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The long, wild, dreadful and wildly hilarious NFC East season will come to an end in Week 17 with a division matchup as the 4-10-1 Philadelphia Eagles take on the 6-9 Washington Football Team.
The Eagles switched starting quarterbacks to roll with rookie signal-caller Jalen Hurts a few weeks ago. That move hasn’t resulted in a whole lot of success, but the games have been much closer, so that’s a bit of progress. The Philly defense is giving up close to 400 yards and over 28 points per game, so it’s not all on the offense. The last time these two teams played was all the way back in week 1 where the Football Team came away with a 10 point win after a massive Eagles collapse.
The Football Team has had a bit of a revolving door at quarterback this season, but they’re still in a position to win the division this week. Dwayne Haskins started the season under center, then it went to Kyle Allen, then Alex Smith, then back to Haskins and then even Taylor Heinicke got some reps in last week’s game. Smith was out with an injury last week in the team’s loss to the Carolina Panthers and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready to go in the regular-season finale this weekend. In seven games of action, Smith has completed 66% of his passes for nearly 1,500 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions, so it hasn’t been that great even with the best option available.
TV Info
Date: Sunday, Jan. 3
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC
National broadcast
Notable Statistical rankings (Football Outsiders)
Washington: 16th overall — 30th offense, 2nd defense, 16th special teams
Eagles: 28th overall — 29th offense, 17th defense, 23rd special teams
DraftKings Sportsbook odds
Washington: WFT -4, -195
Eagles: PHI +4, +170
Total: 44
Fantasy football start/sit advice
Washington
Antonio Gibson, RB $9,000
With massive questions under center, even when everybody is healthy, you should probably go with a running back off this roster. Gibson has been fantastic this season, with 11 touchdowns in just 13 games played and is averaging close to 5 yards per carry. Philly’s run defense is giving up close to 130 yards on the ground each week, so Gibson should find holes in the D when given his chances.
Eagles
Jalen Hurts, QB $11,400
Hurts could have a good game against a Washington pass defense that can be suspect. The Football Team has a great pass rush, but Hurts is elusive. If he can manage to stay upright, he should be able to find open receivers on the back end.