PHILADELPHIA— The Eagles are so concerned about clinching the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, so mindful of potentially earning at least one extra home game in their pursuit of a second straight Super Bowl title that they are, well — they are treating the regular-season finale like a preseason game.
Jalen Hurts and the bulk of the starting lineup are taking the day off.
Philadelphia will sit some starters against Washington. Some will be limited, and others will be dressed but won’t play as the team needs to meet the league minimum of available players.
Coach Nick Sirianni is playing the long game with his decision to essentially treat Sunday’s home game against the Commanders — unbelievably in retrospect, the matchup was last season’s NFC title game — like a bye week. Sirianni would rather give his regulars more time to rest, heal up from nagging injuries and start preparing for potential playoff opponents than risk injury to Hurts and others with only seeding at stake.
The Eagles (11-5) would earn the No. 2 seed and could be in line to play two home games if they beat the Commanders (4-12) on Sunday and Chicago loses to Detroit.
If not, the Eagles are the No. 3 seed and are guaranteed only to host during wild card weekend.
Even with backup quarterback Tanner McKee getting the nod to start in place of Hurts, the Eagles remain the betting favorite to win the game and sweep the season series against the Commanders. The Eagles clinched the NFC East two weeks ago with a 29-18 win over the Commanders — who, with Jayden Daniels shut down and Marcus Mariota dealing with a leg injury, will start 39-year-old third-stringer Josh Johnson.
Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in last week’s loss to Dallas.
“This game doesn’t have the magnitude that we hoped it would have when the schedule came out,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said.
Sirianni isn’t shy about benching star players in the short term if the greater good of a championship is within reach.
Saquon Barkley lost his shot at breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record when he was a healthy scratch in last season’s finale against the New York Giants. Barkley finished the season with 2,005 yards rushing, 101 shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105.
“Your seeding’s not locked down yet, but you are thinking, ‘Hey, can I put ourselves in the best position seeding wise?’ But also, you’re thinking to yourself how important byes are and creating them if you don’t earn the right for the first-round bye,” Sirianni said. “Those are all things you’ve got to think through and go through because I think a lot of guys would say, last year, that that was a big deal of being able to have a bye last year to set us up for what we ultimately did last year.”
Eagles don’t mind playing on the road
One reason Sirianni might be fine with settling for the No. 3 seed: The Eagles are beasts on the road.
The Eagles lead the NFL in road winning percentage (.667, 30-15) since 2021, including playoffs. Philadelphia owns an 11-4 record (.733) over its last 15 away games.
The Eagles won last week at cold, rainy Buffalo — a Super Bowl contender — even as Hurts failed to complete a pass in the second half for the second time this season.
“Another thing about having the road record that we do, I think that’s a product of really good players and good coaches, and so it’s everything that goes into that, but good mental toughness,” Sirianni said. “I think that really signifies your mental toughness, too.”
McKee gets another start
With Hurts holding a clipboard, McKee is excited to get another shot at starting a game.
McKee, a sixth-round pick out of Stanford in 2023, has thrown for 356 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in limited action over the last two seasons.
He was 27 of 41 for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his Week 18 start last season against the Giants.
“Each week leading up, I’ve been preparing like I’m going to play, in case I do,” McKee said. “Preparation’s been pretty similar. It’s nice to get more reps in practice, obviously.”
The 25-year-old McKee has taken limited snaps in mop-up duty in three blowout victories this season. He completed all three passes for 33 yards in a win over the Raiders.
“I feel like I have a good feel, can play fast,” McKee said. «As a quarterback it’s really big to be able to play and just react to the game instead of trying to think of, ‘What’s my job? What’s my footwork? What’s everybody else doing?’ You can just play and react. So I feel like I’ve gotten to that point and I feel comfortable doing that.”
Sirianni doesn’t expect repeat of brawl
The Eagles clinched their second straight NFC title in a win two weeks ago at Washington in a rivalry game that had three players ejected after a fight broke out among several members of both teams in the aftermath of Barkley’s 2-point conversion that increased Philadelphia’s lead to 19 points with about 4 1/2 minutes left.
Two players on Washington’s defense — lineman Javon Kinlaw and safety Quan Martin — and one Eagles player — offensive lineman Tyler Steen — were disqualified after being flagged for unnecessary roughness during the brawl.
There was some punching, a ton of pushing and shoving, and a lot of jawing, too, as the scrum spread across the grass.
Sirianni wasn’t expecting tempers to flare in Philly.
“No, because I know the referees do a great job of controlling that, and I have the utmost respect for coach Quinn,” he said. “I know myself, too, is like, we want to go out there and have an opportunity to play football.”
