All four NFC East teams are in playoff positions and will be in play on Sunday. The Dallas Cowboys have already qualified for the postseason. The Washington Commanders can secure a playoff spot on Sunday, but they need a lot of help.
The Eagles will host the New Orleans Saints in an afternoon game in Philadelphia. A win would give them the NFC East title and the top seed in the conference. If the Eagles make it that far, they’ll get the conference’s only first-round playoff bye and home field advantage through the conference championship game. The road to the NFC’s Super Bowl passes through Philadelphia.
This is the Eagles’ second attempt to secure the No. 1 seed. They lost to the Cowboys last weekend in Arlington, Texas. The league MVP candidate is plagued with a sprained right shoulder. He returned to the practice range on Thursday, but was listed as questionable on the injury report for this game.
The Giants beat the Indianapolis Colts in an afternoon game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to beat the postseason ticket. They lost in Minnesota last weekend.
The Giants are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season. With Tom Coughlin as coach and Eli Manning as quarterback, they capped off the 2011 season by winning a Super Bowl, so no postseason wins.
When this season began, few saw the Giants as viable playoff contenders. They had lost five seasons in a row. They went 4-13 last season, with co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch conducting an organized housecleaning. Dave Gettleman has resigned as General Manager. The immediate expectations of coach Brian Dabor and general manager Joe Shane’s new regime were decidedly modest. Quarterback Daniel Jones and tailback Saquon Barkley looked like draft busts. A return to respect and a sign of progress would have been enough.
But Schoen and Daboll did much more. The Giants he started 6–1. Jones is totally competent. Barkley has regained star status and is his fourth leading rusher in the NFL. The Giants have fallen back recently, with him going 1-4-1 in his last six games. But making the playoffs would be a huge achievement.
The Commander holds the NFC’s No. 7 seed going into play on Sunday. They returned starting quarterback to Carson Wentz to host the Cleveland Browns in the early afternoon. To secure a playoff spot, they would have to beat the Browns and let the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay He Packers all lose (a draw for the Packers).