Eagles Vs Giants Season Finale: How Eagles Can Seal Playoff Berth

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Heading into the finale of the regular season this Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles are one win away from a second consecutive year of late season magic landing them in the playoffs.

As recently as three or four weeks ago, the possibility of a playoff berth seemed doubtful at best. The Eagles fell to one of the worst teams in the league, the Miami Dolphins, before barely scraping out victories against the Giants and Redskins, two teams at the bottom of the NFC pecking order.

But they came up huge when it counted the most, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 17-9 last Sunday, and effectively putting themselves in charge of their own fate.

But the fight is not over, not quite yet.

The Cowboys could still shock the Birds and upstage them for the division title. If the Eagles lose to the Giants and the Cowboys beat the Redskins, both the Cowboys and the Eagles would finish with an 8-8 record. In that scenario, the Cowboys would win the division and make the playoffs, because they have the superior in-division record, which is the next tiebreaker.

So for the Birds to complete another late season miracle run to the playoffs, they either need to beat the Giants, or the Cowboys must lose to the Redskins. If the Eagles lose and the Cowboys lose, the Eagles will move on.

The Giants don't present the easy matchup this weekend that Eagles fans might've hoped for when seeing the schedule at the start of the season. Two-time Super Bowl champ Eli Manning is in likely his final year, and is looking to go out with a bang. His heir-apparent, Daniel Jones, fired five touchdown passes against the Redskins last week. And, of course, the Giants boast one of the most exciting players in the game in Saquon Barkley, who rushed for a superhuman 189 yards last week.

The Eagles did defeat the Giants a few weeks ago on Monday Night Football, but Birds had to go to overtime to do it. The Giants defense has not been a particular strength this season — they've allowed almost as many points as anyone — but they held Carson Wentz and the Eagles in check until the final moments of that matchup.

For the Eagles, injuries will yet again play a big role. Perhaps the biggest and most impactful question mark is star tight end Zach Ertz, who is now out due to injuries to his back and ribs. Nelson Agholor is also out, while receiver J.J. Arcega Whiteside's foot injury looks to be healed.

The Eagles, who are already dealing with a depleting receiving corps, will hope that the heroes of the Cowboys game, Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, and Greg Ward Jr., can once again come up big.

Kickoff is at 4:25 p.m. up at the Meadowlands.