“One step closer.” That’s what the Philadelphia Eagles and Jalen Hurts might have thought after the wild-card victory over the Packers. Honestly, they deserved that. But it looks like the big win came with a little extra baggage. And their linebacker, Oren Burks, must carry that baggage into the divisional round today. Talk about bad timing in Burks’ seven-year-long pro football career.

Just hours before one of the biggest showdowns between the Eagles and Rams, the NFL’s back at it with some wildcard game accountability. This time, Burks is in the hot seat after getting slapped with an $8,333 fine for unnecessary roughness. Or should we say, his helmet got a little too involved during that wild-card game? On the opening kickoff, Burks delivered a big hit to the Packers’ kick returner, Keisean Nixon, causing a fumble. Guess you could say he made an impact, just not the kind he was hoping for!

“An absolute clean hit.” That’s what Tom Brady said during the commentary, and no flag was thrown as the Eagles remained unpunished. And here’s the kicker: The Eagles recovered the fumble and racked up a solid touchdown a few plays later and scored a 7-0 lead. However, on Saturday, the NFL decided that it wasn’t a clean hit at all.

But what about the Packers? Nah, they never got the momentum back from that fumble. “I was trying to hit him, man,” Burks said after the game. “Hit him with everything I got, man. Like I said, just set the tone early. That was the physicality that we wanted to play with.” Turns out that hit indeed set the tone for the Eagles’ win even though it wasn’t a clean hit per NFL. However, Nixon wasn’t happy with the decision. Because, of course, why would he?

“It was a sudden change, they scored right after, so it gave them the ball,” Nixon said. “But I got the ball back for sure. It should’ve been targeting helmet-to-helmet, but can’t dwell on it. Never been hit that hard, either. That was like the first time, I was kind of rattled. But it is what it is.” However, what’s more concerning is the fact that this wasn’t a one-off thing. The Iggles have accumulated quite a number of problematic plays, putting them under scrutiny.

Red flag for Jalen Hurts and Co.

The Eagles are flying high and making some serious noise. And why wouldn’t they? They entered the postseason with a bang and the wildcard round win was the cherry on the top. But everything’s not as smooth as their victories. Along with their impressive wins, they’ve also been racking up penalties like nobody’s business, with over 100 fouls committed this season.

That’s right, the same team that’s been soaring through games has a little baggage when it comes to discipline. Take their week 16 loss (33-36) against the Washington Commanders, for instance. The Eagles racked up 10 penalties, costing them a total of 91 yards. Most of the damage came from the defense, with 5 penalties adding up to 56 yards. The offense wasn’t totally off the hook either, though, with 2 penalties for 15 yards. And let’s not forget special teams—3 penalties there too, but they only lost 20 yards.

Sure, their week 16 game wasn’t the cleanest at all. But speaking of their 100+ penalties? Nah, they have struggled with that since the beginning of their regular season. In the first three weeks, Jalen Hurts and Co. committed 23 penalties against the Packers (7), Falcons (9), and the Saints (7). And the postseason? Well, they didn’t get a good start as Burks was fined by the NFL.

Now, with the divisional round at stake, they’ve got more than just their game plan to worry about—they’ve got to clean up those penalties if they want to keep soaring high. Sure, they’ve been winning, but those flags could come back to haunt them when the competition gets tougher.