The Philadelphia Eagles will head into the regular-season finale in Week 18 against the division rival Washington Commanders, having already won the NFC East division crown, with seeding in the upcoming NFL playoffs being the only thing to play for on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Unfortunately for the defending Super Bowl champions, the No. 1 seed in the NFC is out of the question, with the top spot a two-team race between NFC West heavyweights, the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
However, the No. 2 in the conference remains up for grabs for Philadelphia, as they’ll need to beat the Commanders and have the Detroit Lions, who are already eliminated from playoff contention, beat the Chicago Bears.
Nick Sirianni Content With Resting Eagles’ Starters
GettyHead coach Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles
Even though the Eagles have a chance to end up with the No. 2 seed in the NFC, head coach Nick Sirianni doesn’t want to risk the health of his best players with the NFL playoffs right around the corner.
“At the end of the day, it’s not a guarantee that we can get the 2-seed but I can guarantee that I can rest the starters,” Sirianni said during media availability. “Just thought that was the best thing for our football team right there. Feel really good about the guys that are going to go in there and play.
“Obviously, you can’t rest everybody. We’ve had a good week of practice. We’re going in there to try to win the game with some guys that haven’t played a ton of snaps on offense and defense but obviously have contributed. But just felt like that was the best thing for the football team for this week, moving forward.”
This is likely the smart move by Sirianni, as there is no point taking that kind of risk to move up one spot, especially since the team doesn’t control its own fate, with the Lions needing to secure a win over the Bears on Sunday.
However, even without Jalen Hurts and company set to play against the Commanders, there’s a chance things still work in the Eagles’ favor by getting a win against Washington and seeing Jared Goff lead Detroit to a win in Chicago at Soldier Field.
Eagles DC Reacts to Jalen Carter’s Impressive Return
One thing the Eagles have going for them as the start of the NFL playoffs approaches is that defensive tackle Jalen Carter is back on the field and looking like his old self, which defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke about after the team beat the Buffalo Bills.
“I thought he played well,” Fangio said of Carter’s performance. “I really didn’t know how he would play because he missed three games, I believe, and didn’t practice until this past week during that time. I thought he played well, I think he’s off to a good start and hopefully he’ll build on that and play good down the stretch here and into the playoffs.”
Carter’s health and ability to play at a high level will be paramount to the team’s defensive success during the postseason, so it’s a good sign for Philadelphia that he is already seemingly back to form.
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