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Tim McManus, ESPN Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The Philadelphia Eagles hoped their regular-season finale against the New York Giants would serve as a get-right game before the start of the playoffs.
Instead, it devolved into a borderline disaster.
Receiver A.J. Brown injured his right knee in the first quarter and later was ruled out of the game. Safety Reed Blankenship (groin), starting right guard Cam Jurgens (eye) and safety Sydney Brown (knee) also were ruled out.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts injured the middle finger on his throwing hand but stayed in the game before coach Nick Sirianni decided to pull some key starters late in the second quarter with the Eagles down 24-0 and the hopes of capturing the NFC East title all but lost.
Philadelphia needed a win over New York and a Dallas Cowboys loss to the Washington Commanders in order to secure the division and a home playoff game. While the latter seemed like a longshot, the Eagles wanted to at least build some positive momentum heading into the postseason after dropping four of their last five games entering the finale. But a defense that has struggled all season and failed to gain its footing under new play-caller Matt Patricia yielded nearly 300 yards to Tyrod Taylor and the 5-11 Giants.
Meanwhile, Brown exited late in the first quarter after his right leg was pinned awkwardly behind him while being tackled by cornerback Nick McCloud.
Hurts took a trip to the medical tent in the second quarter after injuring his middle finger when his throwing hand collided with linebacker Bobby Okereke‘s hand on a fourth-down pass attempt. He had his finger wrapped and stayed in the game, but the offense remained ineffective and he was pulled along with center Jason Kelce and right tackle Lane Johnson for the last couple series of the half.
The Eagles opted not to dress several key players, including receiver DeVonta Smith (knee), D’Andre Swift (illness) and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (rest). Still, Sirianni said at the beginning of the week they would “do whatever we need to do to win this game” in part because they wanted “to go into the playoffs not in a rut.”