Week 16 Preview: Eagles look to keep playoff hopes alive

The Philadelphia Eagles will square off with the NFC East division leaders, the Washington Redskins, on Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field with their season on the line.

The NFC East has been awful this season and the Redskins are leading the division over the Eagles by just one game, with a 7-7 record.

Unlike the Eagles, Washington is starting to take form and learn how to play consistently. They have won three out of four of their last games and can clinch the division by simply beating the Eagles. With Washington emerging as the leading contender in the NFC East, it truly shows just how bad the division has been this year.

If the Eagles win, they will hold the tiebreaker in the division when they head to New York to face the Giants next week. Even in an ugly division, it’s nice to see some kind of competition — both for the Eagles playoff hopes and as the regular season prepares to close in the next week.

Philadelphia was seemingly gaining momentum after winning two in a row against the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills. They received their third blowout loss of the season last week from a dominant Arizona Cardinals team.

Technically, the loss didn’t hurt their playoff chances. But it was clearly seen that the Eagles were not going to be much of a contender if they make it into the playoffs. They were beat in almost every aspect of the game. Rookie running back David Johnson managed to rack up 187 rushing yards against the Eagles defense.

What ultimately killed the Eagles from being able to compete with Arizona was the amount of turnovers they committed. Philadelphia is a good team when they are able to focus and limit their mistakes. Although Sam Bradford didn’t really show much improvement last week, if he can get better protection from his offensive line, he will be more effective.

One positive thing we can take from their blowout loss was the emergence of Jordan Matthews. The wide receiver was able to record eight receptions for 159 yards against one of the best defenses in the league. It will be nice to see Matthews emerge as the leading receiver from such a poor wide receiving corps.

Whatever Eagles team shows up this week, they’re going to need to pull out a win, against Washington, if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Game Notes

• The last time the Washington Redskins were able to win the NFC East was in 2012.
• Philadelphia is 3-4 when playing at home, while the Redskins have only won one game away from home this season. 
• Kirk Cousins has thrown for at least 300 yards in his past two games.

Injury Report

Eagles

Probable

• QB Sam Bradford (Left Shoulder)
• DB Eric Rowe (Concussion)

Questionable

• WR Seyi Ajirotutu (Ankle)
• DT Bennie Logan (Calf)
• CB Byron Maxwell (Shoulder)

Redskins

Out

• LB Perry Riley Jr. (Foot)

Probable 

• LB Will Compton (Neck)
• DE Kedric Golston (Calf)
• DE Jason Hatcher (Neck, Knee)
• WR Desean Jackson (Foot, Knee)
• S Jeron Johnson (Hamstring)
• DE Frank Kearse (Finger)
• LB Ryan Kerrigan (Toe)
• TE Jordan Reed (Shoulder)
• LB Keenan Robinson (Shoulder)
• RB Chris Thompson (Shoulder)

Questionable

• S Dashon Goldson (Rib, Knee, Shoulder)
• WR Ryan Grant (Abdomen)
• RB Matt Jones (Hip)
• C/G Josh LeRibeus (Ankle)
• T Morgan Moses (Ankle)

Where to Watch

TV: NFL Network (Ian Eagle, Trent Green, Evan Washburn)
Radio: 94 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Howard Eskin)

Dan Ketler is a contributing writer for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ketler11.