Tame celebration for No. 1 seed Eagles knowing the ‘job isn’t done’

When security guards pulled open the set of double doors that lead into the Eagles locker room, loud rap music along with a scent of cigar smoke leaked into the adjacent hallway. Inside, players and coaches were already wrapping up their brief celebration after the Eagles defeated the Giants, 22-16, to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the NFC East title.

The first sight was coach Nick Sirianni, equipped with a victory cigar, embracing quarterback Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders. It took until Week 18, but at last, the Eagles clinched the conference’s top seed.

It marks the team’s first time achieving this feat since they won the franchise’s first and only Super Bowl in the 2017 season. This year, the Eagles quickly emerged as one of the NFL’s top teams. But they stumbled to the finish line, suffering two losses over their final three games. In both defeats, Hurts was sidelined with an injury to his throwing shoulder. Hurts returned for the finale, leading his team to victory despite an overall vanilla showing from the offense.

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

Afterwards, the Eagles attempted to bask in this moment of glory. The overall sentiment gathered from across the clinching locker room, though, fell in line with Hurts’ closing remarks.

“Job isn’t done,” the 24-year-old quarterback said at the conclusion of his postgame press conference.

Moments later, Hurts rejoined Sirianni and quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson for a brief gathering and photo-op in the hallway. Joined by Hurts’ family and friends, all three sported smiles. But it was clear on Sunday night — the Eagles aren’t satisfied with their recent play.

After they became the first team in the NFL to clinch a playoff spot, they forced fans to sweat out the final month. The team also has dealt with an assortment of injuries to key players, but by locking up the No. 1 seed, the Eagles guarantee themselves the NFC’s only bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

“I’m not going to sit here and dwell on it too much,” tight end Dallas Goedert said of the offense’s miscues as the Eagles went 1 of 5 in the red zone versus the Giants. “We want to be a lot better than that. At the end of the day, we got the win, and that’s what we came for. We’re going to prepare like crazy for the next two weeks for whoever it may be. We’re going to get our bodies right with the week off, and we’ll be kicking it on all cylinders when the time comes.”

» READ MORE: The Eagles did what they had to do in beating the Giants. Don’t read anything else into it.

As Goedert spoke, an unlit cigar was tucked behind him on the middle shelf of his stall. The 27-year-old labeled the team’s celebration as mostly tame with the Eagles striving for more.

“It was cool,” he said. “We turned up a little bit in here. But I think everybody is so committed. This isn’t the end goal for us. We’ve got so much more to play for. We’ve got so much more to do. I’m happy we finished it today. Everybody kind of put the shirts and hats on, celebrated, took a picture. But [shoot], we moved on. We’ve got more to play for. We can’t be too excited for this.

“It’s nice to say the NFC has to come to our house. But we have to take advantage of it, and make this a special run.”

Wide receiver A.J. Brown said: “You want me to be honest? I want more. It is cool for the moment. ... [But] there are two more hats [NFC Championship and Super Bowl LVII] out there I am trying to get. My sights are set on that.”

Throughout the week, playoff banners emerged a couple of miles north of the team’s home stadium. The large signs that promoted the team’s “GO BIRDS” slogan in all caps were placed atop light poles affixed across Center City on Market and Broad Streets. The Eagles are hoping that in roughly a month, they’ll be parading down those exact iconic roads. On Sunday morning, it was nearly impossible to walk one block without encountering a fan sporting Eagles gear. For months, the city has buzzed with hope as it cheered on a team that soared past expectations.

Back inside the locker room, players were quick to empty out with a majority of them heading back to the field to take photos with family members and teammates. The phrase “NFC EAST CHAMPS” appeared on the two large video boards and acted as an ideal backdrop with the sun setting in South Philadelphia.

What looms next is a set of home playoff contests. Without knowing their opponent yet, the Eagles are slated to host a divisional-round game on either Jan. 21 or 22. If the Eagles win that game, they’ll advance to the NFC championship game scheduled for Jan. 29. Sirianni often refers to each week throughout the season as rounds in a heavyweight boxing match.

Nearly every player has their sights set on the third and final round: Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 12.

With Sunday’s victory over the Giants, the Eagles set a new franchise record with 14 regular-season wins. But tough sledding seemingly lies ahead for an Eagles team that stumbled into January. The end goal is now reaching 17 total victories.

» READ MORE: 5 thoughts on Jalen Hurts and the top-seeded Eagles after a weird win over the Giants

“You know what I love about this team?” said Brandon Graham, the city’s longest-tenured player. “We won this game, everybody’s happy, but we know we could be so much better. And we know as we climb the mountain top, things get harder. We’ve got two weeks to make sure we clean up.”

“But overall, we’re going to enjoy this one. We had goals to win the division and the No. 1 spot was on the list. That was another goal of ours. We accomplished that, but we could be so much better. ... We’re getting some guys back, so that’s going to be key.”

“I’m just excited for where we could go if we just keep on taking it one day at a time, one play at a time.”