Details for the season finale are set with the Washington Commanders set to face the Philadelphia Eagles for a 4:25 PM kickoff
Details for the week 18 regular season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles have been finalized with week 17 now complete.
Washington will travel to face Philadelphia for a 4:25 PM matchup on CBS, the league announced on Sunday evening.
This marks the return matchup after Philadelphia stormed out of Northeast Stadium with a 29-18 win earlier this month as the Eagles scored 21 unanswered points in the second half. Commanders fans also saw the latest hiccup at quarterback unravel that game after Marcus Mariota exited the opening minutes of the second half with multiple injuries as he battles a hamstring injury heading into next Sunday.
Mariota's injury also led to the latest quarterback carousel for head coach Dan Quinn with starter Jayden Daniels already sidelined for the final three games and battling limited participation in practice in the meantime. While Washington also signed Jeff Driskel off Arizona's practice squad to give head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury a veteran quarterback with experience in the system, the Commanders turned to veteran Josh Johnson for his first start of the season.
What direction will the Commanders turn to close a setback season? Will Mariota be healthy enough to make one final start, a chance to impress ahead of free agency. Will one of the two veterans get the nod? Despite not being under consideration last week, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury left the door open for undrafted rookie free agent Sam Hartman to make his first NFL start in his final game before his contract expires.
“Sam's done a great job. I think just having a guy on a short week, particularly that's played in NFL games before, was comfortable [with] our system was really why we felt good about bringing him in. The way we've had the quarterback injuries, we want another body, a guy who's played, and that was really it,” Kingsbury said last week. “I don't think it'd be fair to ask Sam to start on a short week having not getting many reps where you’re not going to get live reps going into a game. And I think that is what it came down to.”
Washington also enters the matchup banged up in the trenches with Tyler Biadasz the latest to go down with both a knee and ankle injury in the Christmas Day loss, a brutal injury for a unit already without Sam Cosmi while Laremy Tunsil missed the Dallas game due to a rib injury. Brandon Coleman also went down but returned one play later, while Andrew Wylie, an pending free agent, could get an increased role after being in the mix at guard the week prior.
With a loss, Washington will suffer its longest losing streak against Philadelphia since losing six straight from the 2017 season opening loss through the 2019 season. But with a lost season and draft position on the line for Washington, one more loss might not be the worst thing before general manager Adam Peters works to address a long line of questions, both on the coaching staff and roster.