PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — They don't make it easy, and sometimes it's downright ugly, but the Eagles have rallied from a 2-5 record to win seven out of nine and make the postseason in Nick Sirianni's first year with the club and Jalen Hurts' first season as the starting quarterback.
The Eagles officially clinched a spot shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday after the Green Bay Packers rolled by the Minnesota Vikings 37-10 on Sunday Night Football, and the San Francisco 49ers took care of the Houston Texans 23-7.
Frankly, those games were less stressful than the Eagles' 20-16 nail-biter over the Washington Football Team — a contest that would not have been so close, or so difficult to win, had the Eagles gotten off to a fast start, something that has eluded them in recent weeks. It's also something that will need to change if the Birds want to upset a team in the Wild Card round in just under two weeks.
"What I felt on the sideline today was this calmness," Sirianni said of his team's win, which included coming back from a 16-7 halftime deficit. "There was a calmness throughout the entire game ... and that's what you do when you take things little by little. And when you're down two scores at the end of the first half, you're not gonna get it all with one drive … Just like you can't get all your wins back when you start [with a bad record.] So it's just us recovering from the 2-5 to where we are now. It prepares you for games like this."
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After the Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter, Washington still had a chance to win at the end until Taylor Heinicke threw an interception to Eagles safety Rodney McLeod.
After running six times for 45 yards, and scrambling to avoid a handful of sacks, Hurts narrowly escaped a tackle of a different sort as he walked off the field after the Eagles' win. Fans waiting to greet the quarterback fell onto the field after a railing gave way.
The second-year quarterback came away unscathed and even helped some of the fans get back on their feet. In a statement released after the incident, the Washington Football Team said no one was seriously hurt.
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It is not yet clear which seed the Eagles will be — either seventh or sixth in the NFC — or who they will play yet. The seeding throughout the NFC field is up in the air. Right now, the 49ers hold the tie-breaker for sixth. If they lose to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, and the Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night, then the Eagles will jump the 49ers.
It depends on how the Eagles handle Week 18. Will they rest players against Dallas to avoid injury? Will they play so they're not rusty the following week? Will they have balance?
The Eagles' regular season finale against the Cowboys at the Linc was flexed to Saturday at 8:15 p.m. Locally, that may contribute to a crowded situation at the South Philadelphia sports complex, as the Flyers are scheduled to host the San Jose Sharks at 7 p.m., and the Philadelphia Wings lacrosse team is scheduled to play at Wells Fargo Center earlier that day at noon.