PHILADELPHIA — Take a look at all the good fortune the Philadelphia Eagles have enjoyed ahead of their postseason opener and it’s no wonder they’re feeling great about a Super Bowl run.
Jalen Hurts is healthy (enough) after the Pro Bowl quarterback missed two games late in the year with a sprained right shoulder. All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson was left off the injury report Thursday for the first time since he suffered a torn adductor late last month. The NFC postseason runs through the Linc. The Eagles went 2-0 this season against the New York Giants, their NFC East rivals who will be visiting on Saturday night. And they are the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
“We know we put ourselves in this position by what we did all season,” Hurts said.
The Eagles enjoyed the spoils of their bye week. Now they are preparing for their NFC divisional-round playoff game against the New York Giants on Saturday night. The Eagles already beat the Giants twice this season. The Eagles have the top seed in the NFC and home field in the playoffs. The Giants are coming off a win at Minnesota in the wild-card round that featured an outstanding performance by quarterback Daniel Jones.
Just a quick refresher on everything the Eagles did: They started 8-0 and 13-1 as Hurts surged into MVP contention. The Eagles finished 7-2 at home and even beat teams that featured key players in their last Super Bowl win, Doug Pederson and Carson Wentz.
After all the hand-wringing in Philly for decades over the Eagles (14-3) never having had won a Super Bowl, optimism runs as high as a Schwarbomb that they can make it two championships in five years.
The last No. 1 seed to win a Super Bowl? Yup, the Eagles in 2018 over the vaunted New England Patriots.
The Giants (10-7-1) have gone from a team that posted five straight losing seasons to one that made the playoffs in coach Brian Daboll’s first year. New York is coming off a 31-24 win over Minnesota in the wild-card round.
For QB Daniel Jones and the Giants, the season is already a resounding success. For the Eagles, a postseason-opening loss in Sirianni’s second year — after a dreadful defeat to Tampa Bay in last year’s playoffs — would make this season a resounding bust.
The Eagles are a healthy 71/2-point favorite, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
