Philadelphia spent the first 15 weeks of the NFL season stacking wins and preparing for home-field advantage, but injuries at key positions and poor play on both sides of the football now have this team fighting for the top spot.
NFL seasons can fall apart in a hurry and the Eagles are now facing a must-win scenario in Week 18 after a disastrous 20-10 loss to the Saints on Sunday.
Returning home to Lincoln Financial Field for the first time in three weeks, quarterback Gardner Minshew was sacked six times on the afternoon, and went 18-32 passing for 274 yards, one touchdown, and one interception that was returned for a touchdown in the loss.
Minshew looked out of sorts at times and made several costly errors while trying to bring Philadelphia back from a 13-0 first-half deficit.
The scenario has been simple since the end of Week 15, with Philadelphia needing to win one of their final three games to win the NFC East and clinch home-field advantage in the NFC.
Without Jalen Hurts on Christmas Eve, the Eagles were defeated by the Cowboys 40-34, after an impressive performance from quarterback Dak Prescott.
On Sunday, the Eagles’ defense was solid, breaking the franchise record for sacks in a season, but they struggled to get off the field on third down, and couldn’t withstand one of the NFL’s top offenses being held to 10 total points.
Philadelphia will now host the New York Giants at home in the season finale, in a game in which the visitors could rest their starters after clinching a playoff berth with a 38-10 beatdown of the Colts.