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Eagles are the #2 Seed, Making Week 18 Irrelevant
Published:
The Vikings beat the Packers on Sunday evening, meaning:
The #Eagles have clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
They no longer can get the No. 1 seed and would play at least two home games in the playoffs — should they advance past the wild card round.
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) December 30, 2024
It will be the 2/7 game with the Eagles hosting the Commies or the Packers, two teams they beat in the regular season. As of publication, there are scenarios where the Buccaneers end up 7th, but that’s less likely. It means the Birds have the Wild Card round and Divisional round at Lincoln Financial Field and only go on the road for an NFC Championship Game against the Vikings/Lions winner, whichever team ends up claiming the North.
Ultimately, there’s nothing to play for at home against the Giants in Week 18. The Eagles have not had a bye since early October and resting the starters would give Jalen Hurts extra time to recover from his concussion. The flipside is a rusty Hurts entering the playoffs with no game action since Washington.
Of course, people will make the case for Saquon Barkley to play, and try to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record, but if you play him, it means you also have to play the starting O line, because it would be folly to try to break a record running Saquon behind Tyler Steen, Jack Driscoll, Fred Johnson, and the other second stringers. If Saquon gets hurt, congrats, now you’re fucked. The Giants are terrible, and it would be cool to see him get the record at home against his former team, but they’re probably going to err on the side of caution.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com