Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni knew the risk of resting Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and most of Philadelphia’s starters in Sunday’s regular-season finale. The result? A costly loss that dropped the Eagles to the No. 3 seed in the NFC.
With the Eagles’ backups unable to hold the lead, Washington’s third-string quarterback Josh Johnson rallied the Commanders with a late 2-yard touchdown pass to John Bates and a 1-yard rushing score, handing Philadelphia a 24–17 defeat.
The NFC East champions (11–6) will open the playoffs at home next weekend against San Francisco. While the final verdict on resting starters won’t be clear until the postseason ends, the strategy essentially gave Philadelphia’s core players a mini-bye week before their title defense begins.
Backup quarterback Tanner McKee struggled in relief of Hurts, completing 21 of 40 passes for 241 yards with an interception and being sacked on the final drive. Backup running back Tank Bigsby and wide receiver Grant Calcaterra helped build a 17–10 lead, but a costly pass interference penalty on rookie corner Kelee Ringo set up Johnson’s go-ahead score.
Despite the loss, DeVonta Smith reached 1,000 receiving yards for the third time in his career, finishing the game with 1,008 yards before being pulled out for safety. A.J. Brown had already surpassed 1,000 yards this season.
The Eagles’ defense and offense will now regroup for the playoffs, where their path back to the Super Bowl could include two road games, starting with the 49ers in the wild-card round as a 3½-point favorite.
Washington finishes the season 5–12 and landed the No. 7 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
