Eagles are NFC's 3-seed, will host Niners in Wild Card round

The Eagles rested their starters and a loss (and a worse seed) was the result.

By Evan Macy
PhillyVoice Staff

The Eagles blew a golden opportunity Sunday in Week 18, faltering to the Commanders to finish the season 11-6 with the NFC's 3-seed. Their 24-17 loss made the Bears' simultaneous loss to the Lions irrelevant. Chicago officially has the 2-seed now.

The drama was not lacking, as Chicago came back from 16 points down, only to lose on a last-minute Lions field goal. The Eagles, meanwhile, blew a lead of their own and were out-scored 14-0 in the fourth quarter in south Philly.

Head coach Nick Sirianni elected to sit the majority of his starters, relenting that the 2-seed wasn't worth risking injury and as a result, the Eagles will host the 49ers next weekend in the NFL's Wild Card round

Philadelphia hasn't faced the Niners since 2023, when they were decimated by them amid that season's epic collapse. A year prior, they did the decimating, knocking two San Francisco quarterbacks out of the game as they made it to the Super Bowl.

As the 3-seed, the Eagles will potentially need to travel to face the Bears (if the Bears beat the Packers) in a Divisional Round matchup in Chicago, if they can handle the Niners first. Had they beaten Washington, they'd have been guaranteed two home playoff games (if they got that far).

The exact time and date for kickoff will be announced later on Sunday. Based on past postseasons, and based on the Eagles being a huge ratings draw, it is likely they'll play either in primetime Saturday or in the afternoon or evening on Sunday next weekend.

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