Eagles will have short week before Cowboys game
The NFL has not yet made a decision on whether or not to postpone Sunday night's Eagles-Vikings game.
Eagles will have short week before Cowboys game
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Update: The Eagles-Vikings game originally scheduled for Sunday night at 8:20 p.m. has been postponed to Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
The immediate reaction to this news is that the Birds will have only four days to prepare for the Cowboys in Week 17.
That could potentially be a big game for the Eagles in terms of playoff seeding. They need to pick up a game on the Bears in the final two weeks to earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
But I don't see the short week as a huge deal for the Eagles. The Cowboys will come to Philadelphia with a 5-10 record, likely looking forward to getting their season over with and starting vacation. Dallas could be starting Stephen McGee, a second-year quarterback who had not attempted a pass in the NFL before Saturday night.
Granted, he played well against the Cardinals, completing 11 of 17 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. But if the Eagles can't beat a 5-10 team at home when the stakes are high - even if they're on only four days rest - I'm not sure they're ready to make a deep playoff run anyway.
To put it into perspective, the Eagles had three days rest earlier this season before hosting the Texans on a Thursday night game. They had traveled back from Chicago on the previous Sunday night. This time, they'll be at home all week.
In that matchup, the Texans were on a short week too. This time, the Cowboys will be on extra rest since they played Saturday night.
Still, don't see it being a huge deal.
As for Sunday, the Eagles could still clinch a playoff berth or the NFC East title. If the Giants lose to the Packers, the Birds clinch the division. If the Bucs lose to Seattle, they clinch a playoff berth.
And obviously, Eagles fans should be rooting for a Bears loss to the Jets.
FROM EARLIER:
The NFL has not yet decided whether Sunday night's Eagles-Vikings game will kick off as scheduled at 8:20 p.m.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello was asked on Twitter whether there was any word on the game being postponed because of today's snowstorm. He responded:
Not yet. We're discussing situation. Stand by.
That was at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Mayor Michael Nutter announced that Philadelphia is declaring a snow emergency at 2 p.m. Sunday. Fans were urged to use mass transit to get to the Eagles game (if it's played tonight), and extra trains were scheduled, according to the Associated Press.
Tonight's game is supposed to be televised to a national audience on NBC, which could make rescheduling it a bit tricky. ESPN has Falcons-Saints on Monday Night Football.
Eagles players seem to be looking forward to playing in the snow. DeSean Jackson tweeted:
It's only snow!!!! Let us play... It must b alot of fun... I'm ready let's get it on!!
And JaMar Chaney tweeted:
bring it on, should be alot of fun.
We'll have an update on philly.com as soon as an announcement is made one way or another.
You can also sign up for our text alerts by texting "EAGLES" to 744559. By doing so, you'll get a message to your phone as soon as a decision is made.
Earlier Sunday, I posted the weekly Who's picking the Eagles? roundup.
You can follow Moving the Chains on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here.
Vikings are cursed!— NYPHILLYPHAN- Now I wonder if NBC is wishing the NFL game them 49ers-Rams, though in fairness, NO ONE thought this storm was coming until very late Friday.— Wallyhorse2
- Wrong, professionally meteorologists have been following this since last Saturday with the European model predicting this large of a storm over and over. The problem is no TV station around here uses that model and after the infamous "storm of the century" fiasco, no one wants to go out on a limb until every model (there's like 5 of them) agrees.
- NFL discussing whether to postpone the game in hopes that Favre will be able to play ...— jcu123
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!— dogman5
Is this because the Vikings cannot play in the cold or snow anymore? It's football! Play the DAMN game!!! It will be a classic and I only wish I could be there. I always loved going to games like this. Too bad its not the Cowboys and Jimmy Johnson is not coach. That snowball game was the BEST!!!- postponed? what a bunch of wussies!— sgamble077
- Its not the game that is the problem, it is making a fiscally stressed city have to deal with the traffic, drinking, etc. of tens of thousands of fans. If the game is over at 11:30 pm, there might be a foot of snow on the ground. Between streets, and police, this will cost the city a fortune. Also, it diverts the city's efforts to have the work force return to work tomorrow. Thanks for moving the game NFL. (who'd a thunk it might snow in late December in Philly).— bobcitydoc
- NBC never should have picked this game to flex in the first place. It was a blowout game under normal conditions. The game would be on if they stuck with the original 1pm start time. But it is good that the game was moved if you are an Eagles fan. Tonights snow and wind would have neutralized the Eagles advantages.— arrowamy
- NFL is a joke— tooltime
- Since when did the NFL become MLB!!!! WTF
— Viewkeeper - They never should of changed the original time from 1pm. that's the money loving advertisers in action.— meez714
- The NFL and the networks have destroyed football. We could handle it in 1948, but now we can't. This league and city are a joke!— michaelthegreat
Comment removed.- brett farve is cursed— littlephily
- The game was moved to Tuesday instead of Monday so that it could be nationally televised. EVERYTHING IS ABOUT GOD DAMN MONEY! I can't stand the NFL anymore and Roger Goodell is single handedly destroying the sport.— phatbastard
- Even if we beat Minnesota and Dallas,this will have a long-term effect if we don't get the bye (Jets already down 10-0) because the 1st round playoff game will be our 3rd in about 13 days. The last 3rd game we played in that short time frame was Chicago and we know how that turned out. Plus we'd likely be playing the Giants, something I wasn't looking forward to to begin with, so this is indeed shaping up as the "perfect storm" - the kind of storm that points to a 1st round exit.— erformc1
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
The offical reasoning behind it was for public safety, not player safety.- UNfortunateson is a complete imbecile! He probably has a blow up of Mike Vick hidden in his basement for midnight "fun".
- It's not the conditions but the last time the Philly Fans were allowed in a Snow filled stadium for an Eagles game there was the 70,000 people snow ball fight......besides all the key Eagle Players aren't in Philly. Some are snow bound along the east coast and there's no way they all would have made it to the Linc before 8 pm— Dexter
- Jets and the Bears are in a shoot out!.... 31-38, the Jets have to win or pack for vacation..... fortunes sure can change in the NFL in a week or two.— Dexter
short week? noooo problem! Eagles have in them to steal these last two games!— dexter55
Follow
Sheil on Twitter. And become
a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds
coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Download it here.
