The Eagles travel to FedEx Field on Sunday with the hopes of locking up a playoff spot. After their win against the Giants, the Eagles went to an 8-7 record and snuck into the wildcard spots. Washington's season has collapsed in recent weeks, and the thrashing in Dallas shows that things are on the rocks. However, that could make them dangerous as they look to bounce back against a fellow divisional opponent. Ron Riviera's team will be hoping to play the spoils by at least delaying the Eagles' playoff dreams by a further week. Nick Sirianni's team will need to start much faster than in recent weeks on a Sunday that could see the Eagles playoff implications fall one-by-one, culminating in the Packers defeating the Kirk Cousins-less Vikings on SNF.
The season so far
Washington's season has been up-and-down all year and now sat at 6-9; their aspirations of making the postseason in back-to-back seasons are all but over. After starting 2-6, Ron Riviera's team managed to rattle off four successive wins to get up to 6-6 and into the seventh seed in the Wildcard places. Since then, they have suffered three straight defeats, with one of those coming against the Eagles, in that controversial Tuesday night game that the Eagles won 27-17. The most embarrassing loss followed the week after as the Cowboys hung up 56 points on the Football Team as they were beaten 56-14. There were also punches thrown on the sideline as that capped off what was a dreadful evening. The problems do not stop there for Washington as their COVID issues continue to haunt them ahead of their second game against the Eagles. Antonio Gibson and Ereck Flowers are both out due to being on the COVID list, while William Jackson is also out.
Biggest Threat- Fighting for pride
With Washington's season almost finished and the team looking like a sinking ship, that could make them a dangerous outfit on Sunday. They will be looking to bounce back after that horrendous outing in Dallas, and for some, this could be their last chance to prove that they are good enough to play in the NFL. After winning the NFC East last season, many had Washington retaining their place at the top of the division or in a wildcard spot. They have failed to do either and will see their season crashing to an end with the way things are going. Many will not want to do that, and as mentioned above, players are fighting for their futures and contracts. For most of that roster, they will also be looking to battle for their well-respected Head Coach Ron Riviera. Washington may have plenty of injury issues, but fighting for their pride will make them a threat on Sunday.
What to Target- Washington's rotating quarterbacks
Ron Riviera has flirted with the idea of Washington playing both Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen on Sunday. That will get very interesting pretty quickly if they alternate the two regularly. The Carolina Panthers have been doing something similar over recent weeks and has proven to be pretty successful for Matt Rhule, who has fans calling for his head. The Eagles defense will need to ensure that both quarterbacks fail to get into a rhythm. Heinicke has been woeful in his last two starts, and it is hard to see those fortunes changing, especially if he is being substituted in and out for Allen. If the Eagles cornerbacks make life difficult for the Washington receivers, and they can bottle up the run game early, it will certainly put these two mediocre quarterbacks under plenty of pressure.