Haason Reddick was the last player left in a stone quiet Eagles locker room late Sunday afternoon, but the deliberate manner in which he dressed himself suggested that his body might pierce the silence by creaking, like a collection of old hinges, as he moved. Pulling on a pair … of black pants … one leg at a time … flinching … as he reached … to slip his left arm into a leather jacket … sliding … his wallet … into … his back pocket.
It was a testament to the physical price that an NFL game extracts from its participants and the soreness that lingers after the clock has run out. And it was a reminder of what the Eagles had cost themselves with their 20-10 loss to the Saints, with their worst performance of what had been, and still might yet be, a special season. They had missed a chance — their second in eight days, this one against a team that had been 6-9 — to clinch first place in the NFC East, a first-round bye in the playoffs, and home-field advantage throughout the conference tournament. They had missed a chance to rest for two full weeks, to recover some from the punishment that a 17-game regular season delivers, and now they had kept alive the possibility that they will have no rest at all.
Lose to the Giants this Sunday, and the Eagles will have accomplished the impossible. They’ll be a 13-win team fading and momentum-free as they enter the postseason, and as slowly as Reddick progressed through his postgame routine, his assessment of the Eagles’ situation was that sharp and quick.
“This is the one,” he said. “In the regular season, this is now the biggest game of the year.”
He was correct, of course, and the most telling indication of where things stand for the Eagles right now is the framing of this final game and the primary source of any optimism that they will recover from their terrible showing Sunday. Yes, Jalen Hurts will likely start — “If he’s ready to go, he’ll play,” coach Nick Sirianni said — but the more promising factor is that the Giants, because they’re locked into the No. 6 seed in the NFC, could have their starters sit out. How confident would you be in the Eagles at the moment if you knew for certain that the Giants would treat that game like one they had to win? Remember: The two opponents that have gotten second looks at the Eagles this season, the Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys, beat them in those second matchups.
“That just goes to show you: This is hard,” said Reddick, who had two sacks Sunday, raising his season total to 16. “It’s hard to beat the same team twice, which is why I said we’re going to need that laser focus and guys to lay on the line next week.”
This has been, by the standards of most NFL seasons and pretty much any Eagles season, a blissful one for this team … until these last two weeks. Hurts sprained his shoulder. Lane Johnson tore a muscle in his abdomen. Avonte Maddox did something to his toe that is so serious and painful that he can’t play. Gardner Minshew went from squirrelly but productive against the Cowboys to squirrelly and ineffective Sunday. Shane Steichen and Sirianni have called plays as if Hurts is still in the lineup, which he very obviously isn’t, or as if Minshew is a similar player to him, which he very obviously is not.
“This team doesn’t flinch,” Minshew said, though he did quite a bit of it himself against the Saints’ defense. He was sacked six times and threw a late interception that Marshon Lattimore returned 12 yards for a touchdown. “We have gone through a lot, and adversity is hitting us now. That is OK. We are ready for it.”
OK, but they have to prove they’re ready. None of these recent difficulties have to continue. None of this has to cause the Eagles to spiral downward. But they were rolling for a long time, and they’re not now. It’s easy to be buttoned-up and confident in Week 4. It’s easy to be loose when you’re 13-1 and one more victory earns you the kinds of benefits that make it so much easier to reach the Super Bowl. It’s harder now, when you’ve stumbled and so much more is on the line.
“We’ve got to watch the tape and really be honest with ourselves,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “Did we put our best foot forward on that play, in that moment? That’s it, man. That’s it. We don’t listen to the outside noise. You guys know that. We don’t bring that outside noise into the building because we know what we’re building. We know what we have. We know what we’ve built, and we know what we’re building to. The sense of accountability is there because that’s what we’ve built our foundation on.
“Losses will always expose the foundation of a team. If a sense of accountability isn’t there from the team as a whole when we watch that film, then [bleep], we’ve just wasted a whole season.”
So go ahead, guys. Here’s the toughest test of your season so far. Here comes the truest measure of what stuff you’re made of. Like Haason Reddick said before he shuffled out of that Lincoln Financial Field locker room, biggest game of the year. Starters or subs, the Giants are coming here next Sunday, and everything that was in your hands eight days ago is still in your hands. Show us. Show everyone that your grip on greatness isn’t loosening. Here’s your chance to answer the question you ought to be asking yourselves: What now?
