Eagles clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed and a first-round bye with an ugly win over the Giants

For the Eagles, the third time was the charm.

After failing in consecutive weeks to wrap up the conference and division titles within reach, the Eagles claimed each with a 22-16 win over the New York Giants to finish the regular season 14-3 as the No. 1 seed in the conference, and NFC East champions for the first time since 2019.

In doing so, the Eagles secured a bye for next weekend’s wild-card round and will host the lowest seed to advance in the divisional round the following week.

The victory against a playoff-bound Giants team resting a handful of key starters breaks a two-game skid just in time for the games to start meaning significantly more.

Here’s our instant analysis of the Eagles’ 14th win:

The Eagles’ win caps off a regular season in which they exceeded most reasonable expectations and sets up a favorable path through the NFC playoffs.

The Eagles’ win pushed the No. 1 seed out of the San Francisco 49ers’ reach and ensured that any potential matchup against the NFC West juggernaut would go through Lincoln Financial Field. The Dallas Cowboys entered the day in contention for the conference and division crowns as well, but a loss to the Washington Commanders made it a moot point.

It wasn’t pristine, especially considering how many Giants starters watched the game from the sideline, but the Eagles will now go into the playoffs on a winning note and an advantageous position.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts notably chose to wear his pregame attire with a T-shirt themed after Michael Jordan’s famous “I’m back” announcement, referring to his injury absence that stalled the clinching.

“We just accomplished a great goal of ours,” he said. “It’s something that we set out to. We set out to do that, and it’s something that we did. My whole thing moving forward is, let’s prepare to play our best ball. It’s been a great ride this year, but the job isn’t finished.”

“You won’t see me smile until the job is finished,” Hurts added. “The job is not done.”

After missing the last two games with a sprained right shoulder, Hurts returned in time to right the ship.

Although it wasn’t as dominant a performance as we’ve seen from the 24-year-old quarterback most of this season, he did enough to ensure the Eagles finished the regular season on the right note.

Hurts finished 20-for-35 for 229 yards. His quick decision-making on run-pass options and some timely throws to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were enough to give the Eagles a double-digit lead in short order and allowed the team to sleepwalk through the second half relatively unscathed.

On the Eagles’ second drive, Hurts hit Brown on a back-shoulder throw for a 37-yard gain to set up a field goal. He finished the first half 12-for-18 for 140 yards.

Much to the Eagles’ delight, Hurts was generally careful in the first half. He slid short of the sticks on a second-and-1 on the team’s second series instead of fighting for extra yards. He didn’t take many hits in the pocket until late in the second quarter, scrambled less than usual, and avoided hits the times he did scramble.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said that Hurts’ throwing shoulder was “hurting bad” during the game. Hurts also conceded after the game there was an effort from both the coaching staff and himself to “protect” himself from aggravating the injury.

“I was just playing the game and protecting myself,” Hurts said. “If that’s what y’all want to hear, [I was] protecting myself. ... [The coaches] were protecting me, too.”

Whether it was rust or some lingering issue with the injury, Hurts wasn’t as sharp as he had been before he missed two games. His throwing motion seemed mostly unaffected, but his decision-making was shaky at times and a few of his passes were errant. He had an uncharacteristic red-zone interception to open the third quarter and a couple of misplaced throws as well.

After the game, Hurts said he had to “battle within myself” in order to play.

“I wanted to be available for my team,” he said. “It’s really tough being out, let alone taking some losses when you’re out. I wanted to be available for my team. I really feel like, if you want something, you have to do what you got to do to go get it, and today we did just enough to go get that.”

Hurts avoided reinjury and knocked off some cobwebs in the final regular-season game. Now the Eagles will need him to find his footing in the postseason.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson returned just in time to get used to his new role in the Eagles defense.

The converted safety played in his first game since suffering a lacerated kidney in November and saw a noticeable uptick in snaps out of the slot. Gardner-Johnson snuffed out a route concept on the Giants’ opening series and made a tackle for loss against the run the next drive.

Gardner-Johnson, who played slot corner for the New Orleans Saints in the first three years of his career, was at his usual post safety spot in the Eagles’ base defense and dropped down into the slot when the Eagles were in sub packages. When Gardner-Johnson was in the slot, backup safety Reed Blankenship filled in his spot on the back end.

With starting nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox indefinitely sidelined with a toe injury, Gardner-Johnson could continue seeing meaningful playing time out of the slot, especially against offenses like San Francisco’s or Dallas’, each of which have impact players at slot receiver.

The Giants offense was led by some unfamiliar faces Sunday night.

With running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones both given the night off, practice-squad QB Davis Webb led the group to a mostly listless performance.

To Webb’s credit, he evaded the Eagles’ defensive front enough times to keep the NFL single-season sack record belonging to the 1984 Chicago Bears (72). He gave the Giants new life with a few splash plays in the second half, too. He finished 23-for-40 for 168 yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing score.

Webb plowed through Blankenship for a 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and found receiver Kenny Golladay in the back of the end zone to pull the Giants within one score with less than two minutes remaining.

Webb didn’t deliver the Giants a win, but his evasive maneuvers were enough to keep the Eagles from breaking the NFL sack record. The Eagles came in five shy of the vaunted Chicago team and got two sacks off snuffed-out trick plays, but the defensive front didn’t get to Webb.

“They kind of had in their mind, ‘Whatever they do today, we’re not going to let them,’” Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick said of the Giants preventing the sack record. “The ball was coming out unbelievably fast at times. They just had it in their minds.”

Brown and Smith bolstered their case as the best wide-receiver duo in Eagles history Sunday, each setting a single-season franchise record in the 17th game.

Brown’s came on the Eagles’ first offensive play of the game when he took a slant route 35 yards to pass Mike Quick’s franchise record for most receiving yards. Quick had 1,409 in a 16-game season in 1983; Brown finished with four catches for 95 yards on the night and 88 catches for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season.

“It means a lot to leave my footprint on this organization,” Brown said. “There were a lot of great receivers before me. For me to do it the first year, it means the world. I told Mike thank you for everything he has done for the game. It is truly an honor. He has been up there for 30 years and that says a lot. It means a lot.”

For Smith, it was a 9-yard reception on the Eagles’ second drive that gave him 89 receptions, passing Irving Fryar’s total in 1996 for the most by a wide receiver in franchise history. Smith finished with seven catches for 67 yards, making his season totals as follows: 95 catches for 1,196 yards and seven touchdowns.