Recapping the Bills game and looking ahead.

Another year, another insane Eagles-Bills game! This one was defensive in nature, helped by the miserable Buffalo weather, and like that matchup from two years ago went down to the final play. Much has been made about Philly's offense going completely stagnant for the second half (which it did, frustratingly), but to that I'll offer a nominal defense: the weather was terrible, the Bills offense had been totally strangled by the Eagles' D (until late in the third quarter the Bills had only amassed 147 total yards and had not scored), and the Birds likely believed that the only way that Buffalo could come back was a catastrophic mistake on offense. I don't think that was the right way to play it, assuming that was the mindset, as the Bills made their way back by the end of the game, but once again the Eagles prevailed. A few more thoughts:

• Philly only drove inside the Buffalo 5 yard line once, but scored a touchdown. Buffalo drove that deep three times but only managed 12 points total. The lack of ability to maximize drives cost the Bills this game.

• I was baffled by Sean McDermott's decision to go for two. Considering the Eagles' offense was totally inert in the second half, I would have really liked my chances in overtime if I'm running the Bills. Perhaps that Allen injury was more significant than we knew, but considering that Buffalo had only hit one of their six 2 point attempts going into that play (16.7%), I was relieved as an Eagles fan that he made that choice.

• Jalen Carter's block of Michael Badgley's XP attempt likely saved the Birds. This is the second time he's done this against the Bills, and the second time he's done this in 2025.

• Philly lost the statistical battle in nearly every way, except the one that matters most: they won the turnover battle yet again.

Enough about that; let's look to the future. As we know, the seeding situation is simple: Philly needs to beat Washington and have Detroit beat Chicago to get the two seed; otherwise they will be third. Philly should roll over the Commanders, even with their backups, and it's at least possible that a Lions team playing for pride will beat their division rivals. This is clearly the preferable outcome, as the two seed comes with a home matchup against a failing Packers team. Otherwise, Philly will end up hosting whichever of the three NFC West teams comes in third. This will be the Rams unless the Seahawks beat the 49ers, in which case we'll get San Francisco. For some time, it looked like the Rams would end up being the class of the NFL but their recent struggles bring into question how serious they are. The 49ers are running on the fumes of their fumes and will likely need the top seed and the bye that comes with it to have any chance of making a run. This playoff bracket is wide open and any number of teams could emerge from it, including the Birds.

One final thought: of the seven statistical tests that tend to predict the Super Bowl winner, the Eagles currently are passing five, which is a good sign pointing positively to their chances of repeating.

FLY EAGLES FLY!