Eagles end regular season with 14 wins following victory over Giants: Key takeaways

By / / Sports / 6 minutes of reading


By Brooks Kubena, Charlotte Carroll and Lauren Smith

The Philadelphia Eagles will head to the playoffs having won 12 of their last 13 after ending the regular season with a 20-13 victory over the visiting New York Giants on Sunday.

Having already clinched the NFC East title with last week’s win over the Dallas Cowboys and entering the week guaranteed the NFC’s No. 2 seed, the Eagles played without several key starters Sunday, but still never trailed in the game on the way to their 14th win. Philadelphia (14-3) is now set to host the Green Bay Packers (11-6), the No. 7 seed in the NFC, in the wild-card round.

Tanner McKee, a sixth-round pick by the Eagles in 2023, made his first career NFL start in Philadelphia’s regular-season finale against the Giants, and completed 27-of-41 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Rookie wide receiver Ainias Smith and tight end E.J. Jenkins both caught their first career touchdowns in the game.

Eagles starting quarterback Jalen Hurts (concussion protocol) did not play for a second consecutive game Sunday. NFL rushing leader Saquon Barkley, who ended the regular season with 2,005 rushing yards — 101 yards away from passing the NFL’s single-season record — in 16 games, and leading receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were also among the Eagles’ inactive starters Sunday.

The Giants’ only touchdown in the game was a 45-yard pass from Drew Lock to standout rookie Malik Nabers in the fourth quarter. The catch was Nabers’ 109th of the season, setting the NFL’s single-season record for receptions by a rookie. Nabers had five catches for 64 yards and the touchdown in New York’s final game of the season, and also reset the Giants’ single-season record for receptions in the game, surpassing Steve Smith, who had 107 catches during the 2009 season.

The Giants ended a 10-game losing streak with last weekend’s win over the Indianapolis Colts, but they end the season at 3-14 following Sunday’s loss, having dropped 11 of their final 12 games. New York is set to pick at No. 3 in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Philadelphia collects 14 wins in regular season

The Eagles are 14-3. It’s their second 14-win season in history. Both occurred in 17-game regular seasons. Both occurred in the Nick Sirianni era. The 2022 squad ended its season in a 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. The Eagles have restored themselves as a championship-caliber team. The front office’s offseason acquisitions, which included Barkley, rejuvenated a roster whose wealth of talent was maximized by an overhauled staff of coordinators.

Vic Fangio, a seven-time defensive coordinator, fielded the NFL’s top defense in 2024. Kellen Moore, a third-time offensive coordinator, leveraged one of the league’s best offensive lines (which features three Pro Bowlers) in a system in which Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards and created one-on-one matchups for Brown and Smith, who combined for 1,912 receiving yards and 15 touchdown catches.

With the No. 2 seed locked up along with the team’s second NFC East division title in three years, it’s technically already a banner year for the Eagles. But general manager Howie Roseman and Sirianni’s bevy of offseason moves were done to put the franchise back on track toward securing the city’s second Super Bowl championship. They’re back in the playoffs. They’re once again one of the NFL’s best teams. Now, the true test begins. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer

Hurts misses second consecutive game

Sunday’s game was in part defined by who didn’t play. The top concern for the Eagles entering wild-card weekend is whether Hurts will emerge from concussion protocol or not in time to play against the Packers. Hurts has yet to practice, even with limitations, since he was knocked out in the first quarter of the Week 17 game against the Commanders. No Eagles player has missed more than one game in concussion protocol in 2024. It would be abnormal for a player to miss three games. Sirianni, who has repeatedly only said Hurts is “progressing” through the protocol, has not disclosed which of the protocol’s five phases Hurts is currently in.

The soonest Hurts could practice is either Tuesday (if the Eagles play Saturday) or Wednesday (if they play Sunday). Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett did not play against the Giants due to a rib injury, although he was officially active. McKee’s debut as a starter projects some confidence in the team’s depth at quarterback, but it should be noted McKee’s success came against a miserable Giants team. All eyes will be on Hurts this week. — Kubena

Eagles prepare for postseason

Three other major factors as the Eagles prepare for the postseason: 1.) Dallas Goedert recorded four catches for 55 yards in two drives — a promising return from injured reserve; 2.) Jake Elliott was 2-for-3 on field goal attempts, missing a 39-yarder wide left and making a 24- and 32-yarder. Elliott was 9-of-9 on kicks of 30-39 yards this season. He’s missed eight field goals this season. He’d never missed more than five in a season. Can the Eagles rely on Elliott in the playoffs with elimination on the line? And, finally, 3.) Depth is required for deep postseason runs, and the Eagles flexed their reserves in Sunday’s win. Jahan Dotson, normally the team’s third option, caught a season-high seven catches for a season-high 94 yards. Ainias Smith caught his first-career touchdown on a 15-yard reception on the opening drive. Third-string running back Will Shipley, a fourth-round rookie, juked a defender on a notable 15-yard reception. Backup cornerback Isaiah Rodgers contributed to a secondary that mostly silenced the Giants offensively, and Rodgers returned the opening kickoff of the second half 51 yards. — Kubena

New York ends season with 14 losses

In a lost season, Sunday’s result feels like an afterthought. All eyes will be on Giants ownership as they decide the futures of GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. Co-owner John Mara has said the pair aren’t a “package deal,” opening up the discussion that the team could part with one or the other rather than both.

In October with the Giants sitting at just two wins, Mara said that they were not “making any changes this season” and he did not anticipate making any in the offseason either. But the Giants won just one game in the ensuing weeks and went on a franchise record 10-game losing streak in the meantime. The Giants avoided going winless at home for the first time in 50 years, but the team finished without a win in the NFC East for the first time ever. Now, Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch will have to make a decision on if they will be searching for their fifth head coach or third GM in a decade. — Charlotte Carroll, Giants beat writer

Giants’ draft pick set

Giants fans will be rewarded for the historically poor season with a top draft pick: No. 3. The Cleveland Browns ended any chance of a top pick with their Saturday loss. The two other three-win franchises played at the same time as the Giants on Sunday, cementing the first four picks. — Carroll

Required reading

(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)





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About The Author

Fannie Hogan is a writer and editor who covers lifestyle, books, sports, education, and tech. She's always loved to write—from the time she was a little girl writing stories about talking animals to the day she got her first job as an editor at a lifestyle magazine. Her hobbies include long walks on the beach, running, and taking breaks from work to read a good book.

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