The Philadelphia Eagles finished the 2024 season with a 14-3 record after a 20-13 win over the New York Giants in Week 18. Head coach Nick Sirianni decided to rest the majority of his starters as the team prepares to make a Super Bowl run. Notably, running back Saquon Barkley was inactive against his former team, just 101 rushing yards away from breaking Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson’s single-season record.
The Eagles tied their franchise record of 14 wins in a season, set in 2022. They would go on to lose to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs by three points in the Super Bowl. The Eagles will host the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round this upcoming weekend. The two teams faced off in Week 1, with the Eagles earning the 34-29 win. Here are five takeaways from the Eagles regular-season finale win over the Giants:
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott has been a reliable kicker since joining the team in 2017. He became one of the top kickers in the NFL from 2021 through 2023 and was named to the first Pro Bowl of his career in 2021. The former Memphis Tiger missed just eight field goals in those three years, including only two misses a season ago.
The 2024 season hasn’t been kind to Elliott. The 29-year-old has had an uncharacteristically bad year. He went 2-for-3 on field goals in the Week 18 win over the Giants, missing a 39-yarder wide left.
Unfortunately for Eagles fans, Elliott’s miss in Sunday’s season finale win wasn’t an outlier. He finished the 2024 season with eight missed field goals, matching his total misses from 2021 through 2023 combined. Elliott finished with the second-lowest field goal percentage of his eight-year career (77.8%), and he was just 1-for-7 from field goals of 50 or more yards this season.
The Eagles are the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and want to make a run at the Super Bowl. To win games and compete in the playoffs, teams must play as close to mistake-free football as possible. Elliott needs to be at his best and put his struggles in the regular season behind him.
The Eagles selected Tanner McKee with a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Stanford. The organization tends to take on quarterback projects and develop them into starting-caliber players, hoping to get value back from them. McKee has been the latest quarterback in that category over the last two years.
With Jalen Hurts being the franchise quarterback, McKee hasn’t had many opportunities in his first two years in the NFL. The 24-year-old played well in six preseason games across the last two years, but he never got real NFL action.
Hurts left the Week 16 matchup with the Washington Commanders in the first quarter with a concussion. He missed the final two regular-season games as he returns from the injury to be ready for the playoffs. Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett took over for Hurts but has been dealing with an injury of his own. Pickett was knocked out of the Week 17 game against the Dallas Cowboys, meaning McKee had to enter the game.
McKee looked good in his limited time against the Cowboys. He was 3/4 with 54 yards and two touchdowns en route to the 41-7 division-clinching win. With Pickett still dealing with a rib injury and the Eagles playing for nothing in Week 18, McKee was named the starting quarterback against the Giants. The Eagles decided to rest most of their starters, but McKee was still impressive in the first start of his career. He was 27/41 for 269 yards and two touchdowns.
The Eagles look like they have a reliable backup quarterback for the future.
Eagles fans were used to seeing dominant run game performances all season long in 2024. The run game was nonexistent without Barkley and the starting offensive line in Week 18.
The run game combined for 25 carries for 51 yards and no touchdowns in the Week 18 win over the Giants. Rookie running back Will Shipley led the attack with 10 carries for 32 yards. It was expected, but still an unusual feeling after the run game being the Eagles’ offensive identity all season long. Barkley alone averaged 125.3 rushing yards per game in 2024.
The Eagles made a trade to acquire former Commanders’ 2022 first-round pick, Jahan Dotson, ahead of the 2024 season. The Penn State product showed flashes through his first two NFL seasons, recording back-to-back 500-plus-yard seasons and 11 touchdowns. The Eagles hoped to finally find a productive and reliable No. 3 wide receiver behind superstars A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
The Eagles gave up a third-round pick and two seventh-round picks in exchange for Dotson and a fifth-round pick. The 24-year-old has had a disappointing first season in Philadelphia. Through the first 16 games, Dotson caught 12 passes for 122 yards and no touchdowns. Without Brown and Smith in Week 18, he caught seven passes for 94 yards on 11 targets. Dotson showed some flashes of his former self and will look to build on that heading into the playoffs and the 2025 season.
It’s hard to play a penalty-free game in the NFL. It’s even harder to do so, with almost every player on the field being a backup with limited or no playing time throughout the entire season. The Eagles were charged with one penalty in the Week 18 win over the Giants for zero yards. They had no turnovers.
The backups were playing the Giants, but how they earned the win was still impressive. It’s a testament to the team’s depth and how well general manager Howie Roseman constructed it.
The Eagles will host the Packers this Sunday in the Wild Card round. The Eagles got the best of them in Week 1, but the Packers won’t go down without a fight. The NFC will run through Philadelphia unless the Eagles face off with the Detroit Lions further down the road.
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