The Only Thing Eagles Can Control in Playoff Hunt is Winning

After starting 2-5, Philadelphia can wrap up a most improbable spot in the playoffs, but it has to start with beating Washington just 12 days after already beating them

This could be the day the improbable happens, and the Eagles secure a spot in the playoffs.

Improbable because this was supposed to be a “transition” year, in the words of Jeffrey Lurie, not a playoff year.

Improbable because the Eagles had a first-year head coach with a young quarterback.

Improbably because the Eagles were 2-5 as the midpoint of their season approached and there was more talk about the draft and whether or not the coaching staff would return than what lie ahead.

“There are going to be times of adversity where people are telling you, you stink and there are going to be times of triumph where people are telling you, you can't do anything wrong,” said head coach Nick Sirianni on Friday. 

“Your job in all that is to not ride the wave of the season; your job in all of that is how you do the things you need to do to get a little bit better every day, so you put yourself position to go 1-0 that week.”

The Eagles will look to go 1-0 in Washington, which in turn would make them 9-7 overall. they just beat the Football Team 12 days ago, 27-17, and now must find a way to do it again because a win would put them in the playoffs if two other things happen:

• The Packers beat the Vikings on Sunday night.

• Either the 49ers beat the Texans, or the Saints lose to the Panthers.

We're here!#PHIvsWAS | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/fo7K7wBouW

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 2, 2022

“My job as a coach is to remind them of things that are sometimes very obvious, right?” said Sirianni. 

"So, every scenario that I’m being told that we have to clinch a playoff spot – when I first heard about it, it was every scenario was like, ‘Okay, if this happens and this happens and this happens, we’re in.’ ‘Okay, what else?’ If this happens and this happens and this happens, we’re also in.’

“But every one of those things requires us winning and that’s all that we can control. And so, that’s been my message all week, that’s been the players – that’s been our leaders on our team’s message all week. And we’re doing everything that we can do to go 1-0 this week by the way we practiced all week, by the way we walked-thru this week, and by the way we studied at tape this week.”

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The Eagles have won three in a row and six of their last eight to be in this position, though Sirianni remains rooted in the moment.

“I think when you look at something as a whole or you think about the past, if you're not a process-oriented team where you just care about the process, the results can really mess with you,” he said. 

“If you're thinking too far down the road, too far back, that can mess with you. Your goal is to get better every day. When you get better every day, when you grow every day, eventually good things will happen. And so that's just been my philosophy for some time.”

The Eagles enter Sunday’s game with a roster that has remained mostly healthy and one that hasn’t been hit as hard by COVID as some others in the NFL.

They activated defensive end Derek Barnett from the COVID list on Saturday and earlier in the week were able to get two other defensive ends off the virus list – rookie Tarron Jackson and veteran Ryan Kerrigan.

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They will, however, be without RB Miles Sanders, but Jordan Howard, who is listed as questionable, appears on track to play after suffering a stringer in the win over the Giants last week.

The Eagles will be without linebackers Shaun Bradley, who was involved in a fender bender on his way to the team’s facility. It was a minor accident, but Bradley, a Pro Bowl alternate on special teams, will be held out of Sunday’s game as a precaution.

The Eagles elevated rookie linebacker JaCoby Stevens from the practice squad on Saturday. Stevens will make his NFL debut, probably on special teams. Stevens had been the only draft pick from this past spring’s class who had not played this season.

Also elevated was defensive end Cameron Malveaux, who played last week and two quarterback hits in 34 snaps.

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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.