Eagles React to Epic Jaguars Comeback, NFL Playoff Scenarios Revealed

Doug Pederson, Nick Sirianni

Getty Nick Sirianni and Doug Pederson could match wits again in a potential Eagles vs. Jaguars Super Bowl match-up.

The Philadelphia Eagles are still waiting to see who their opponent for next week’s NFC Divisional Round playoff matchup will be. As the conference’s top seed, they were able to sit at home and rest their bodies while the rest of the postseason teams duked it out on Saturday. It’s good to be the kings.

The Eagles were probably cheering for the Seattle Seahawks to pull off the upset and topple the San Francisco 49ers in the first game of the day. Unfortunately, the 49ers rode a dominant second half to a 41-23 victory that saw Brock Purdy throw for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus another score on the ground. Purdy became the first rookie quarterback to account for 4 touchdowns in a playoff game.

He also became the youngest player to throw for at least 300 yards and 3 touchdowns in postseason history. San Francisco has a ton of momentum heading into the next round. Luckily, Philadelphia doesn’t have to worry about them just yet.

Their opponent for next week’s NFC Divisional Round will either be the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here’s the breakdown: if the Giants take down the favored Minnesota Vikings, then it’s Eagles vs. Giants on Saturday, January 21 at Lincoln Financial Field. Time TBD. That Vikings-Giants game is slated for Sunday afternoon in Minnesota at 4:30 p.m.

If the Vikings beat the Giants, then the Eagles will play the winner of Cowboys vs. Buccaneers which is scheduled for Monday night in Tampa Bay at 8:15 p.m. In that scenario: Eagles vs. Cowboys or Eagles vs. Buccaneers would be played at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, January 22. Time TBD.


Doug Pederson Leads Historic Jaguars over Chargers

It sure was nice to see Doug Pederson back in the winner’s circle, right? The Super Bowl-winning head coach was all smiles following an improbable 31-30 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night. His team was down 27-0 in the second quarter, then they stormed back to complete the third-largest comeback in postseason history.

There was no panic or alarm, not even after Jaguars starter Trevor Lawrence tossed 4 first-half interceptions, with 3 of them going to the same player in Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. Lawrence bounced back by tossing 4 second-half touchdowns en route to 288 passing yards. History was made.

Eagles players were watching from their coaches and commenting when appropriate. All-Pro center Jason Kelce credited Pederson for holding the troops together through that rocky first half. He was incredibly happy for the only coach to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Philly.

Meanwhile, Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay was giving flowers to both the Chargers and Jaguars throughout the game. He sent his congratulations out to Pederson in one happy tweet, while recognizing Samuel’s 3-intercecption performance in another one.

Pederson moved to 5-2 all-time in the postseason, with an unforgettable Super Bowl championship mixed in there. He salted Saturday night’s game away with one of the gutsiest play-calls ever made. The Jaguars went for it on 4th-and-1 from the 40-yard line, passing up a long field-goal attempt and running a full-house sweep for Travis Etienne. It was almost as gutsy as his iconic Philly Special call during Super Bowl LII. Almost, okay.


Eagles Work on Situational Football, Self-Scouting

The Eagles did report to the NovaCare Complex this week for practices on Thursday and Friday where they worked mostly on situational football. Head coach Nick Sirianni did make his guys strap on the pads and get to work. With no opponent determined, he was stressing fundamentals and individual drills on things they saw during their self-scouting process.

“We’re going to rep that this week, some of the situational football, some of the situations that happen within the situations of those, work on some things that we’ve studied,” Sirianni told reporters. “Again, you have more time to do that now. Maybe different types of end-of-game plays, get-in-position plays, different types of backed-up plays, all those different things that have been on our radar, that we’ve been working on, but now you can get some full-speed reps of that.”

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