5 questions Eagles must answer for Week 18 finale with Giants: Will starters play? Rest vs. rust?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Eagles aren't going into the postseason with momentum on their side, losing four of their last five games and relinquishing control of the NFC East. Philadelphia not only has to beat the New York Giants on Sunday, but also needs the Dallas Cowboys to lose to the Washington Commanders to win the NFC East title.
A Cowboys win puts the Eagles as the No. 5 seed heading into the playoffs, facing the NFC South champion in the Wild Card Round (which is still to be determined). The Eagles can't focus on the NFC East title at this point, they just need a win for some confidence heading into the postseason -- no matter who they play.
With the playoffs on the horizon, the Eagles travel to the meadowlands to face the Giants in their regular season finale. These are five questions for the Eagles as they wrap up the regular season.
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1. Will the starters play?
The Eagles still have the NFC East title on the line, even though it's hard to envision the Cowboys losing to the Commanders. Stranger things have happened in the final week of the NFL season before, just like the 2008 Eagles win. This was the time when they needed a Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-6) loss to the Oakland Raiders (4-11) and a Chicago Bears (9-6) loss to the Houston Texans (7-8) to even play in a winner-take-all game against the Dallas Cowboys (9-6) for a playoff spot -- which Philadelphia won 44-6.
For a generation of Eagles fans that witnessed that final day of the 2008 season, winning the division isn't impossible. Expect the Eagles to play their starters this week with the division crown at stake, but Darius Slay (knee) and DeVonta Smith (ankle) likely won't suit up.
2. What are the postseason scenarios?
Let's try to make this as simple as possible. The Eagles can either be the No. 2 seed or No. 5 seed for the postseason. The only way the Eagles are the No. 2 seed is if they win against the Giants and the Cowboys lose to the Commanders. The NFC East champion would have the No. 2 seed if the Eagles or Cowboys win. The Eagles hold the strength of a victory tiebreaker over the Lions, which is why they would get the No. 2 seed.
A Cowboys win plants the Eagles into the No. 5 seed and they would play the NFC South champion in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
3. Who are the potential opponents?
The Eagles would play either the Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, or Atlanta Falcons (the NFC South champion) if they end up as the No. 5 seed. Tampa Bay if the Buccaneers win, New Orleans if the Saints beat Atlanta and Tampa Bay loses, or Atlanta if the Falcons beat the Saints and Tampa Bay loses.
If the Eagles win and the Cowboys lose, the Eagles will be the No. 2 seed and host a minimum of two playoff games at Lincoln Financial Field. Here's where the potential opponent gets tougher.
This opponent could be the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, or Saints.
Here are the scenarios for each of the potential opponents to be the No. 7 seed:
Packers
- Win AND Rams win
- Loss AND Seahawks loss AND Vikings loss AND loss by Saints OR Buccaneers
Rams
- Loss AND Packers win
Vikings
- Win AND Seahawks loss AND Packers loss AND loss by Saints OR Buccaneers
Saints
- Win AND Buccaneers win AND Packers loss AND Seahawks loss
Seahawks
- Win AND Packers loss
4. Is A.J. Brown's speech enough to save the season?
Brown was more than adamant regarding his feelings with the Eagles when he broke his 12-day media silence this week. The Eagles wide receiver made it clear he is not upset with the Eagles coaches nor the play-calling, but needed to get something off his chest.
"Everything that I do. If I say something, if I do anything, I'm classified as a monster," Brown said with a smile. "It's honestly the opposite. You saw my frustration on the field. It wasn't the play call, it wasn't about none of that, it was my guy getting banged up."
"I apologized to my teammates today. They shouldn't have to speak on my behalf. I'm a man, I can speak for myself," he said.
Brown also defended Nick Sirianni in his 13-minute speech, making sure his story was out there and not what others said about him.
"There may be things that Nick probably wanna fix about himself. Loyalty is not one of them," Brown said. "He takes (the blame) for us when it has nothing to do with him. He gets the blame, but that comes with his job. Sometimes Jalen (Hurts) does the same thing. Just like Brian (Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson), he gets the wrong end of the stick sometimes -- when it be us."
"The coaches played zero snaps this year. It is not the coaches. It is us," he said.
Brown also thinks the Eagles are close to turning this around, even though the team is 1 - 4 in their last five games.
"All this freakin adversity, we right there," Brown said. "That's what happens when you're trying to get to the next step. Gravity pulls against you, everything pulls against you. That's what this team is going through right now. Once we fight through that, push through that, we'll be fine."
The Eagles just need to get a victory before the postseason and go from there. The Super Bowl expectations have taken a heavy toll on this team over the course of the year. The only way Brown's speech will benefit this team is if the Eagles are to get a win on Sunday, no matter what seed they end up in.
5. Is the defensive play caller change hurting the defense?
The Eagles' defense isn't significantly better under Matt Patricia than it was under Sean Desai, another sign that the personnel is the problem and not the coach. The defense has allowed 26.6 points per game (25th in the NFL) and 346 yards per game (20th in NFL) in the three games Patricia has been the defensive play caller.
The run defense has been poor too. The Eagles are 27th in the NFL in yards per carry allowed (4.7) and 28th in rush yards per game allowed (142.3) in the three games Patricia has been the play caller. The pass defense is 10th in yards per game allowed (203.7) and 14th in net yards per attempt (6.4) allowed. Philadelphia is 29th in sacks per pass attempt (4.2%) and 17th in third down defense (39.5%) since Patricia took over. They are 19th in red zone defense (55.6%).
Entering Week 15 (when the Eagles made the switch from Sean Desai to Patricia), the Eagles were 32nd in the NFL in third down defense (54.8%) and red zone defense (78.3%) since Week 8. They also allowed a league high 428.2 yards per game and 297.8 passing yards per game.
The defense isn't better, but it couldn't get any worse than it was. The unit still isn't good enough to make a deep playoff run based on how the unit is playing. Slay and Zach Cunningham returning should help.
