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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Week 17 in the NFL had no shortage of thrilling games, and the Philadelphia Eagles were at the forefront of the drama in the late stages of the four o’clock window on Sunday.
With the clock winding down to it’s final seconds, Philly’s defense bent just enough for the Buffalo Bills to draw within one point with five seconds remaining. Buffalo surprisingly went for two after the last second touchdown, but the Eagles defense provided enough resistance to keep the Bills out of the end zone.
Philadelphia has certainly been in it’s fair share of tight games this season, but none had the implications Sunday’s game had as far as the standings go. With the win, and the Chicago Bears falling to the San Francisco 49ers, the Eagles will have a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC in week 18 when they take on the Washington Commanders.
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Eagles Seeding Scenarios Heading Into Week 18
With the Bears loss to the 49ers on Sunday night, the Eagles will have a chance to grab the No. 2 seed in week 18. Philly can’t finish worse than the No. 3 seed no matter what happens across the league, as they’ve clinched the division and the NFC South winner will finish with a worse record than them.
So, here are the scenarios: Philly takes on Washington and the Bears will host the Detroit Lions in week 18, both games occurring at 4:25 p.m. The Eagles need to win AND they need the Bears to lose to the Lions, as Chicago owns the tiebreaker via their 24-15 win over the Eagles in week 13.
Eagles will host Washington Sunday at 4:25 PM
The Bears will host the Lions at the same time.
If the Eagles win, and the Bears lose, the Eagles get the 2 seed
In some years, the difference between the No. 2 and No. 3 seed would be rather inconsequential. This year, the team in the No. 3 seed will be facing one of the three NFC West teams in San Francisco, Seattle, or Los Angeles. The No. 2 seed will face the Green Bay Packers; a good team, but not nearly as good as any of the three NFC West teams.
The NFC West will have the No. 1 seed, and it will be either San Fran or Seattle, who will face off on Saturday for that title. The NFC South winner will be either Carolina or Tampa Bay, and that team will have the No. 4 seed, while the Packers have clinched the No. 7 seed. So, it all comes down to Chicago and Philly for the No. 2 seed and the three NFC West teams for the No. 1, No. 5, and No. 6 seeds.
A thrilling week 18 awaits.
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Eagles Gaining Momentum Heading Into Playoffs
The reigning Super Bowl champs haven’t had the dominant season they would have liked to, but they seems to be heating up at the right time late in the season. Philly jumped out to a 4-0 start, but an upset at the hands of the New York Giants and a three game losing-streak in late November planted a seed of doubt in many a mind as to whether this team had what it took to make another deep run.
Though the Eagles offense remains rather stagnant, the defense has really turned it on the last few weeks. They held a potent Bills offense to just 12 points on Sunday, and the final touchdown didn’t come until there were five seconds left in the game.
If Philadelphia defeats Washington in week 18, it’ll ride a four game winning streak into the playoffs.
Matt Skillings Matt Skillings is a Boston based sports journalist and a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he majored in journalism and communication. Matt covered the UMass men’s ice hockey team for three years for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. He was also a media intern for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two summers. Matt has additional bylines with the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Globe and MassLive. More about Matt Skillings
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