Eagles Quit; NFL Playoffs About To Get Wild

The Philadelphia Eagles ruffled some feathers during their nationally televised Sunday Night Football game against the eventual NFC East champion Washington Football Team.

Early in the fourth quarter, trailing by only three points, 17-14, Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson elected to pull recently named starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in place of four-year backup, Nate Sudfeld.

Hurts had already run for two touchdowns on the night, so to many people, especially past and present New York Giants, it looked like the Eagles coach decided to quit.

This was a big deal to the Giants because had the Eagles been able to pull out the upset victory over Washington, it would've sent the 6-10 Giants to the playoffs as the division champion.

Hurts could even be seen on the sideline, mouthing, "It's not right." One can only deduce Hurts is eluding to the fact that he was taken out of the game and all but ended the Eagles' chances of the upset.

Washington ended up winning 20-14 and claiming the NFC East for the first time since 2015. It will face the 11-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the upcoming Wild Card round.

The NFL Playoffs Are About To Get Wild

For the first time in NFL history, we will have six Wild Card round games. With the expansion of the playoffs to seven teams in each conference and only the top seed in each getting a bye, we will now have three Wild Card matchups on Saturday and another three on Sunday.

Kicking off Wild Card Weekend will be the Indianapolis Colts (11-5) visiting the Buffalo Bills (13-3) in Orchard Park, NY. Kickoff is set for 1:05 ET. These two teams look vastly different than the last time they squared off in 2018, when the Colts won 37-5.

At 4:40 ET, the Los Angeles Rams (10-6) will visit the NFC West Seattle Seahawks (12-4) at Lumen Field in Seattle. These two split their season series in a couple of relatively low-scoring games.

Each team held serve at their stadium, so we will see if Seattle can do it again with the 12th man.

The nightcap to Wild Card Saturday features future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady making his playoff debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers (11-5) will head north to the Nation's Capital to take on the NFC East Champion Washington Football Team (7-9). Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 ET.

To kick off Wild Card Sunday, the red-hot Baltimore Ravens (11-5) will head to Tennessee Titans (11-5) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. Kickoff is set for 1:05 ET. 

This is a rematch of last year's divisional-round game in which the then-sixth-seeded Titans knocked off the AFC's top seed, Baltimore. They also faced each other on Nov. 22 this year, with Tennessee winning that game as well, 30-24.

On Sunday, the afternoon game features the Chicago Bears (8-8) heading to the Big Easy to face the NFC South champion New Orleans Saints (12-4). Kickoff at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is set for 4:40 ET. These two teams also played this year on Nov. 1 in Chicago, with the Saints coming out on top 26-23 in overtime.

The Wild Card Weekend finale features an AFC North rivalry and Week 17 rematch. The Cleveland Browns (11-5) head to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers (12-4) for their third matchup of the season. 

Kickoff is slated for 8:15 ET at Heinz Field. They, too, split their season series with both teams holding serve in their home stadiums.

It will be an action-packed Wild Card Weekend as we get to see some excellent matchups and potential for big upsets.

For Dunkel Index picks on all of this weekend's games, check out our NFL picks page.