PHILADELPHIA — Go ahead, be cautious ... but it doesn’t really suit you, does it?
When your co-workers start shopping for Cyber Monday Super Bowl packages, tell them that you won’t be a party to any possible jinx. Walk around your house and office, repeating to yourself, “On any given Sunday … on any given Sunday …”
Then lock yourself in your bedroom where no one can see you, study the Eagles’ remaining schedule and laugh into your pillow so no one can hear, because there’s only one team on that list playing postseason-level football right now.
And you know who we mean.
After Sunday night’s 40-33 “Run, Jalen, run!” victory over the Green Bay Packers, there are six games left in this Winter Wonderland season, and most of the ham-and-eggers standing between the Eagles (10-1) and a No. 1 seed might not put up much of a fight. (Here we provide the usual caveat to everything that follows: if Hurts stays healthy.)
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Here’s a look at who’s left:
Titans (7-4): They’ll come to Philly on Sunday with a lot of self-doubt because their toughness — and running game — is in question after a 20-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Here’s a headline from the Tennessee media: “Bengals weren’t just better than the Titans. They were tougher.” Titans coach Mike Vrabel is already looking for thumb tacks.
Titans running back Derrick Henry was held to 38 yards on 17 carries. After five consecutive 100-yards-plus games, Henry has been held to double digits and one TD over the past three games while averaging 2.8 yards per carry. “
“Oh, Henry!” has become “No Henry.”
Is the tread worn on his tires? Is a patchwork Titans offensive line partly to blame? Even when Henry broke free on a 69-yard screen pass on Sunday, he fumbled — but the Titans recovered for their lone TD.
That said, the Eagles must stiffen the run defense and run-game tackling, which are still too soft.
And there’s another problem looming for the Titans: Offensive coordinator Todd Downing was arrested Nov. 18 for speeding and driving under the influence, and the Titans are waiting for the NFL to hand down his discipline. Downing called plays in the loss to the Bengals, but will the league step in and suspend him for Sunday’s game against the Eagles?
Giants (7-4): The NFL’s early-season miracle makers are beginning to unravel, and the Eagles will face them twice in the final five weeks — a holiday gift from the NFL schedule-maker who could’ve scheduled these games earlier, when the Giants were healthier and playing better.
On Sunday, the Giants and the Commanders will beat each other up in a crucial NFC East survival game between two desperate teams seemingly headed in opposite directions. After a Week 7 victory over the Jaguars, the Giants were 6-1, Brian Daboll was a Coach of the Year lock and the Commanders were 3-4. Fast forward to today: The Giants are 7-4, and the Commanders — after dumping Carson Wentz on injured reserve — are 7-5.
Unless Daboll can find a way to slam on the brakes and patch the holes at offensive line and in the secondary, and get his team believing in itself again, the Giants’ season could get ugly.
Defenses have discovered how to suffocate Saquon Barkley. In losses to the Lions and Cowboys, the Giants rushed for 89 and 90 yards, respectively, and Barkley was held to a total of 61 yards in the two defeats.
By the time the Giants and Eagles meet, the Giants might be like Odell Beckham Jr. — unresponsive.
“They don’t get any easier,” Daboll said. “Each week is tough, and we’ll stick with our practice, our preparation, all the things we need to do to try to go ahead and give us an opportunity to win a game. But, again, it’s the ebbs and flows of a season.”
And right now, the Giants are ebbing.
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Bears (3-9): The Jets thumped them Sunday in a battle of backup quarterbacks — Mike White vs. Trevor Siemien. Bears starter Justin Fields, who is nursing a non-throwing shoulder injury, is day to day, but he’ll be back by the time the Eagles travel to Chicago on Dec. 18.
There is no reason the Eagles, 5-0 on the road, can’t beat a rebuilding team that dumped two defensive stars at the trade deadline (one of them to the Eagles). By then, the Bears likely will be playing out the string, and if not, they still shouldn’t be a match.
Cowboys (8-3): This is the toughest game on the schedule, and with the Colts, Texans and Jaguars on the Cowboys’ to-do list between now and then, the game could have significant meaning if the Eagles stumble.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is 4-1 since returning from a five-game absence with a broken thumb on his throwing hand, and he might have Beckham on the roster by the Christmas Eve game in Arlington, Texas.
Said NBC analyst Jason Garrett: “Don’t think [the Eagles] don’t know how well the Cowboys are playing. The Cowboys are coming fast and playing as well as anybody.”
Saints (4-8): It’s Mardi Blahs in New Orleans, with scaring-nobody Andy Dalton at quarterback and once-lethal running back Alvin Kamara dribbling the ball like Curly Neal (Google it, kids). The Saints suffered their first shutout loss in 21 years on Sunday, 13-0 to the 49ers. Kamara fumbled the ball away on the game’s fourth play, then coughed it up as he tried to fight his way into the end zone in the fourth quarter.
The Saints are a bad team and they’re not likely to be better when they come to Philly on New Year’s Day.
“As crazy as it is to say when you don’t score a point, there’s a lot of positive things that we did today,” quarterback Andy Dalton said on Sunday. “But we weren’t able to finish, and we left a lot of plays out there. That’s the frustrating thing. This game could have been a lot different if we capitalized on those opportunities, but we didn’t.”
Bad teams usually don’t.
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