Saquon Barkley, Vic Fangio, Nick Sirianni among 6 Eagles who could use a monster playoff win to validate monster seasons

Nick Sirianni won 14 games for the second time in three years. Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore turned around their careers as coordinators. Saquon Barkley had his best season as a runner. Jalen Hurts had his most efficient season as a passer. Jalen Carter justified his draft position.

Now what?

If the Eagles don’t use their NFC East title and No. 2 seed to make a deep playoff run, beginning Sunday against the visiting Packers, all of those accomplishments dim.

Sirianni might be 48-20 in the regular season, but he’s also 2-3 in the playoffs. He oversaw a second-half collapse in the Super Bowl two years ago and got blown out in Tampa Bay the year before that and the year after. If the Packers manage an upset, Sirianni’s ability to deliver in the postseason will justifiably come into question, as was the case last year with Mike McCarthy. Since winning the Super Bowl after the 2011 season, McCarthy is 110-72-1 with the Packers and Cowboys in 11 full regular seasons ... and 6-8 in the playoffs, with four first-round exits.

» READ MORE: Eagles vs. Packers predictions: Our writers make their picks for the wild-card game

Fangio developed a defense in Philadelphia that turned linebackers Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean and cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean into top-tier players at their positions, and he unlocked the potential of Carter in Carter’s second year. His defense ranks No. 1 in total yards allowed and passing yards allowed and No. 2 in scoring. It sounds a lot like Mike Zimmer’s defense in 2017, just before Nick Foles & Co. put 456 yards and 38 points on the Vikings in the NFC championship game. Returning to Pennsylvania and guiding a historic regular-season defense will cement Fangio as one of the greatest defensive minds of the era, but don’t forget that Fangio didn’t have a job in 2022 (he consulted for the Eagles) and the Dolphins didn’t try to keep him after their mediocre 2023 marriage.

It took four weeks, but once Moore realized Hurts’ limitations and Barkley’s abilities, he redesigned his scheme over the bye week and orchestrated a brilliant final 13 games. Yes, after Game 4 the Eagles’ offensive line suggested to Sirianni that the team pass less often, but an Eagles source said last week that Moore already was shifting from a Hurts-centric attack to one that featured Barkley more. Either way, Hurts averaged 33 attempts as the Eagles started 2-2, then averaged 21.4 attempts during a nine-game winning streak in which Hurts never threw as many as 30 passes. He threw 32 passes in the 10th consecutive win, but only after A.J. Brown shamed him into it. Meanwhile, Barkley’s rushing attempts increased by about four per game from Game 5 on. The Jaguars and Saints already plan to interview Moore for their head coaching spot, but his candidacy would be bolstered by an Eagles playoff win; he’s 1-3 in the postseason as the Cowboys’ OC.

He played well in two playoff games, the divisional round and the Super Bowl after the 2022 season. He played poorly in two others, wild-card losses in Tampa after the 2021 and 2023 seasons. In the middle, in the NFC championship game after 2022, he was just OK against the 49ers. He finished the season with a career-best 103.7 passer rating, but, like Sirianni, he’s 2-3 in the playoffs. How Hurts performs Sunday will go far toward gauging his value as a $255 million franchise quarterback.

It’s been like watching Nolan Ryan in his (endless) prime: You know what’s coming, but you still can’t do anything about it. Barkley simply can’t disappear, especially not after he got Game 17 off. The Packers have the No. 7 rushing defense, but that shouldn’t diminish the expectations for Barkley, whose 2,005 yards in 2024 ranks eighth all-time. After all, he gained 107 yards and scored a touchdown last month in Baltimore, and the Ravens were the No. 1 rushing defense. Four of the seven 2,000-yard backs ranked ahead of Barkley fizzled in the postseason.

The Packers are an elite pass-blocking team, ranked third by Pro Football Focus. Carter is an elite pass rusher, ranked fourth among defensive tackles by the same evaluation service. After a fine rookie season, in which the Eagles traded up to take Carter No. 9 overall, he was a non-factor in his first playoff game, at Tampa. It was the biggest game of the season, and it might have been his worst. Now, after a Pro Bowl second season, Carter needs to be a big factor in these playoffs. And it needs to start Sunday against the team that, at 22, allowed the fewest sacks in the conference.

The Eagles play in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs against the Green Bay Packers. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.