Dec 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) warms up on the field before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Eagles Make Starter Decision For Bills Game

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Dec 23, 2025 1:49 PM ET

The Philadelphia Eagles have one of their biggest games of the season coming up on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Buffalo Bills on the road.

Buffalo is a tough team. The Bills are 11-4 on the season and have the reigning Most Valuable Player under center in Josh Allen. The Bills are a team that very well could make a deep run in the AFC playoffs, especially with teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals already eliminated from playoff contention and the Baltimore Ravens trending in that direction. There's going to be a lot of playoff inexperience in the AFC and the Bills could have an advantage because of that.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

The Eagles are the reigning Super Bowl champions and even if they can't gain enough ground to take home the top spot in the NFC, this is a team that very well could make a deep run of its own. All of that is to say that Sunday's contest could be a preview of another matchup to come.

The Eagles aren't resting starters yet

On Tuesday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni joined 94WIP Sports Radio and was asked if the team would consider some load management without much of a shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Sirianni shut down the idea.

"Yeah, this is a week that we have to get better," Sirianni said. "You know, this is an opportunity for us to go out there. We have been on short week after short week. We're finally on a normal week, you know, as far as our rest goes. This is a really important week for us practice wise, game wise, for us to get better and we'll see how everything plays itself out. Really important week for us to improve as a football team."

If the Eagles are going to make a deep run, they're going to need the offense to fire on all cylinders. The defense is among the best in the league and the offense has started to look the part as well. Part of the reason why that's the case is that Saquon Barkley is on fire. He's had at least 20 carries or more in each of the last three games and has 332 rushing yards and three touchdowns over that stretch.

Sunday should be another big Barkley day. The Bills are 11-4 on the season, but their running defense is brutal. The Bills are allowing the third-most rushing yards per game right now at 144.3 per game. There is no reason to rest the starters yet. This will be an opportunity for the Eagles to show how they stack up against a fellow contender and hopefully keep the running game going.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: