NFC East Week 17 Round-up: Eagles Clinch Playoff Berth
We’re inching closer to the finish line of the 2021 NFL regular season, and for Giants fans, that ending can’t come too soon.
Dallas Cowboys (11-5, 1st Place)
The current NFC East Champion Dallas Cowboys battled from a 22-7 deficit against the Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately, their efforts came up short as the Cardinals held on to a 25-22 victory, which snapped the Cowboys' four-game winning streak.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes and has seven in his last two games with zero interceptions over that period. Prescott also finished with a team-leading 20 yards on five carries.
The win by the Cardinals snapped a three-game losing streak. The Cowboys, though, lost receiver Michael Gallup to a torn ACL
Up Next: at Philadelphia
Draft Spot: No. 27
Philadelphia Eagles (9-7, 2nd Place)
The Eagles, who started the season 2-5, are playoff-bound after knocking off the Washington Football Team, 20-16 at FedExField.
The Eagles battled back from a 16-7 halftime deficit by scoring 13 points in the second half and managing to keep the Football Team off the scoreboard. Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran six times for 45 yards and finished 17 of 26 passing for 214 yards as he led the Eagles to their fourth consecutive victory and the Wild Card berth, which was clinched when the Vikings lost to Green Bay.
The Eagles, who have three first-round picks in this spring's draft, are just the fourth NFL team to have a rookie head coach and produce a winning season after starting 2-5 or worse through 7 games. The last head coach to accomplish that feat was former Eagles offensive assistant Frank Reich, who did it with the Colts in 2018.
Up Next: Dallas
Draft Spots: No. 14 (via Miami), No. 19, No. 21 (via Indianapolis)
New York Giants Week 17 Game Coverage
Washington Football Team (6-10, 3rd Place)
The defending NFC East champions, who already lost their crown to the Dallas Cowboys earlier this season, won't be making the playoffs after falling 20-16 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Washington, who came into Week 17 with a three-game losing streak and a 6-9 record, were still alive for a Wild Card berth had they, in part, helped themselves by winning their final two games.
After a strong start that saw them jump out to a 16-7 halftime lead, Washington, who has not made back-to-back playoff appearances since 1992, was shut out in the second half.
Without top running back Antonio Gibson (COVID-19 list), Washington started Jaret Patterson in Gibson's place. Patterson finished with 57 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown.
Up Next: at New York Giants
Draft Spot: No. 9
New York Giants (4-12, 4th Place)
The Giants ineptness continued on Sunday as New York spotted the Chicago Bears a 14-0 lead in the first minute of the game thanks to two Mike Glennon turnovers, the Bears were able to convert to touchdowns.
Speaking of Glennon, he finished with minus ten net passing yards, the worst total in the NFL since Ryan Leaf and the then-San Diego Chargers completed one out of 15 pass attempts for four yards while losing 23 yards on two sacks in Week 3 of the 1998 season.
The Giants, who came into the game with only a healthy Kenny Golladay at receiver—they called up receivers from their practice squad to round out the rest of the group—set out to run the ball for the majority of the game, the rushing attempts initially split between Saquon Barkley and Devontae Booker. Barkley, who tore his ACL last year in a Week 2 road game against the Bears, had his best showing since that injury, finishing with 102 rushing yards on 21 carries.
After the game, Giants head coach Joe Judge gave a passionate, 11-minute response to a question about why the fan base should still have faith in the program he’s running.
Judge, citing how well the team has come to work and how no one has checked out despite the hardships the team has faced, is believed to be safe for next year, despite the Giants having matched their five-game losing streak to start the 2020 season the longest to date in Judge’s tenure, and despite the Giants potentially facing finishing with fewer wins than they did in 2020 when they had six.
Up Next: Washington
Draft Spots: No. 5, No. 8 (via Chicago)
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