthu was a nursing assistant at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center, the office said.
The other victim was transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia and is not in the care of the Bucks office, Chief Deputy Coroner Scott Croop said Wednesday afternoon.
Family member of nursing home resident describes waiting for news
Elizabeth Lind, 67, describes hearing a loud explosion near her home on Winder Drive after a gas explosion at a nursing home in Bristol Township, Pa., left two people dead and several others injured and reported missing.
Elizabeth Lind lives on Winder Street, her backyard divided from the nursing home by a chain-link fence.
On Tuesday afternoon, the 67-year-old was watching television when a sudden boom shook her house. The blast, she said, seemed to vibrate through her body. From her window, she saw black smoke rising from the facility where her older brother, Walter Ferris, has lived for years.
More than two hours passed, she said, before she learned he was safe. A nursing home employee brought the news Tuesday night. Until then, she said, “I just pictured him inside there. I was praying he wasn’t one of the casualties.”
Ferris has Parkinson’s disease and is in his early seventies, she said.
Bucks County’s Area Agency on Aging working to assist residents
Staff members for Bucks County’s Ombudsman program, which advocates for residents in long-term care facilities and nursing homes, will be meeting individually with residents displaced by the explosion at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, county spokesperson Jim O’Malley said. O’Malley spoke on behalf of the county’s Area Agency on Aging.
It’s unclear when and what the timeline of those meetings will be, but staff members will look to assess residents’ needs, such as their missing personal belongings, O’Malley said. County staff may also be coordinating with the state on those meetings.
Rep. Fitzpatrick promises ‘thorough examination’ of building collapse
In a post to X Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick expressed thanks for the first responders “who ran into danger again and again, risking their own lives to save others.”
The Republican congressman promised that the events of the building collapse would be “thoroughly examined” and that the facts would be made public.
The one thing that is clear, he said, is that emergency responders were swift to respond and saved lives.
“So tonight, as homes and churches across our region are lit for Christmas, we ask for prayers—for those grieving, for those recovering, and for the brave men and women who stood watch when it mattered most,” Fitzpatrick said.
‘Send everybody’: Law enforcement recalls scene of explosion
Bristol Township law enforcement officials Wednesday recalled the harrowing scene first responders encountered as they arrived at Bristol Health and Rehab Center one day earlier.
A thick smell of gas hung in the air. Flames were spreading. Inside, dozens of residents and employees needed help escaping.
“Send everybody,” one of the first responding officers radioed.
“We were overwhelmed,” Bristol Township Police Chief CJ Winik said during a news conference Wednesday.
First responders, he said, ran toward danger.
From 50 feet away, Winik said, he could still smell gas and the walls appeared close to collapsing. Yet officers and firefighters continued rushing inside to rescue those trapped.
“I’ve never seen such heroism,” he said.
The facility, formerly known as Silver Lake, housed 120 people, Winik said, including some who couldn’t walk and used a wheelchair. Officers and responding firefighters carried them from the burning building.
Two women, one employee and one resident, died. Nineteen remained hospitalized on Wednesday morning. One person is in critical condition.
19 remain hospitalized, one in critical condition, 2 dead following nursing home explosion
Nineteen people remained hospitalized Wednesday morning, one in critical condition, after an explosion Tuesday afternoon at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center.
Two women — an employee and a resident of the nursing facility, formerly known as Silver Lake — were killed, Bristol Township Police Chief CJ Winik said.
All employees and residents were accounted for as of Wednesday, Winik said.
The cause of the explosion remained under investigation, said Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito.
“Until we excavate the area and remove the walls and roofs that collapsed, we won’t have any idea what may have occurred in there,” Dippolito said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Former nursing home employee said fire alarms routinely went off, describes state of disrepair
Late Wednesday morning, cranes began to hoist debris from a crumpled tangle of drywall, windows, and a white picket fence.
Donna Straiton watched from behind a line of yellow caution tape a block away from the rubble. It’s what remained, she said, of the nursing home’s kitchen, which sat above its basement.
Straiton, 67, worked in the nursing home’s dementia unit for 20 years before retiring in February 2024. In her final years working at the home, fire alarms routinely went off, she said. She estimated the facility locked down no less than twice a month as the smell of gas wafted in the air.
Most often, she said, the alarm system indicated the fire was in the basement. But no flames were ever seen, she said.
“The fire department would come and we’d get an all clear, and then it would be back to business as usual,” she said.
At a news conference, Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said he couldn’t recall how many times his department had been called to the facility in the last several years.
“But I don’t think we’ve been here for the last several weeks,” he said.
Still, Straiton described the facility as being in a constant state of disrepair when she worked there.
When it rained heavily, she said, water would flood the basement and run into the elevator shaft. The elevators were often broken, she said.
The facility “needed a lot of maintenance it was never going to get,” she said.“It was almost like we were just waiting for something like this to happen,” she added.
Aerial footage of Bucks County nursing home explosion
CBS Philadelphia’s chopper is flying over Bucks County this morning, providing a look at the damage from overhead.
— CBS Philadelphia
// Timestamp 12/24/25 9:52am
County officials send condolences, praise first responders in statements
Bucks County Commissioners Vice Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia said the response to Tuesday’s explosion at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center was proof that the county can unify in the face of tragedy.
“[There is] a lot of division in this country, but we show up when we need to,” said Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, about the efforts of first responders.
She said she was sending “warm thoughts” to families impacted by the incident and experiencing the “terrible shock and sadness.”
“And for the people who were injured as well as those who passed, I mean, they got up yesterday like it was any other day and had no idea what would befall them,” Ellis-Marseglia said. “And I’m holding them all close.”
The vice chair’s sentiments echo a statement released by Bucks County on Wednesday morning, expressing officials’ “sincerest condolences to the many victims and families this Christmas Eve who are feeling the devastating impacts of yesterday’s explosion.”
Commissioners’ Chair Bob Harvie was at a news conference outside the center with Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday. The county’s statement commended first responders, nursing home staff, and emergency personnel services that came into Bristol from across Bucks, Philadelphia, and New Jersey.
Peco on Wednesday morning changed its explanation of what happened leading up to Tuesday afternoon’s massive explosion at a Bucks County nursing home that killed at least two people.
On Tuesday evening, the gas and electric company had said that its crews responded to the Bristol Health & Rehab Center — formerly known as Silver Lake Healthcare Center and Silver Lake Nursing Home — “shortly after 2 p.m.” and that while they were on site, the explosion occurred. The blast was reported just before 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito.
But on Wednesday morning, the energy company backtracked, releasing a statement indicating that its crews had actually been on scene hours earlier — although it did not say precisely when they arrived.
“Peco crews responded to reports of a gas odor on Dec. 23 at the Silver Lake Nursing Home at 905 Tower Road in Bristol Township, Bucks County. A few hours later, an explosion occurred at the facility,” company spokesperson Greg Smore said in a statement.
“Peco crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents. The cause of this incident is under investigation,” he said. “It is not known at this time if Peco’s equipment, or natural gas, was involved in this incident.”
The company is now directing all questions to the National Transportation Safety Board, which it said was leading the investigation.
“Our hearts go out to the families and community affected by this tragic event,” Smore said.
Video: Fatal explosion and fire at nursing home in Bucks County
// Timestamp 12/24/25 7:20am
2 dead, 20 injured in explosion at Bucks nursing home
First responders at the scene of an explosion at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bucks County Tuesday.
Two people were killed and at least 20 were injured after a possible gas explosion rocked a Bucks County nursing home Tuesday, triggering a widespread emergency response and dramatic rescues and causing destruction that Gov. Josh Shapiro described as “quite catastrophic.”
Just before 2:20 p.m., an explosion and fire were reported at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center — formerly known as Silver Lake Healthcare Center and Silver Lake Nursing Home — at 905 Tower Rd. in Bristol Township, Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said at a news conference with Shapiro and other officials Tuesday night.
Emergency responders found a major structural collapse, with parts of the first floor falling into the basement and people trapped, Dippolito said. Firefighters immediately went into rescue mode.
“They pulled many residents out of the building via windows, doors, stuck in stairwells, stuck in elevator shafts,” Dippolito said.
The people rescued from the building were handed off to police officers who “came from every direction, and I believe every municipality around here,” Dippolito said.
“There was one police officer who literally threw two people over his shoulders and ran with people to help,” the fire chief said.
Many people were injured, but the number was unknown early Tuesday night, Dippolito said. Two people were rescued from the collapsed area in the basement.
At one point, Dippolito said, there was a heavy odor of gas and the firefighters evacuated the building. Within 15 to 30 seconds, there was another explosion and fire, he said.
First responders work the scene of an explosion and fire at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Briston, Pa. Tuesday.
On Tuesday evening, the smell of smoke and the sound of sirens from ambulances and fire trucks pierced the blocks surrounding the facility hours after the explosion led to a mass evacuation of nursing home patients.
Kim Wilford, 60, was visiting family for the holidays roughly two blocks from the facility when she felt the house shake, as though something had fallen on the roof.
When Wilford and relatives realized the explosion came from the nursing home, where her 87-year-old mother lives, they rushed to the campus and were met with chaos.
“It was something out of a Die Hard movie,” said Deanna Rice-Bass, 59, one of Wilford’s relatives, who recognized local nurses, not affiliated with the nursing home, evacuating people.
Patients were being wheeled out of the facility, but in some cases they were simply placed on mats outside, Wilford said.
First responders were instructing the able-bodied to take those with non-life-threatening injuries to nearby Lower Bucks Hospital.
Wilford panicked as she saw the outside of her mother’s room.
“Her window was blown out,” she said. “Naturally I freaked out.”
Wilford would later find her mother among the crowd of evacuees cleared to go to Lower Bucks Hospital.
“She said she and her roommate were lifted from their beds and back down,” said Wilford, adding she had never had issues with the nursing home before.
A reunification center was established at Truman High School, officials said.
Langhorne Police Chief Kevin Burns said about 35 families came in and filled out forms with their loved ones identifying information along with details such as their room number.
Shapiro: ‘There are still a lot of unanswered questions’
Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers remarks on the explosion at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, at Lower Bucks Hospital Tuesday.
During a news conference Tuesday night, Gov. Josh Shapiro said investigators were still working to determine what caused the explosion and to locate anyone who may be missing, urging the public to remain patient as crews work to identify victims.
The total number of injured residents remains unclear because victims were transported to multiple hospitals. Bucks County officials said up to five people were unaccounted for, though Shapiro cautioned that the figures are preliminary and could change as the investigation continues overnight.
“There are still a lot of unanswered questions,” Shapiro said at a news conference Tuesday night. “You’ll have to bear with us as we work to confirm who was injured and who may be missing.”
Map: Location of nursing home explosion in Bristol
The explosion occurred Tuesday afternoon at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center — formerly known as Silver Lake Healthcare Center and Silver Lake Nursing Home — at 905 Tower Rd. in Bristol Township.
State officials repeatedly cited Bristol nursing home over fire safety deficiencies
First responders work following an explosion at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bucks County Tuesday.
The Bristol nursing home destroyed by an explosion and fire on Tuesday had been repeatedly cited for unsafe living conditions, including the absence of a fire safety plan and adequate extinguishers, according to state inspection records.
During an Oct. 29 site visit, Pennsylvania Department of Health inspectors flagged Silver Lake Healthcare Center — now operating as Bristol Health & Rehab Center — for failing to provide a floor map showing fire exits, fire barriers, and smoke barriers.
Officials also found the facility “failed to maintain portable fire extinguishers” on all floors. The state ordered corrections by Nov. 30.
It remained unclear Tuesday whether those fixes were made before the blast, or whether the deficiencies affected residents’ ability to escape after an explosion leveled much of the building at 2:19 p.m. this afternoon.
British Township Fire Marshall Kevin Dippolito said Tuesday that a second explosion — and subsequent fire — erupted at the nursing home while firefighters attempted to rescue people.
Other fire safety deficiencies have been documented for years. A 2024 inspection report found the nursing home hallways were not equipped to handle heavy smoke.
“The facility failed to ensure corridor doors were maintained to resist the passage of smoke, affecting two of four smoke compartments,” inspectors wrote.
State and federal officials have also repeatedly cited the facility for substandard medical care.
Ownership of the nursing home has shifted among for-profit operators in recent years. CommuniCare, an Ohio-based company, acquired Silver Lake in 2021. Earlier this month, Saber Healthcare Group took over and rebranded the facility as Bristol Health & Rehab Center.
Saber manages 140 assisted living facilities across six states. At a Tuesday night news conference, Gov. Josh Shapiro said the health department visited the facility again on Dec. 10. New owners agreed to make more fixes, though the governor did not provide details.
“There was a plan in place in order for these new facility owners to upgrade the standards,” Shapiro said. “That work will obviously continue.”
It’s easy to criticize the refs, but this weekend NFL officials really gave fans and announcers a few things to complain about.
One was a key late play during the New England Patriots’ win over the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night.
With a little more than three minutes remaining, Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey appeared to outright tackle Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte on a deep pass. Despite an official watching just yards away, no flags were thrown, to the surprise of everyone on NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast.
“It’s not really hard — that’s pass interference,” NBC rules analyst and former official Terry McAulay said.
Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, and Terry McAulay voice their shock about pass interference not being called against the Ravens on a Patriots deep ball. 🏈🦓🎙️ #NFL#SNFpic.twitter.com/CEGfOgTVA5
Earlier on Sunday, during the Carolina Panthers’ win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, officials missed what appeared to be a blatant fourth-down penalty.
With a little under five minutes remaining and the game tied, Panthers defender Princely Umanmielen hit punter Riley Dixon after he kicked the ball, which should have resulted in a penalty and a first down. Instead, officials called holding on the Buccaneers and missed the running-into-the-kicker penalty altogether.
“I think when you fixate watching the hold, maybe you miss that contact on the punter,” Fox rules analyst and former official Mike Pereria said during the broadcast. “It is contact to the body. I would have had running into the kicker.”
Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira points out that officials in Bucs-Panthers missed a running into the kicker penalty due to their focus on a holding call. pic.twitter.com/pfZJfEG3dL
Then there’s the controversial ending of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Detroit Lions game, in which Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown lateraled to quarterback Jared Goff for what would have been the game-winning touchdown.
On the play, St. Brown was called for pass interference, negating the touchdown. But both head official Carl Cheffers and CBS announcers Jim Nantz and Tony Romo did a poor job explaining why the Lions didn’t get another play
“By rule, that penalty is not enforced and there is no replay. The game is over,” Cheffers said.
Lions almost just had the craziest walk-off touchdown in recent memory
Instead the referees called an offensive pass inference on Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Steelers survive pic.twitter.com/KbHFFsnRlr
NFL rules stipulate if the offense commits a foul with no time remaining, “there shall be no extension of the period. If the foul occurs on the last play of the half, a score by the offense is not counted.”
Goff appeared to cross the goal line with no time on the clock, but the play wasn’t reviewable. If Goff had run into the end zone with time remaining, the Lions could have been given another shot.
After the game, Cheffers called it “a pretty complex play.”
“We have the original player who had the ball lose possession of the ball. So, we had to decide if that was a fumble or a backward pass because of course we have restrictions on the recovery of a fumble inside of two minutes,” Cheffers told pool reporter Nolan Bianch. “We ruled that it was a backward pass, so the recovering player was able to advance it and that recovering player advanced it for a touchdown.”
“We had to rule on that and then because of the offensive pass interference, it negates the touchdown. Because it is an offensive foul, we did not extend the half. Therefore, there is no score and there is no replay of the down,” Cheffers added. “That’s the way the rule is written.”
It also wasn’t the only controversial call to end the game. With 22 seconds left, Goff hit St. Brown on a one-yard touchdown pass, which would have won the game. But officials called pass interference on Lions receiver Isaac TeSlaa, negating the go-ahead score.
“The reporting official on that play told me that the offending player picked one of the defenders, creating an opportunity for the offensive player to make the catch,” Cheffers said.
That means the Birds will host at least one playoff game at the Linc, where the Eagles haven’t lost a postseason game since the 2019 playoffs.
It’s the first time a team has won the NFC East in back-to-back seasons since the Birds won four straight division titles from 2001 to 2004. It will also be the fifth straight postseason appearance under Birds head coach Nick Sirianni.
Another fun fact: Since being named the Birds’ starting quarterback in 2021, Jalen Hurts has never taken a snap in a game where the Eagles have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. He did start four games after replacing Carson Wentz at the end of the dreadful 2020 season, where the Eagles finished 4-11-1.
Now that the Birds locked up the division, the focus shifts to playoff seeding. The Eagles are currently the NFC’s No. 3 seed, and odds are good that’s where they’ll end the season. That would mean hosting a wild-card game against the No. 6 team, currently the San Francisco 49ers (10-4).
The Eagles missed out on a chance to clinch No. 3 seed or better because the Carolina Panthers (8-7) defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8) Sunday.
If the Eagles and Panthers both end the season with a 10-7 record, Carolina would win the tiebreaker with a better record among common opponents. That would force the Birds down to the No. 4 seed.
The good news is a win next week against the Buffalo Bills (11-4) or just one more Panthers loss will lock the Eagles into the No. 3 seed or better heading into the playoffs.
Here’s a look at the current playoff picture for the Eagles and the rest of the NFL:
NFC East standings, Cowboys eliminated
!function(){“use strict”;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 Eagles’ win officially eliminated the Dallas Cowboys (6-7-1) from the playoffs, since winning the NFC East was their only remaining path to the postseason.
It’s the second-straight season Dak Prescott and company have failed to advance to the postseason. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took responsibility for the failed season earlier this week on Dallas sports talk radio.
“I take it real serious,” Jones said, according to The Athletic. “I’ve got to live with when we’re out of money and we want to sign a player and we don’t have any money left under the [salary] cap. I have to live with that.”
Both the Commanders and New York Giants (2-13) have been eliminated from the playoffs for weeks.
NFC playoff picture
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 Seattle Seahawks (12-3) clinched a playoff spot and moved into the No. 1 seed Thursday night, thanks to their thrilling overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams (11-4), who dropped down to No. 5.
The Seahawks now control their own playoff destiny. If they win out, they’ll end the season with the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The same goes for the 49ers, who clinched a playoff spot Sunday thanks to the Detroit Lions (8-7) wild loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Despite being one game back, San Francisco and Seattle face off in Week 18. The 49ers defeated the Vikings way back in Week 1, so a win in Week 18 would clinch a tiebreaker and send the NFC playoffs through Santa Clara, where this year’s Super Bowl is being held.
The Lions loss also benefited the Chicago Bears (11-4), who clinched their first playoff spot since the 2020 season.
Then there’s the NFC South, where the Panthers took over sole possession of first place thanks to their 23-20 win against the Buccaneers. Both teams will play again in Week 18 in Tampa Bay.
AFC playoff picture
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}}});
Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos (12-3) had a chance to clinch the AFC West, but lost to the surprising Jaguars (11-4), who have a decent chance of ending the season as the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
The New England Patriots (12-3) clinched a playoff spot Sunday night, defeating the Baltimore Ravens (7-8) and decreasing their already-slim playoff hopes.
Three teams will clinch a playoff spot if the Colts lose to the 49ers Monday night — the Jaguars, Chargers, and Bills.
Can the Eagles still end up with the NFC’s No. 1 seed?
Yes, but you’d have better odds buying a Powerball ticket.
The Eagles have less than a 1% chance of ending the season with the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed, according to the New York Times, but weird things have happened before.
In 2018, the Eagles needed a host of things to happen to secure a wild-card spot down the stretch, and they all did, pushing the Birds to the postseason.
Same thing happened in 2008, with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing to give the Eagles a shot at the playoffs if they defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the final game of the season, which they did in a 44-6 blowout.
So while it is highly unlikely the Eagles get all the help they need to move up to the top playoff seed, here what would need to happen, according to Wharton professor Deniz Selman:
Eagles win their final two games against the Bills and Commanders
49ers lose to the Colts Monday and the Bears in Week 17
Seahawks lose their final two games against the Panthers and 49ers
Bears win against the 49ers in Week 16 and lose to the Lions in Week 17
Rams lose one of their final two games against the Falcons or Cardinals
If all that happens, the Eagles would finish the season with a 12-5 record and would win a three-way tiebreaker with the Bears and Seahawks.
The path to the No. 2 seed is more realistic. If the Eagles win out, all they would need is for the Bears to lose their final two games to move up to the No. 2 seed. In that case, they’d host a wild card game against the No. 7 seed, currently the Green Bay Packers.
When do the NFL playoffs start?
The first playoff game will take place on wild-card weekend, beginning Jan. 10.
Six games will take place in the first round of the playoffs, airing across Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC. Amazon will also exclusively stream a wild-card game on Prime Video for the second straight season.
Full 2025 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.
Here are the sites announced for future Super Bowls:
