In Week 17, the Eagles travel to what could be a snowy, windy, and cold afternoon in Buffalo to play the 11-4 Bills in a game that offers all kinds of great intrigue and fascinating matchups. In terms of what it means for the Eagles from a macro standpoint, Philadelphia has locked up the NFC East and has only limited chances to move from its current No. 3 seed in the conference postseason picture.
But in the week-to-week, micro sense, it means so much. The Eagles, winners of two straight games, want to keep things rolling in the win column. The offense has played its best football in the last couple of weeks – the positives have been building for several games, in fact – and the defense is terrific with a chance in this game to match up against the dynamic Josh Allen, a multiple-threat quarterback who shoulders the offensive load for the Bills and clearly does it successfully. So, with that … some storylines.
1. From the players who saw Buffalo earlier this season
Jaelan Phillips and Michael Carter played against Buffalo earlier in 2025 when they were with Miami and the New York Jets, respectively. Their thoughts …
From Phillips, whose Dolphins lost to Buffalo 31-20 on September 18: “They’re just a dynamic team, they have weapons all around. I think Josh Allen is arguably the best quarterback in the league and he does some pretty amazing things with the ball, so just a challenge to be able to stop all the facets of their offense. But yeah, it’ll be a fun challenge for sure.
“It was a close game. It always is a close game when I’ve played against them. They always kind of find a way to win, but that’s something that you just have to know coming into it, you’ve got to stop their momentum, you’ve got to take care of business, and keep your foot on the gas when you have the opportunity because if you don’t, they will find a way to come back. So you’ve definitely got to stay diligent when it comes to that.
“Those are the Bills man, they find a way to get it done. Still a really high-powered offense, no matter how they try to kind of configure things. They’re committed to running the ball. And the quarterback is still the quarterback, he can make plays and extend and make every throw, but I think he’s definitely more careful with the ball, but still trusts his arm to make every throw. They’re a really good team. And I’ll say they really are committed to running the ball and want to be that team for sure.”
We will hear from Carter in just a moment …
2. How to defend Josh Allen?
Vic Fangio coached in Miami and he has experience against Allen, but a lot of coaches have played against Allen multiple times and it doesn’t seem to help a whole lot, does it? He has a 103 passer rating with 25 touchdown passes and he also has 552 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. The guy is a beast. You can’t give him gaps to run because he will gallop for 25 yards. He breaks tackles. He makes something out of nothing. And while the receiving corps isn’t littered with marquee names, Allen directs the passing attack through tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox. What is Fangio’s plan? This is going to be a great chess match.