The first Sunday of the 2025 calendar year will feature the NFC East Champions putting a bow on a historic regular season, hosting a team with a chance at the No. 1 overall draft pick.
Now, we know when that game will take place.
The NFL announced late on Sunday night that the Philadelphia Eagles will host the New York Giants on Sunday, January 5 at 1 PM. The game will be televised on CBS as well as SportsRadio 94WIP.
The Eagles (13-3) wrapped up the NFC East and the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs on Sunday with a 41-7 demolition of the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field.
Running back Saquon Barkley set the single-season franchise record for most scrimmage yards (2,283) and became just the ninth player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards (2,005) in a season. For the 11th time this season, another team record, Barkley crossed the 100-yard threshold with 167 yards, most of them in the second half as Philadelphia salted the game away. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith had 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns with quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee running the offense for the injured Jalen Hurts.
Barkley is 101 yards shy of becoming the NFL's all-time single-season rushing king. Of course, the mark could be set against his former team as the Giants (3-13) are one of four teams tied for the No. 1 overall draft pick entering Week 18. The Giants spoiled the Colts' slim chances of a playoff berth with a 45-33 win Sunday.
"The way I look at it, if it's in God's plan, then it is," Barkley said on Sunday after the Eagles' win. "I'm not overly trying to go get it. I'm not scared of it. I would love to, but at the end of the day, also, we've got bigger things that we're focusing on, and we're able to clinch the division right here, whether we play next week or not. 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.
"I mean, it's up to (Head Coach) Nick (Sirianni), to be honest. And you know, whatever his decision is, I'm all for it. If his mindset is, we'll go out there and try it, I'll go out there and try it. But his mindset is, let's rest and get ready for this run, then I'm all for that too. I'm not just saying that because a camera's in my face or mic's in my face. I really mean that. I came here to do something special, and obviously breaking the record is special. But I want a banner up there. I think we all do. But we gave ourselves a chance with that and clinched the playoffs before and now with the division. And as I said, now it's up to Nick, and we'll see where his mindset is."
Sirianni wanted to wait until the rest of the games played out before making any decisions. At the time of his postgame press conference, the Eagles still had an outside chance at the No. 1 seed, but Minnesota's win over Green Bay in the late Sunday afternoon window eliminated any possibility of that.
"There's a lot that goes into it. 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," Sirianni said. "Always got to do what's right for the football team to reach our goals of what we need to do. 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."
Sirianni will meet with the media again on Monday afternoon. While we don't know the team's plans for how to handle Week 18 with its playoff seed secured, at the very least fans know what time kickoff will be next Sunday.
