Barkley and Hurts sit as the Eagles tune up for the playoffs with a 20-13 win over the Giants
Barkley and Hurts sit as the Eagles tune up for the playoffs with a 20-13 win over the Giants
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley traded his No. 26 jersey for a T-shirt that celebrated his 2,000 yards rushing this season and Jalen Hurts remained sidelined with a concussion.
The list of Philadelphia Eagles players who sat out the regular-season finale against the New York Giants read like a Pro Bowl roster. Wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Offensive linemen Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.
The Eagles created their own bye week in the finale with a 14-win season and reaped the reward by resting their starters before they host a wild-card playoff game next week against Green Bay.
“We’ll settle our sights on them,” coach Nick Sirianni said.
Tanner McKee threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a game full of backups to help the Eagles tune up for the postseason with a 20-13 victory over the Giants on Sunday.
The NFC East champion Eagles (14-3) are the No. 2 seed in the conference and will get a rematch with the Packers, whom they beat in Brazil in the season opener.
Barkley scored three touchdowns in the first NFL game in South American to lead the Eagles to a 34-29 victory over Green Bay.
“Of course, we’ll use that,” Sirianni said.
Philadelphia opened as 3 1/2-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
With making a run at the Super Bowl the lone priority, the Eagles rested their core starters.
Barkley lost his shot at breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record. Barkley finished the season with 2,005 yards rushing, 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.
While the move was the prudent one, there was some disappointment in Philly that Barkley didn’t get a chance at breaking the record, especially against the team that let him go at the end of last season.
“Would have broke the record in the first quarter,” former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook wrote on social media.
Any doubt that Sirianni made the right move to play it safe was erased about 750 miles away in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Packers wide receiver Christian Watson was carted into the locker room and quarterback Jordan Love hurt his throwing elbow in a loss to Chicago. Love, whom Coach Matt LaFleur said after the game was held out as a precaution, was expected to play against the Eagles.
Hurts might not have played anyway — he was present at Saturday’s walkthrough — after the franchise QB spent a second straight week in the NFL concussion protocol. He missed the last two games. Kenny Pickett started last week against Dallas but hurt his ribs, opening the door for 2023 sixth-round draft pick McKee to start in a half-empty Lincoln Financial Field.
McKee impressed with a pair of touchdown passes in garbage time last week against Dallas and opened strong against the Giants.
McKee completed all three passes for 48 yards on the first drive and hit Ainias Smith for a 15-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. He threw a 7-yard TD pass to E.J. Jenkins in the fourth for a 17-3 lead.
The game may have been meaningless to the Eagles, but not to McKee. The 24-year-old threw for 190 yards in the first half in what was essentially his first real audition to unseat Pickett next season as the backup quarterback.
“I just feel like I showed have confidence in myself to go out and operate the offense,” McKee said.
With Barkley sitting out, the Eagles rushed for only 51 yards in a game with fairly muted play-calling.
Tight end Dallas Goedert had four catches for 55 yards in his return from a knee injury. Goedert missed the last four games and his return is a needed boost ahead of the postseason.
Hurts likely will return against Green Bay. But with one big hit potentially enough to knock him out of the game and Pickett still banged up, the Eagles feel better knowing what they have a solid, tested NFL quarterback in McKee ready in case of emergency.
“I’m going to do my preparation to play,” McKee said. “I’ll be ready whether I’m the (No.) 1 the 2 the 3 the 6, whatever it is.”
Giant loss
Giants coach Brian Daboll said he would “believe in the people, believe in our process,” but did not say if he has received any guarantee he will return for a fourth season.
Daboll is 18-32-1 with the Giants and missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons.
“Three wins, not good enough. So, a lot of work to be done,” Daboll said.
The Giants saw their bid for the No. 1 draft pick take a serious blow when they upset Indianapolis last week, and it officially ended when Cleveland lost Saturday to Baltimore. Tennessee wound up with the top pick, followed by the Browns.
Both the Browns and Giants are 3-14, but New York’s Week 3 win in Cleveland was the tiebreaker.
Wide receiver Malik Nabers had five catches to finish with 109 overall and top Steve Smith for the season franchise record. Smith had 107 receptions in 2009.
Drew Lock, just 22 of 29 for 138 yards passing, hit Nabers for a 45-yard touchdown in the fourth that cut the deficit to 17-10.
Just for kicks
Jake Elliott kicked field goals of 24 and 32 yards. He missed a 39-yarder on a windy day.
Graham Gano kicked a 25-yard field goal for the Giants in the third quarter and added a 53-yarder in the fourth that made it 17-13.
Up next
The Eagles host Green Bay while the Giants face a decision on Daboll.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
