Top 10 Eagles storylines in the final 10 games of the regular season

Here’s a look at the Eagles’ 10 remaining games, which includes some snark, some analysis, and a sweetheart three-game finish that could set the Birds on the way to another deep playoff run faster than you can say “D’backs bullpen.”

But before that, the Birds need to survive the most difficult part of their remaining stretch. So here are some storylines to take us home.

The Eagles visit FedEx Field for the first time since Josh Harris and his group took over as owners of the Commanders, turning the page from the Dan Snyder disaster.

“It’s going to be exciting to see full stadiums come September,” tight end Logan Thomas said over the summer. “It’s just new beginnings, and I think anytime you have a new beginning there’s excitement.”

Washington (3-4) hasn’t won a playoff game in 18 years and is under .500 after seven games for the fifth consecutive year. Coach Ron Rivera probably needs a postseason trip to save his job.

They were, however, last in the NFL in attendance in 2022, but are up to 28th this season, so that’s something.

The NFC East figures to be the two-team race everyone was expecting, so holding serve at home will be crucial. This is the start of a rugged five-game stretch for the Eagles, who have lost four of five to the Cowboys.

The game is three weeks away, and someone is already dreading the number of Taylor Swift cutaway shots on ESPN. As for the Brothers Kelce, remember that prop bet in the Super Bowl on whether Travis would have more yards receiving than Jason had snaps played? Travis won that, 81-75.

Both teams will be coming off a bye, just like when they met nine months ago in Arizona.

Buffalo has been maddeningly inconsistent since the Jets hit them with a haymaker in Week 1 with a backup quarterback. Buffalo has played in Philadelphia only twice this century and hasn’t won here since 1996, when Jim Kelly was at quarterback and Marv Levy its coach.

The Niners did enough griping after the Eagles thumped them in the conference championship game that the NFL changed the rule about emergency quarterbacks. Wonder whether they’ll start complaining about quarterback sneaks after Brock Purdy landed in concussion protocol this week.

This game could be loaded with home-field advantage implications for the playoffs.

See how miffed Micah Parsons got a couple of weeks ago after the Cowboys got trashed by San Francisco, 42-10? Mostly, he complained that Dak Prescott gets criticized more than others at his position. “I’m tired of people trashing my quarterback,” he complained. “I’m tired of people trashing my team.”

The Eagles have lost five in a row in Dallas, last winning in 2017, when Carson Wentz was the quarterback. Remember him?

This feels like a dangerous trip, especially following the five-game hell walk the Eagles will have just gone through. But Seattle will have played Dallas once and San Francisco twice in the three weeks leading to the Eagles’ visit, so who knows?

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith isn’t playing at the same level as a year ago, when he was the NFL comeback player of the year. Seattle is 7-0 against the Eagles since Pete Carroll became coach in 2010.

The Giants (2-5) have a lot of problems but do not appear to be interested in trading dynamic running back Saquon Barkley by Tuesday’s deadline. They’ve given up 37 sacks, second only to Washington entering Week 8, and have lost 10 in a row at the Linc.

This will be the third time the Eagles are playing on Christmas Day. They won at Dallas in 2006 to clinch an unlikely playoff berth behind backup Jeff Garcia. In 2017, with another backup QB, they beat the Raiders to clinch the conference’s No. 1 seed.

About a month later, that same backup QB raised the Lombardi Trophy. Maybe you remember him.

The Cardinals are 1-6, will be lucky to be 3-12 by the time this game rolls around, and will have to fly across the country for what will be a 10 a.m. body-clock start. Wonder whether Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon will make any impermissible visits to Pat’s or Geno’s the morning before the game.

Couldn’t ask for a better closing schedule heading into the playoffs for the Eagles than games against the Giants, Cardinals, and Giants again. The Birds’ projected win total in the preseason was 11.5 victories. If that’s in doubt heading into this game, the No. 1 seed is probably in jeopardy.