December 26th, 2025
Chamber of Commerce

Eagles have won 3 straight against Bills in matchup of playoff-bound teams


By Canadian Press on December 26, 2025.

Philadelphia (10-5) at Buffalo (11-4)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox.

BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 2.

Against the spread: Eagles 9-6; Bills 7-8.

Series record: Eagles lead 9-6.

Last meeting: Eagles won 34-31 OT on Nov. 26, 2023, at Philadelphia.

Last week: Eagles beat Commanders 29-18; Bills beat Browns 23-20.

Eagles offense: overall (22), rush (15), pass (23), scoring (16t)

Eagles defense: overall (12), rush (21), pass (7), scoring (3)

Bills offense: overall (4), rush (1), pass (18), scoring (4).

Bills defense: overall (11), rush (30), pass (2), scoring (14).

Turnover differential: Eagles plus-4; Bills plus-2.

Eagles player to watch

K Jake Elliott. The ninth-year player is dealing with accuracy issues and coming off missing two field-goal attempts — three if you include a 57-yard miss nullified by a penalty — in the first half against Washington. The misses add to a season in which the 30-year-old has gone 17 of 24, including 4 of 8 from 50 or more yards. Though accustomed to kicking outdoors, Elliott looks ahead to an outing with the forecast calling for a wintry mix of snow and rain hitting Orchard Park, New York.

Bills player to watch

QB Josh Allen. The eighth-year starter is coming off his third outing of the season and just seventh of his career without having a hand in a touchdown in a game he played a majority of snaps. By comparison, Allen has six outings in which he’s scored three or more times this season. At 29, Allen has scored 299 touchdowns, and is one away from becoming the NFL’s first player to reach 300 before turning 30.

Key Matchup

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley vs. Bills run defense. Barkley topped 100 yards rushing in two of his past three outings, after doing so only once in his first 12. He’s coming off a 132-yard outing against Washington, in which Barkley also scored for a third straight game. He faces a defense that has allowed 150 or more yards rushing seven times this season, including 246 in a 35-31 win over New England two weeks ago. The Bills have also allowed 24 TDs rushing, the second-most in a season in team history after giving up 26 in 1972.

Key injuries

Eagles: LB Nakobe Dean’s status bears monitoring after opening the week not practicing because of a hamstring issue. … RT Lane Johnson (foot) is in jeopardy of missing a sixth straight game. … DT Jalen Carter (shoulder) has resumed practicing and in position to return after missing three games. … A.J. Brown is expected to play despite missing practices this week after having his wisdom teeth removed.

Bills: Bills coach Sean McDermott has already ruled out S Jordan Poyer (hamstring), DT Jordan Philips (ankle) and PK Matt Prater (quadricep). … TE Dalton Kincaid’s status bears monitoring because of a nagging knee injury. … McDermott said Allen should be “good to go” after being limited in practice this week because of a sore right foot.

Series notes

The Eagles have won three straight, and five of the past six meetings. … The teams have split their eight meetings at Buffalo. … A win over the Bills would match the Eagles’ longest streak in the series after a 4-0 run spanning 1981-87. … In their most recent meeting, Philadelphia rallied from a 24-14 third-quarter deficit, with Elliott tying the game at 31 with a 59-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining. After Buffalo opened overtime with a field goal, Jalen Hurts secured the win with a 12-yard touchdown run.

Stats and stuff

Bills coach McDermott opened his NFL coaching career with his hometown Eagles on Andy Reid’s first staff in 1999. McDermott worked his way up to become Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator for two seasons before being fired after the 2010 season. McDermott has a 97-49 head coaching record, while earning wins against every NFL team except Philadelphia. … The Eagles became the NFC East’s first team to win consecutive division titles since Philadelphia’s four-year run from 2001-04. … Philadelphia has a 5-3 road record. The five road wins currently match the fewest during coach Nick Sirianni’s five-year tenure, after the team went 5-4 in 2023. … At 64-28, including playoffs, Sirianni ranks fourth on the NFL win list over a coach’s first five seasons. He trails George Seifert (68), Tony Dungy (67) and Don Shula (65). … With 32 total touchdowns, Hurts entered the weekend ranking fourth among NFL quarterbacks, trailing the Rams’ Matthew Stafford (40), Allen (37) and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence (33). … TE Dallas Goedert has a team-leading 10 TDs receiving, which is tied for third in the NFL and tied for first among tight ends entering this week. His 10 touchdowns also tie a franchise record for his position and first set by Pete Retzlaff in 1965. … LB Zack Baun is the NFL’s only player this season with 115-plus tackles, three-plus sacks and three or more takeaways. … The Bills set a franchise record by clinching their seventh straight playoff berth, and eighth in nine seasons under McDermott. Buffalo is also one of just five NFL teams to have won at least 11 games over six consecutive seasons. … The Bills are 25-4 in regular-season games played in December and January since 2020. … Allen improved to 8-0 this season and 40-7 overall when not committing a giveaway. … RB James Cook has taken over the NFL lead with 1,532 yards rushing — 44 ahead of Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor. O.J. Simpson is Buffalo’s lone player to lead the league in rushing, doing so four times in the 1970s. … Cook’s yards rushing rank third on the single-season list behind Simpson’s 2,003 in 1973 and 1,817 in ’75. … The Bills are 8-1 this season when Cook tops 100 yards rushing. … DE Greg Rousseau had 2 1/2 sacks against Cleveland to take over the team lead with 6 1/2, and was credited with a career-best seven quarterback hits. … S Jordan Poyer’s interception against Cleveland was the 25th of his career, and first since having four in 2022.

Fantasy tip

Turn elsewhere if you’re looking for a Bills wide receiver to count upon entering championship weekend. Buffalo’s receiver group — led by Khalil Shakir’s 66 catches for 684 yards — has combined for just 159 catches for 1,832 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Associated Press



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