Nick Sirianni has taken the Eagles to playoffs every season since taking over the reins in 2021. But the Super Bowl has eluded them. His predecessor, Doug Pederson, failed in his first year but won the Super Bowl LII in his second (2017). Over the next two seasons, he led them to the playoffs, but after failing in 2020, they removed him. It remains the only Super Bowl Trophy. So, the current HC has an enormous responsibility.

They have done well in the 2024 season. With a 13-3 win-loss record after week 17, the Eagles look set to play in the Super Bowl. While talking about their plans after defeating Cowboys 41-7 in the week 17 matchup, Sirianni said, “We’ll watch some games tonight, see how things are going. We’ll do what we need to do, what’s right for the football team. Always got to do what’s right for the football team to reach our goals of what we need to do.” He’s obviously looking into the playoff scenarios here.

They are heavy favorites in the week 18 game against the Giants who have a 3-13 win-loss record. But they would face the winner of the week 18 game in the playoffs. And that is between the Packers and Commanders. After week 17, both teams have an 11-5 record. Also, Jordan Love and Jayden Daniels are fierce competitors.

Amid all these, Saquon Barkley is inching close to a significant personal milestone, the most rushing yards in a single season. With 31 carries in 167 yards against the Cowboys, he has completed 345 carries in 2005 rushing yards in 2024 season. When asked if he would help the RB achieve the feat, the coach added, “Like I said, I’ve got a lot to think about. I’m going to enjoy this, and I’ll think about it tonight at some point.”

For the running back, the season has gone crazy. He has played 9 games with 100+ rushing yards this year. He was also thinking about the record but played it down. The head coach has given his obvious message to the locker room. A Super Bowl! Even the Eagles RB wants to win it. But he needs only 101 rushing yards to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of single-season rushing yards (2,105). It would be historic.

Notably, Philadelphia is no longer in contention for the conference’s No. 1 seed after the Minnesota Vikings topped the Green Bay Packers in Week 17, making the Eagles’ regular-season finale this Sunday against the Giants more of an opportunity to rest starters rather than compete for a better position in the postseason.

During his weekly radio interview with 94WIP on Tuesday, Sirianni said that he remains undecided but made it clear it will ultimately be an organization-wide decision. “I’ll talk to our staff, I’ll talk to the players, I’ll talk to (general manager) Howie (Roseman), I’ll talk to (Eagles owner) Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie,” Sirianni said. “I’ll talk to everybody to try and make sure I’m making the best decision for the football team.” Interestingly, Sirianni recalled a recent instance when he wanted to give wide receiver DeVonta Smith a chance to set a new franchise mark.

“If you think back a couple of years ago to 2021, Smitty was going for the rookie receiver record — I think he was going to break DeSean Jackson’s rookie receiving record. Everybody else was resting, but we wanted for everyone else — whatever it was — we didn’t play some other guys in that game, but we went and got him that record. Every situation is a little different. Not saying one way or the other or how that’s going to play out or even that I made a decision yet, but I got to tell the guys first when I do come to that decision, but a lot goes into it,” Sirianni said. But what does Barkley himself think?

Saquon Barkley puts playing decision on Nick Sirianni

Talking about whether he would play in the last game or not, Barkley said, “The way I look at it, if it’s in God’s plan, then it is. I’m not overly trying to go get it. I’m not scared of it. I would love to. Rest, I’m fine with that too, because I didn’t come here and sign here just to rush for 2,000 or break a record. I want to do something special, meaning special with the team.” While he is ready to give, the fans would love to see him break it. But it shows how closely the team is bonded.

In the end, he also put the decision on Nick Sirianni if he wanted to play him or not and added, “I mean, it’s up to Nick, to be honest. And you know, whatever his decision is, I’m all for it.” That’s the right approach. Their plans have been working well till now.

In his first season with the Eagles, the running back has done wonders. In their week 12 game against the Rams, he even had 26 carries in 255 rushing yards with 2 touchdowns. Scoring-wise, it’s the best season of his career till now with 13 touchdowns. For the coach, it wouldn’t be a simple decision to rest or play him.

If they play him on January 5, then there would be a rest of a minimum of 5 days. If they didn’t, he would get around 11 days to recover from the long season. It’s tricky. But the fans would be ecstatic if he broke the rushing record.