All that stood between the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFC East title was a win Sunday in their home matchup against the below-.500 New Orleans Saints.
Beat New Orleans, and the Eagles would have clinched the NFC’s top seed. A bye to start the playoffs would have been theirs.
But an offense without injured Pro Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts (shoulder) and right tackle Lane Johnson (abdominal tear) instead combusted spectacularly. A defense that lost 11-sack lineman Josh Sweat early in the first quarter to a scary neck injury allowed Saints quarterbacks to complete their first 15 passes before finding a second-half rhythm that was sounder but not sound enough to lift up their lagging offense.