Eagles news: NFL playoff schedule; Cowboys lose head coach; NBC start time shenanigans; Packers player complains after loss

Nick Sirianni has been in this position before, waiting to find out who the Eagles will play in the divisional round of the playoffs.

In January 2023, the top-seeded Eagles would take on the victor of the Minnesota Vikings-New York Giants wild-card game. Ultimately, the Eagles faced the Giants in the divisional round on their path to Super Bowl LVII.

That experience of getting ready for an unknown opponent is informing Sirianni’s approach to his divisional-round preparation on Monday before the wild-card contest between the Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams, as the victor will travel to Philadelphia for the next round on Sunday at 3 p.m. Like the Eagles did in the past, Sirianni said he and his staff will study both teams throughout the day. They will pay attention to the game and its score as they prepare, letting whoever is in the lead influence their focus allocated to either team.

With Nakobe Dean confirmed to be out for the season, that means it's Oren Burks' turn to step up — something he did in a big way Sunday before Dean even left the game. On the opening kickoff, Burks was the player to knock the ball loose and force the fumble that ultimately led to an Eagles touchdown.

He's been playing on special teams all season, and has filled in for Dean already this season, making two starts. The seventh-year linebacker has 17 career starts, and Sunday won't be hist first start in the playoffs — just last year he started for the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Nick Sirianni thinks he'll be ready for whoever the Eagles face on Sunday.

The Eagles set the tone early in their 22-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers during the opening kickoff.

The Birds recovered a fumble from Packers returner Keisean Nixon, which led to a Jahan Dotson touchdown just three plays later to give the Eagles an early lead.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Nixon said officials made two mistakes on the play. Not only does Nixon believe he recovered the ball, but he believes there should have been a penalty on the Eagles as well.

As soon as news broke that Mike McCarthy was divorcing Jerry Jones, the NFL information network started buzzing. The most buzz surrounded Jones courting Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to replace McCarthy.

Moore, 36, was a backup quarterback in Dallas from 2015-17, served as QB coach in 2018, then became offensive coordinator from 2019-22. He was Jones’ Golden Boy, but he wasn’t McCarthy’s. McCarthy inherited Moore when Jones hired McCarthy as head coach in 2020, then McCarthy scapegoated Moore after the 2022 season, firing Moore and saying Moore’s desire “to light the scoreboard up” hurt the Cowboys’ efforts.

Moore landed as OC with the Chargers last year, was swept out with overmatched Brandon Staley’s staff after 2023, and the Eagles couldn’t get their hands on him quickly enough.

Shawn Smith will be the lead official for the Birds’ divisional-round game against the winner of Monday’s Vikings-Rams game.

Eagles fans might remember Smith from his turn officiating the loss to the Commanders in Week 16, which saw C.J. Gardner-Johnson get controversially ejected after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Postgame, Smith said “He’s basically taunting the opponent on the second foul. He already had a first one earlier in the game that we had announced as his first towards disqualification. So, this became his second. He was taunting the players so that’s a disqualification by rule.”

The Cowboys are parting ways with head coach Mike McCarthy after contract negotiations stalled.

NFL Network reported that the two sides could not come to terms on an agreement on the length of a new contract. McCarthy had completed his contract with the Cowboys, ending his five-year tenure with a 49-35 record, making the playoffs four times, but winning just one playoff game.

Dallas finished 7-10 in 2024 after losing quarterback Dak Prescott to a season-ending injury, and failed to make the playoffs.

As the Eagles move on to the divisional round, Nakobe Dean is out for the rest of the postseason.

The 24-year-old inside linebacker tore his patellar tendon in his knee in the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, a league source confirmed to The Inquirer. The NFL Network first reported the news. Not only will the injury knock him out for the remaining playoff run, but also his recovery could reportedly linger into the beginning of the 2025 season.

Dean went down late in the second quarter after tackling Packers tight end Tucker Kraft on a screen pass. He was helped off the field with the assistance of trainers and required a cart to take him indoors after a visit to the medical tent. Dean was spotted after the game using a crutch and wearing a brace on his left leg.

Tickets for the Eagles divisional-round playoff game at the Linc will go on sale 10 a.m. Tuesday, the team announced Monday morning.

The Eagles' opponent will be the winner of tonight's wild-card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.

The tickets will only be available online via Ticketmaster, and there is a four-ticket limit per household. The Eagles said all tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Eagles are through to the divisional round – but they’ll have to wait for the result of Monday night’s game to know who their next opponent will be.

The NFL re-seeds its contenders after the wild-card round. Thanks to the Commanders’ win over the Bucs in Tampa on Sunday, Washington is locked in to play Detroit, who had a bye in the wild-card, as the six seed. Monday’s game is the No. 4 Rams vs. the No. 5 Vikings, and the winner goes on the road to face the Eagles.

The Vikings and Rams play tonight on ABC and ESPN in Arizona, due to ongoing wildfires in Southern California.

The author of Inner Excellence was home in Snohomish, Wash., watching football Sunday night. But while the rest of the football-watching world was tuned into the Eagles-Packers NFC playoff game, Jim Murphy was watching a replay of Notre Dame’s win over Penn State from Thursday night. He heard it was a good game and knew the result, but he wanted to watch it for himself.

Then the text messages started streaming in. “This is crazy,” Murphy said. “This is amazing.”

A.J. Brown was caught on camera reading the book that helped launch Murphy’s second career after an injury ended the baseball-playing portion of his life. Inner Excellence teaches athletes to, among other things, live and perform with “a clear mind and unburdened heart,” Murphy said. It’s a mental skills book that comes highly recommended from some PGA Tour professionals who have both read it and worked with Murphy, who is now a performance coach.

Following the Washington Commanders wild-card win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday night, NBC’s Mike Tirico had Eagles fans scratching their heads over the schedule for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. 

Both Tirico and the graphic aired on NBC showed the game beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern, along with the three other games taking place place next weekend. But kickoff for the Eagles’ divisional round game is actually scheduled for 3 p.m. 

So did Tirico get it wrong? No, NBC is just the latest network to pull a time-honored fast one on viewers in an attempt to get them to watch their pregame coverage, in this case Football Night in America. 

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Eagles held on to beat the Green Bay Packers, 22-10. Jalen Hurts completed just 13 of 21 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns in his return to action. The defense led the way, picking off Jordan Love three times.

Here's our stock watch from the Eagles' wild-card victory on Sunday:

Up: Oren Burks