Eagles-49ers: Lane Johnson out again; Darius Slay tailgates with Birds fans; predictions, injuries, more

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson is not active for Sunday’s wildcard game vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

Johnson was officially listed as questionable following practice on Friday after participating in all three practices this week in a limited fashion.

Johnson suffered a Lisfranc injury in his foot in the Eagles’ Week 11 win over the Detroit Lions. This week was his first week back on the practice field, but he was not yet fully ready to return to game action.

Walking through C Lot, you may find Eagles fans playing cornhole, grilling their favorite meats, or throwing a football around as they prepare for today's game. Or you may see a man wearing a beak on his head as he drags a 49ers helmet on a leash through the parking lot.

That's 64-year-old David Schofield, also known as "Beak." He has been “walking the dog” for 21 years.

“The rescues, we just like to bring them out here in the sun and get them some exercise,” Schofield said of his "helmet dog."

Darius Slay may no longer be part of the Eagles — but that’s not stopping him and his wife Jennifer Slay from supporting his former team.

The former Birds cornerback posed for photos with fans at the 4th and Jawn tailgate ahead of the Eagles' wild-card matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Standing beside his wife, he looked at the crowd of Birds fans and smiled as they yelled out “Big Play Slay” and erupted in Eagles chants.

Although Slay was release last offseason before signing with the Steelers, he still means a lot to the city of Philadelphia after spending five seasons here, capped off by a Super Bowl victory in February. 

Steven Booth, 30, and Brandon Casas, 26, flew in from El Paso, Texas, on Friday night to watch the Eagles compete against the San Francisco 49ers in their wild-card matchup at Lincoln Financial Field.

Booth has been an Eagles fan since 2005, when he was a kid and the Birds played the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. Sunday’s game will be the first game he’s attending at the Linc.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the [Eagles] fan base,” Booth said. “How crazy it gets in there in a playoff environment. And of course a [win].”

On Nov. 10, 1997, Jimmy DeLeon, a municipal court judge, was watching from home when a blowout loss to the 49ers on Monday Night Football became more about what was happening in the stands. There were over 20 fights, a gang of fans broke a man’s ankle, two folks ran onto the Vet turf, and a New Jersey man was arrested after firing a flare across the stadium.

The concrete and steel fortress at Broad and Pattison had long been a haven for rough and rowdy football fans. There was the time the fans stole the headdress from the Washington fan who dressed like a Native American. And the whistling Cowboys fan who was chased out of the 700 Level.

“It was a nightmare,” said Bill Brady, a retired traffic cop who spent game days patrolling the 700 Level. “Fights galore. People passed out in the bathroom. One of the security guys up there used to box in the Blue Horizon. It was nothing but aggravation. You’d have roll call in the police room and go up to the 700 Level. By the end of the day, you were beat up.”

The Rams were a double-digit favorite and still needed last-minute heroics to win on the road against 8-9 Carolina. The Bears advanced past Green Bay after a fourth-quarter comeback that seemed impossible, and will probably be a home underdog once again vs. their divisional round opponent.

Wild-card Saturday was certainly wild, but it underscored a major storyline of this season’s NFL playoffs: It’s wide open.

After what was a pretty whacky regular season — the offense took a step back under a first-year coordinator; A.J. Brown fired off a few cryptic social media posts; Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter were hurt; Brandon Graham came out of retirement — the Eagles are firmly in the mix, and it’s hard to rule them out of making a Super Bowl run.

Eagles fans will hear a familiar voice — and a former foe — calling Sunday’s wild-card game against the San Francisco 49ers. 

Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady, Fox’s No. 1 crew, will be in the booth at the Linc to call all of Sunday’s action. Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will report from the sidelines.

It will be the duo’s seventh Eagles game this season, and while Birds fans have strong opinions about Brady, Burkhardt has unquestionably been a rabbit's foot.

If the No. 3 seed Eagles manage to defeat the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers Sunday, they'll travel to Chicago to take on the No. 2 Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend.

The No. 1 Seattle Seahawks will take on the lowest-remaining seed, the No. 5 Los Angeles Rams, who eked by the No. 4 Carolina Panthers, 34-31, Saturday afternoon. That would leave the Eagles facing the Bears, who defeated the Birds 24-15 earlier this season. If the 49ers win, they would travel to Seattle and the Bears would host the Rams.

The Seahawks have entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed three previous times (2014, 2013, and 2005), and each time have advanced to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Eagles are looking to become the first No. 3 seed in the NFC to make it to the Super Bowl since Washington did it in 1987.

When it comes to our writers, it's a consensus: the Eagles will advance to the divisional round. Here's a look at how they see it playing out:

Jeff McLane: “There’s a push when it comes to the Eagles’ underperforming offense vs. the 49ers’ subpar defense; but I give the edge to a great Eagles defense over a very good, but not great 49ers offense.” | Eagles 23, Niners 17.

Jeff Neiburg: “It hasn’t been an encouraging season from the Eagles’ offense, to put it mildly, but the 49ers are down multiple linebackers and don’t have an abundance of talent in the secondary. If the Eagles don’t beat themselves, which you can’t rule out, they should be able to establish a running game that gets the offense back on track.” | Eagles 24, Niners 20.

The Eagles have listed Lane Johnson, who suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in Week 11, as questionable to play in Sunday’s wild-card game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Johnson, the 35-year-old right tackle, was a limited participant in all three practices this week. He hadn’t practiced since mid-November, as he missed the last seven games of the regular season after his injury against the Detroit Lions.

On Saturday, Fox's Jay Glazer reported that Johnson was dealing with some soreness and swelling in his injured foot and will be a game-time decision. That report that was confirmed by NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport.