Eagles vs. Raiders: Predictions, injuries, playoff picture, weather forecast, and what everyone is talking about

The Eagles are looking to snap a three-game losing skid on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. After the disaster at SoFi Stadium against the Chargers, the Birds are desperate to get back in the win column against a 2-11 Raiders squad without its starting quarterback.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Sunday’s game …

The game will kick off on Fox at 1 p.m. from the Linc. Joe Davis and Greg Olsen will call the game from the booth, with Pam Oliver on the sideline.

If you’d rather listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick call the game, the radio broadcast can be found on 94.1 WIP, and if you’re not heading to the Linc, but want to watch the game with your fellow Birds fans, here are a few spots to check out.

The National Weather Service is calling for 2-4 inches of snow in the Philadelphia region on Sunday, but it is expected to move out of the area well before the Eagles game kicks off in South Philly. Temperatures are not expected to climb above 30, and the wind chill will likely be in the teens thanks to 15-25 mph winds.

» READ MORE: 2 to 4 inches of snow expected this weekend in the Philly region

The big injuries for the Eagles are again along the offensive and defensive lines. The Birds will be without right tackle Lane Johnson, who will miss his third game with a Lisfranc injury. The team is 0-3 in his absence. The Eagles will also be without defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who will miss his second straight game after undergoing a procedure on his shoulders.

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Questionable

» READ MORE: With Lane Johnson out, Eagles tackle Fred Johnson has a big challenge with Raiders’ Maxx Crosby

The Raiders will be without quarterback Geno Smith, paving the way for backup Kenny Pickett to make his first start since Week 17 of last season, when he was a member of the Eagles.

Out

Questionable

The Eagles are favored by 11.5 points at FanDuel and 12.5 at DraftKings as of Friday afternoon, with a projected total of 38.5 points at both sportsbooks. For more information on prop bets, check out our betting roundup.

With four games remaining in the regular season, the 8-5 Eagles hold a two-game lead over the rest of the NFC East and hold the third seed in the NFC. Elsewhere in the division, the 2-11 Giants and 3-10 Commanders are both eliminated from playoff contention. The Cowboys, at 6-7-1, are the only remaining NFC East team in the hunt, but even with an Eagles win and a Dallas loss, the Birds cannot clinch a playoff berth this week.

NFC East standings

Meanwhile, in the race for the top seed in the NFC — and the lone first-round bye — the Eagles have some work to do. They’re two games behind the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams, and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to their Week 3 win.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley has been dominant in December and January during his career. Can he heat up the Eagles offense?

However, even if the Rams falter, the Eagles are also two games behind the Seattle Seahawks, who are in second in the NFC West and the top wild-card team. The San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Bears are also each one game ahead of the Eagles in the win column. The Eagles only hold the tiebreaker over the Packers.

NFC standings

How will Jalen Hurts bounce back from a career-worst performance in L.A.? He plans to stay the course.

“I take the approach I’ve taken for a while, and it’s seemed to work,” Hurts said Wednesday. “I think right now it’s just a matter of being more detailed, more focused.

“When you put forth the work, put forth the effort, good things happen when you need them to happen. That’s my mentality. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am today.”

Outside the Eagles facility, however, a debate over whether the team should bench Hurts has dominated airwaves, locally and nationally. According to Jeff McLane, it’s a question that has some merit after Hurts’ third straight loss. Others — like Nick Sirianni, who called the idea “ridiculous” earlier this week — aren’t as convinced.

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni: Sitting Jalen Hurts ‘ridiculous’? Hardly. Bench him if he struggles Sunday. | Marcus Hayes

Here are more story lines to watch out for this weekend …

8-1: Pete Carroll’s all-time record against the Eagles as a head coach. Carroll has beaten the Eagles five times at Lincoln Financial Field and went undefeated against the Birds as head coach of the Seahawks. The Birds’ only win over Carroll came in 1998, when he coached the Patriots.

» READ MORE: Eagles vs. Raiders predictions: Our writers pick a winner for Week 15

Here’s how our beat writers are predicting Sunday’s game …

Jeff McLane: “This is as close to an ideal get-back opportunity that Hurts and the offense could have at this stage of the season. Las Vegas has a decent defense and I suspect all the problems on that side of the ball won’t be solved. But you can’t lose if the other team doesn’t score points, and an Eagles’ shutout is in play. Really.” | Prediction: Eagles 24, Raiders 9

Jeff Neiburg: “I think the Eagles did enough positive things offensively Monday to convince me they won’t have trouble moving the ball Sunday. They just need to avoid turnovers. Easier said then done, of course.“ | Prediction: Eagles 27, Raiders 11

Olivia Reiner: “This is a game the Eagles should win, even in the offense’s current state of disarray. But don’t expect it to be a blowout. It’s going to be cold and windy at the Linc (remember how the Eagles fared in those conditions against the Bears?), so it seems unlikely that this game is going to be high-scoring if the weather gets ugly. Perhaps that works to the Eagles’ advantage, seeing as they’ve been practicing in an icebox all week and the Raiders are living it up in temperate Las Vegas." | Prediction: Eagles 20, Raiders 13

» READ MORE: Jeff McLane’s keys to Eagles vs. Raiders in Week 15: What you need to know and a prediction

Here’s how the national media is leaning in predicting the Eagles-Raiders game …

Here’s a look at the latest from our columnists, starting with David Murphy, who thinks talk of benching Hurts is short-sighted, but not as crazy as it sounds.

David Murphy: “You know what’s really, truly, magnificently ridiculous to think? That any quarterback could play as poorly as Hurts has played in back-to-back losses to the Bears and the Chargers without prompting some level of discussion about whether or not he should continue to start. As good as Hurts has played in his two Super Bowl appearances, that’s how bad he has played over the last couple of weeks.” Read more.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts hits his low point, which begs the question: Should he be benched for Tanner McKee?

Marcus Hayes: “[A.J. Brown] was getting fewer and fewer looks. The ball just wasn’t finding him. He wanted the ball more. Hell, I wanted him to get the ball more. After all, with due respect to the golden oldies and one year of Terrell Owens, the Eagles have never had a receiver quite like him. But getting it to him has spelled disaster.” Read more.

Mike Sielski: "The Eagles are an excellent defensive team, and that is all, and that is not enough, not even close. Not with an offense like this. Not with this team’s tendency to commit untimely and inexcusable penalties. Not with so many questions that don’t get answered and so many problems that don’t get solved." Read more.

Pickett, who is plenty familiar with the Eagles as a player and a fan, is looking forward to starting against his former team Sunday — and has a bit of an idea what to expect.

“They’ll be ready to go,” Pickett said. “They have a hell of a team, there’s not a ton of new faces on that team, there’s a lot of really good players, I know the coaching staff, and how prepared they’re going to be for the game, so it’s a great opportunity.”

Here’s more from Pickett ahead of Sunday’s game ...

On what he took away from his Eagles experience: “Seeing what it looks like to be world champions, the dedication, the commitment from every position group, it was really player-led — that was a really cool thing. I think we had a great veteran leadership and a lot of those guys are still there.”

On the potential snowy weather: “I’m a Northeast guy, so this is new to me, going out and practicing in December and it’s 60 degrees every day. It’s unbelievable here, but I’m more used to when it hits November, December for it to be more like what it’ll be on game day, so I’m pretty familiar with it.”

» READ MORE: Kenny Pickett’s ‘great opportunity’ and what else the Raiders are saying before Sunday’s game vs. Eagles

Nationally, this week’s main character was Hurts, who took the mantle from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Things didn’t get off to a good start for the Eagles quarterback, with many, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, placing blame for their latest loss squarely on Hurts’ shoulders.

“You can’t make that throw,” Smith said of Hurts’ game-sealing interception in overtime. “You’re in field-goal range, in a position to tie. You know how much is on the line.”

Others were even less kind.

“Do your job,” former Eagle Emmanuel Acho said on his Speakeasy podcast. “... He’s been average all season, and he was atrocious today. He was the reason they lost today.”

However, by the end of the week, Smith found himself on the other side of the debate, explaining why Hurts would continue starting to those calling for him to be benched.

“Jalen Hurts ain’t going to be benched,” Smith said Thursday on First Take. “The backup quarterback’s name is Tanner McKee, right? We all know Tanner McKee ain’t playing. We just know this, OK? Down the line, in the future, sure, but this year, Tanner McKee is not going to replace the reigning defending Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP.”

» READ MORE: Is ‘atrocious’ Jalen Hurts to blame? Is more Saquon Barkley the answer for Eagles? Here’s what they’re saying.

Here’s what else the national media had to say about Hurts this week …

Dan Orlovsky: “I was probably the most critical person of Jalen Hurts early in his career. He … was the MVP of the Super Bowl. And 10 months later — 10 months later from doing that — we’re going, ‘Do you think we should bench the quarterback?’ … Do you know how stupid of a question that is?”

Colin Cowherd: “The truth is, the more Jalen Hurts throws, the worse Philadelphia is. Those are the facts.”

LeSean McCoy: “Did he play bad? Yes. Did he play horrible? Hell yeah, but he ain’t no four-pick-type quarterback. He had a bad game. A lot of quarterbacks have that.”

» READ MORE: Debate over benching Jalen Hurts is ‘the dumbest conversation of the NFL season.’ Here’s what else they’re saying.

🎧 Jeff McLane and David Murphy look at the Eagles’ struggles and the level to which Hurts is at fault.

📉 The Eagles took quite a dip in this week’s national power rankings.

📊 Here are the numbers that matter for Sunday’s game.

💡 What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles heading into Week 15 vs. the Raiders.

📺 A.J. Brown is ‘fine,’ Zach Ertz is in tears, Eagles players relive Nick Sirianni’s glory days, and more ‘Hard Knocks’ highlights.

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While cute and novel, the Positivity Bunny proved nothing short of an unceremonious bust. As soon as they could following a brutal overtime loss to the Chargers, the Eagles gave the preposterous 10-foot locker room inflatable the boot. It was not the good-luck charm they hoped for, and served as a reminder that, instead of wishing its woes away, this team will actually have to put in real work to turn the season around.

With a potential soft spot in the schedule emerging this Sunday vs. the Raiders, there might not be any better time than the present for the Eagles to breathe some life back into themselves. The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane touches base with a few trusted veterans, who share their perspective on the state of the club and the direction they think it’s headed. Listen here.

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