Making sense of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Christmas Day roster moves

Philadelphia Eagles fans the world over were gifted with the best present of all on this, Christmas Day: Nick Sirianni has cleared COVID protocol.

The news, which was announced by the team in the 2 pm hour, was met with universal approval and generally merry feelings, as Sirianni has really come on hot over the past few weeks, but it wasn’t the only news the team shared in the leadup to their Week 16 slugfest against the New York Giants.

No, in a series of four surprising moves, the Eagles have placed special team ace/reserve linebacker Shaun Bradley on IR, elevated defensive back – read: safety – Jared Mayden from the practice squad to the active roster as a COVID replacement, released second-year practice squad center Luke Juriga, and signed kicker Matt McCrane to take his place.

Wait, what? A kicker? What in the boughs of holly is going on?

The Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up for a playoff run.

So, first and foremost, who is Matt McCrane, the Philadelphia Eagles’ new second-string kicker?

A now-27-year-old Brownwood, Texas native who initially went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2018, McCrane made a name for himself by nailing 95 percent of his kicks from within 40 feet of the uprights and has remained on the NFL’s radar as a result. Since leaving the confines of Manhattan (Kansas) for the professional game, McCrane has been employed by the Oakland Raiders, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, and the New York Guardians of the now-defunct American Alliance of Football.

Now granted, over the past three years, McCrane has been released four times with only 10 games of action to his credit, but in the grand scheme of things, that sort of mobility is relatively normal in the NFL; just ask Cody Parkey. In those 10 games, all of which took place in 2018, McCrane made all nine of his extra-point attempts, kicked the ball 21 times for 1,250 total yards, and connected on 8-12 field goal attempts with a long of 47 and misses from 47, 50, 57, and 48.

Is McCrane good? Objectively speaking, eh, but between you and me, the Eagles probably didn’t add him to their practice squad to compete with Jake Elliott at this point in the season. No, it would appear McCrane is a member of the Eagles(‘s practice squad) just in case a COVID outbreak hits the special teams room, and the team needs to make a switch on short notice.

With a 38 percent chance of making the playoffs according to FiveThirtyEight, the Eagles have seemingly by accident positioned themselves well for a Wildcard berth. They’re playing their best football late, have a dominant rushing game – which translates incredibly well to the postseason – and have a head coach who ultimately didn’t miss any time due to a mid-week COVID diagnosis. With Landon Dickerson and Andre Dillard soon to come out of protocol and all three of their final games against NFC East foes who already either have the playoffs locked up or have been effectively eliminated from play, Sirianni just might join Chip Kelly in the first-year head coach playoff club.

If that happens and Jake Elliott can’t play for one reason or another, Matt McCrane’s presence on the roster will be a godsend.

Are the Philadelphia Eagles going to make the playoffs? Frankly, I think they will, but it ultimately doesn’t matter too much either way. What does matter, however, is that the team is trying their darndest to make it to the postseason, which is more than a few other teams around the NFL can say. After turning in a low-key hilarious effort against Washington in Week 17 of 2020, it’s clear this season is going to come down to the wire in the best way possible.