- What you should know
- 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 have a tough playoff road, as few No. 3 seeds have made it to the Super Bowl.
- Nick Sirianni defended his decision to rest his starters with the No. 2 seed on the line. The Birds backups didn’t exactly inspire confidence and the Eagles offense looked inadequate.
- What our columnists think: Mike Sielski on Sirianni’s controversial decision | Marcus Hayes on Tanner McKee | David Murphy on the Birds facing the 49ers
// Timestamp 01/05/26 5:02pm
Will Tank Bigsby see more time in the playoffs?
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.
// Timestamp 01/05/26 4:42pm
49ers are paying the price for not resting their starters
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.”
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Niners will be without LB Tatum Bethune Sunday
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Watch: Nick Sirianni speaks to reporters
// Timestamp 01/05/26 2:19pm
Eagles early favorites vs. 49ers in wild-card round
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.
- Spread: 49ers +3.5 (-105); Eagles -3.5 (-115)
- Moneyline: 49ers (+176); Eagles (-210)
- Total: Over 46.5 (-108); Under 46.5 (-112)
- Spread: 49ers +3.5 (-110); Eagles -3.5 (-110)
- Moneyline: 49ers (+170); Eagles (-205)
- Total: Over 45.5 (-112); Under 45.5 (-108)
// Timestamp 01/05/26 12:13pm
Cardinals fire ex-Eagles coach Jonathan Gannon
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.
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Dolphins interested in Eagles’ assistant GM: NFL Network
// Timestamp 01/05/26 11:29am
Raiders fire 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.
// Timestamp 01/05/26 11:23am
Peter King calls Eagles’ decision to rest starters a ‘missed opportunity’
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.”
// Timestamp 01/05/26 10:48am
Jalyx Hunt pulled off a first in the Eagles’ 93-year history
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.”
// Timestamp 01/05/26 10:10am
Rest for some Eagles regulars… but not all
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.
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// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:29am
NFL playoff schedule: Birds playing Sunday afternoon
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.
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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
- AFC and NFC championship games: Sunday, Jan. 25
- Super Bowl LX: Sunday, Feb. 8
Where is this year’s Super Bowl?
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:
- Super Bowl LXI: Feb. 14., 2027, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif. (ESPN, ABC)
- Super Bowl LXII: Feb. 2028, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (CBS)
// Timestamp 01/05/26 9:51am
Surprisingly few No. 3 seeds have made it to the Super Bowl
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:
- 1979: Los Angeles Rams lost Super Bowl XIV
- 1987: Washington won Super Bowl XVIII
- 2003: Carolina Panthers lost Super Bowl XXXVIII
- 2006: Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI
- 2023: Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII
// Timestamp 01/05/26 9:15am
Browns fire head coach Kevin Stefanski
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.
// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:48am
This will be the third time the Eagles and 49ers have met in the playoffs
The Eagles enter the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 3 seed. They could have been the No. 2 seed, but things didn’t quite work out that way.
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.
— Ed Barkowitz
// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:25am
Eagles injury report
- 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).
// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:20am
Eagles 2026 opponents
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
// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:15am
Falcons kick off Black Monday on Sunday by firing Raheem Morris
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.
// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:10am
Photos of Eagles’ loss to Commanders
Eagles 2025 schedule
- Week 1: Eagles 24, Cowboys 20
- Week 2: Eagles 20, Chiefs 17
- Week 3: Eagles 33, Rams 26
- Week 4: Eagles 31, Buccaneers 25
- Week 5: Broncos 21, Eagles 17
- Week 6: Giants 34, Eagles 17
- Week 7: Eagles 28, Vikings 22
- Week 8: Eagles 38, Giants 20
- Week 9: Bye week
- Week 10: Eagles 10, Packers 7
- Week 11: Eagles 16, Lions 9
- Week 12: Cowboys 24, Eagles 21
- Week 13: Bears 24, Eagles 15
- Week 14: Chargers 22, Eagles 19
- Week 15: Eagles 31, Raiders 0
- Week 16: Eagles 29, Commanders 18
- Week 17: Eagles 13, Bills 12
- Week 18: Commanders 24, Eagles 17
// Timestamp 01/05/26 7:05am
