The Wide World of Dirt

And just like that, the regular season is over.

Well, that and Super Wild Card Weekend is over too. I do apologize for having this come out an extra week; school has started up again. I was surprisingly really busy for syllabus week, but that is not going to stop me anymore!

I finally have time to talk about the Eagles’ regular season finale.

The Eagles beat the New York Giants 22-16 to close out the regular season. With the win the Eagles were able to lock up the NFC’s number 1 seed, and the NFC East division title in one swift movement.

Even though it took them an extra two weeks to do so, this is still a huge win for the team. This game was important because the Cowboys had a chance to come away with the crown if they took care of business against the Commanders. Fortunately for the Eagles, that was not the case as the Commanders smacked the Cowboys 26-6.

With this being their 14th win of the season, it also sets a new franchise record for number of wins in a regular season, that’s pretty cool!

Let’s dissect it, shall we?

Very Vanilla

The Eagles’ goal was simple: win the game without tipping their hand going into the playoffs.

This was further exemplified as the Giants — who already clinched a playoff spot — rested key starters including quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley.

Frankly, even if the Giants didn’t rest their starters, I wasn’t too worried about this team (more on that later). The Eagles were getting back their All-Pro QB Jalen Hurts, and the last time these teams met up, the Eagles blew them out at MetLife Stadium 48-22.

In his first game back, Hurts was 20/35 for 229 yards and an INT while rushing 9 times for 13 yards. Not the most amazing day, but that was the point.

Watching the game you can tell the coaching staff was just trying to do the bare minimum to win, and that meant not overusing Hurts. As we know, Hurts’ ability to run is his greatest trait. With him still recovering from a shoulder sprain, the Eagles didn’t want Hurts to take more hits than was necessary.

There was some rust, which is why I wanted him to play in the game regardless of if he needed to or not. However, it’s good that he was able to play with two weeks to go until the Eagles’ next game.

As a whole the game wasn’t anything special. While the score was closer than many thought, that was only due to a garbage time TD late in the game to Kenny Golladay (his first on the year, so that kinda stings.)

Matchup 3.0

The Eagles’ divisional round opponent has been set, and it is, drum roll please…

The New York (football) Giants.

Well, well, well, this is going to be fun! Truth be told, this is the matchup the Eagles should have been wanting. They had the chance to either play the Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Giants, and they came away with arguably the best one (Buccaneers would have been my preference even before their pitiful showing against the Cowboys.)

The Giants enter the game coming off beating the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 in the Wild Card round. The Vikings couldn’t beat the “fraud” allegations as the Giants were pretty much in control the entire game.

Daniel Jones had the game of his life going 24/35 for 301 yards 2 TDs while adding 17 carries for 78 yards. He truly has turned his career around and forced the Giants into considering him as an option at quarterback going forward.

Saquon Barkley is healthy and is right back to where he was before injuries the last few years. He had 9 carries for 53 yards and 2 TDs. I really don’t like the Giants, but seeing Barkley healthy does make me smile. He is an elite talent that has had an unfortunate past couple seasons. He also is going to cause the Giants franchise some discussions regarding a contract extension.

The Giants’ defense, led by their defensive line with Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, and rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux is a fearsome unit. However, the real strength behind this team is head coach Brian Daboll.

The rookie coach out of Buffalo has gotten everything out of this roster and more. I was upset he took the Giants job then, and I will be for as long as he stays in Big Blue.

The Eagles, of course, entered this game chasing glory. Entering this season many believed Philly would have a good team. I myself pegged them for 11 wins.

What happened since was something I thought we would see a year or two from now.

The Eagles have surpassed all expectations. Making the playoffs was no longer an acceptable goal for this team since October.

The expectation is to win it all.

It seems crazy I know, but it really is imperative they do so this season. This is most likely the last season Jalen Hurts is on his rookie contract; the Eagles would be shrewd to extend him as soon as possible as we know quarterback contracts are topped every year.

There are many free agents next year as well. All-time Eagles greats Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham hit the market this spring, and Fletcher Cox could be on the verge of retirement.

Philly might also lose members of their coaching staff with OC Shane Steichan and DC Jonathan Gannon being the most noteworthy.

The NFC was particularly weak this year, does that change next year?

But let’s not forget the obvious: the Philadelphia Eagles are 14-3 and have the number one seed in the National Football Conference. Every remaining team has to go through them. As we have seen, Philadelphia during a postseason run is a different animal.

New York is a feel-good story. The Giants finally bucked the trend of being terrible. They made the playoffs in the first year of their head coach’s tenure, their quarterback has turned the narrative of his career around, and they are playing really well.

However, they have not been able to beat one of their biggest rivals this year in the Eagles. They got embarrassed at home and then played backups in the season finale. The last time these teams met fully healthy, it was a one-sided affair.

I know it’s hard any time divisional rivals play in the playoffs — look at the Ravens vs. Bengals game last week. I know it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, but the Eagles are built for this moment.

Lincoln Financial Field is going to be ELECTRIC… and I’m going to be there. My first in-person playoff game ever, and I’m stoked.

Going to be a good night. Go Birds!