By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
When the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys met on New Year's Day 2017, the Cowboys had clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and had nothing to play for in Week 17. Dak Prescott, the eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year, only played two series in the game, before exiting to avoid getting injured before what the team hoped would be a long playoff run. 364 days later, the two teams will meet with the scripts flipped: the Eagles have clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC, while the Cowboys are eliminated from playoff contention. But it may not be wise for the Eagles to pull Nick Foles and their offensive starters as quickly as the Cowboys did to end the 2016 NFL regular season.
When Jason Garrett pulled Prescott – who was gradually joined by the rest of the team's offensive stars – it was after he had played at a Pro-Bowl level in 16 plus regular season games. Prescott had practiced with the Cowboys No. 1 offense since Tony Romo went down with a back injury after the team's Week 3 preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. Foles, on the other hand, wasn't forced into action until late in the third quarter of the team's Week 14 win over the Los Angeles Rams, after Carson Wentz suffered a torn ACL. It wasn't until the week leading up to the Eagles Week 15 matchup against the New York Giants that Foles practied with the first-team offense extensively, and that showed in Monday night's win over the Oakland Raiders.
So even though a win in Week 17 wouldn't technically mean much of anything for the Eagles – besides a chance to win a franchise-record 14th regular season game – Doug Pederson would be wise to use the season's final game as a chance for Foles to become even more acquainted with the offense that the Eagles hope he can lead on an improbable Super Bowl run starting next month.
Had Foles and the offense turned in a performance similar to what they did in their Week 15 win over the New York Giants against the Raiders, there's a case to be made that only playing a few series or altogether sitting in Week 17 would make sense. But that didn't happen. Foles went 19/38 with one touchdown and an interception. He easily could have thrown three or four interceptions, and missed both Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery near the endzone. Jeffery, who spent much of his first season with the Eagles trying to get on the same page with Wentz, chose not to speak with reporters after being held without a catch for the first time this season.
Notes on Nick: Foles Turns In Poor Performance In Win Over Raiders
A poor performance from Foles and the passing game came against an undisciplined Raiders team, one that turned the ball over five times on Monday Night Football. The Raiders offense may have some well-known names on it, but they are a bad team, one that likely will have a new head coach in 2018. And yet, the Eagles passing offense played down to them, as it took until there was less than one minute left in the fourth quarter for the Eagles to take a lead for good.
The Eagles offensive struggles went beyond Foles. Jason Kelce, who has maybe had the best season of his career in 2017, struggled with snapping the ball in the cold weather at Lincoln Financial Field. Pederson, in a game that dictated running the ball, didn't call a running play at all in the team's first offensive series, and only called 21 the entire night. While Corey Clement was successful on his limited carries, Jay Ajayi and (especially) LeGarrette Blount didn't turn in performances that will be good enough for the team to make a postseason run. In total, the Eagles "three-headed monster" of running backs only ran for 78 yards on 21 carries. If Wentz was playing, that might be acceptable. With Foles at the helm, this unit will have to carry the offense if they are going to do anything beyond appearing in the playoffs.
"I don't think I would rest this football team at all," former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner said on NBC Sports Philadelphia after the game. "I think they play, I practice them and even though they get a whole bye week, we'd be walking through stuff until their corns were sore."
It's not necessarily clear how long the Eagles offense needs to play in Week 17. If Foles and company come out and give the Eagles a cushion early, perhaps Pederson will feel comfortable beginning to pull the starters towards the end of the first quarter. If not, the first-team offense may need a more extended look in Week 17. One thing is for sure: the Eagles offensive performance last night left a bad taste in the mouths of everyone. It wouldn't be wise for that to be the last action the offense sees before playing in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
