Playoff Stock is Up as Eagles Start Slow But Finish Off Short-Handed WFT
PHILADELPHIA - It started slowly but the attrition ultimately kicked in for a COVID-stricken Washington Football Team as the Eagles rebounded from an early 10-point deficit to earn an easy 27-17 in what served as a virtual must-win game for both teams.
The 7-7 Eagles are now tied with Minnesota and New Orleans for the final playoff spot in the NFL.
For now, the Vikings would earn the tiebreaker in such a scenario but the Vikings have the toughest schedule of the three remaining with two of the NFC's better teams left, the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, already beat the Saints so they have a leg up on NOLA with three games remaining.
THE BULLS
Jalen Hurts' health - The Eagles' QB1 was sidelined since Nov. 28 with a high-ankle sprain and was a little rusty early with his decision-making and ball security. Hurts made some solid throws, however, as he settled in and ran for 38 yards with two touchdowns on QB sneaks, showing there were no limitations.
The second-year QB had one of his best statistical games, completing 20-of-26 passes for 296 yards and getting more options involved in the passing game.
The running game - The names change but the results sure do not as Philadelphia piled up another 200-yard rushing game (238 to be exact), its fifth of the season. This time it was no Landon Dickerson, no problem as rising Tesla stock Sua Opeta stepped to help clear pathways for Miles Sanders, who finished with a career-high 131 yards on 18 carries, and Jordan Howard, who returned from a two-game respite due to a knee injury to finish with 69 yards on 15 carries.
“This is great. The offensive line does a great job," Howard said. "The tight ends, receivers, and coaches - they put us in a great position and [Eagles QB] Jalen [Hurts] makes the right checks.
"They all just make our jobs easier to run. They [create] gigantic holes and it surprises you because it’s like there aren’t supposed to be holes that big in the NFL so it’s surprising but we’re not complaining about it. You just can’t have any hesitation especially in the NFL because that hole will close up very fast. So you have to hit it as soon as you see it.”
Extra Time - While many Eagles fans were hand-wringing about the extra time after the bye, Nick Sirianni was watching ball and coming up with some stuff using Darius Slay as a decoy on offense in the red zone and trying to draw Washington offsides on a potential two-point conversion to try to make it an easier try.
Playoff chances - The Eagles came into the game with a 26 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to the famed predictive website fivethirtyeight.com. A loss would have essentially extinguished any hope and lowered that number to 5 percent. The win has the Eagles 37 percent and in good shape considering the schedules ahead for the three 7-7 teams.
Jalen Reagor - He gets plenty of grief, so you have to give Reagor credit on Tuesday when he caught all three of his targets for 57 yards, including a big 34-yard catch-and-run on a WR screen that set up the Greg Ward touchdown that essentially sealed things.
"It just feels like we’re putting everything together, putting the pieces together, trusting the process and the coaches,” Reagor said.
THE BEARS
Sloppiness - An easy pass bouncing off the hands of Dallas Goedert, Jalen Hurts losing his attention to detail with ball security, and Jordan Mailata taking a fourth-down conversion off the board with a needless hold helped Washington get out to a 10-0 lead. If the Eagles were sharp from the get-go this would have been a laugher.
Killer Instinct - When the Eagles went up 20-10 on Jake Elliott's 37-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the third quarter, it may as well have felt like a 30-point advantage with the WFT's limitations on offense but the Eagles let them back in the game with an almost-inconceivable 7-play, 69-yard drive. Any time it's a one-score game late the football can bounce the wrong way and Philadelphia should have shown a sense of urgency to keep the sharks circling.
Finishing on the pass rush - The Eagles had one sack in five home games before tonight and matched it when Fletcher Cox got to Gilbert. They then doubled it late when Cox and Javon Hargrave shared a sack. For some reason, a team that gets plenty of pressure doesn't have great finishers and it's hard to imagine that changing over the final three games. They have 23 sacks in 14 games.
MORE: Offensive Onslaught Buries Washington as Eagles Move to 7-7
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
