Eagles vs. Commanders predictions for Week 18 of NFL season
Eagles vs. Commanders predictions for Week 18 of NFL season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles (11-5) are hosting the Commanders (4-12) in Week 18 on Sunday afternoon.
Here are our predictions:
Reuben Frank (12-4)
It speaks volumes about these two organizations that they met last year in the NFC Championship Game but only one of them was able to sustain success. And here we are a year later and the Eagles are off to the playoffs again with a chance to win 12 games for the third time in five years under Nick Sirianni, and the Commanders are back to being the Commanders at 4-12, and last year remains their only winning season since 2016. One franchise is built for the long haul around elite, young drafted talent, the other was built with aging free agents and no idea how to protect a promising young quarterback. The Commanders are limping to the end of another hapless season, and the Eagles are in the playoffs for the fifth straight year. It doesn't really matter who plays Sunday. The Eagles are the stronger franchise with the better roster from 1 through 70, including practice squad, and we'll see that Sunday afternoon. I expect another outstanding game from Tanner McKee and a late-season Eagles sweep over their division rival.
Eagles 31, Commanders 21
Dave Zangaro (10-6)
The Eagles are playing their backups on Sunday and I still think that's going to be good enough. The Commanders are limping to the finish line of a disappointing season and they don't have anything to play for in this game other than pride, but they know they're just 60 minutes from Cancun. The Eagles' backups, led by Tanner McKee, will enter this game knowing they can help the team's seeding by doing their part and beating the Commanders. I have faith in McKee to look good even behind a backup offensive line. This is a good test to see how deep this Eagles roster is against a Commanders team that will start 39-year-old Josh Johnson to finish off their miserable season. The Eagles win this game and then get ready to host the wild-card round next weekend.
Eagles 24, Commanders 17
Mike Mulhern (11-5)
Week 18 of the 2024 season cost me our season-long prediction challenge. I came up one game short after picking the Giants to beat the Eagles backups. I was sold on Tanner McKee but probably didn't put enough stock into how beneficial it was for the Giants to lose. They rested plenty of players themselves to ensure the best possible draft pick. Expect the same from the Commanders. We know they're down to third-string quarterback Josh Johnson and will be without a pair of starters on the offensive line, Tyler Biadasz and Laremy Tunsil.
McKee will get another chance to showcase his skills and I expect him to shine against a bad Commanders defense. The starters get to rest, the Eagles still get the win, and we wait to see if the Lions can pull off an upset in Chicago.
Eagles 23, Commanders 16
Ashlyn Sullivan (9-7)
The Tanner McKee game has finallyarrived. While it seems crazy to predict the Eagles will win this game with all of their backups in... that speaks to the depth Howie Roseman has built on this roster where I feel confident Tanner McKee could be a starter on an NFL team and players like Tank Bigsby and Jahan Dotson on offense could be starting playmakers on other teams as well. The Commanders have the second-worst defense in the leagueand I don't expect Washington to have a ton to play for. I think if the Eagles can get out to an earlylead the game will become out of hand and the Commanders' woes of the season will takecare of the rest.
Eagles 25, Commanders 14