The Philadelphia Eagles want to finish the 2011 season on a high note. They will have that chance when they take on the Washington Redskins on Sunday, January 1. The Eagles are seeking their fourth straight win in a season that has been mostly disappointing. As an Eagles fan, I plan on watching this game to see how the team finishes. I would hope most fans would watch the game as well. It doesn’t really mean anything, but it is one last chance to see the Eagles this season. After this game, all of the questions begin.

The Eagles already beat the Redskins once this season. They are 4-1 against opponents from the NFC East. Washington is easily the worst team in the division so Philadelphia should have no problem winning this game. For fans, the final score doesn’t really matter. Eagles fans are smart enough to know that finishing 8-8 or 7-9 really isn’t that different if it doesn’t involve a playoff berth. Instead, the focus should be on how each player looks on the field. I want to see if the defensive line remains aggressive. I want to see if the secondary can be strong with Asante Samuel out of the game. Offensively, I want to see if DeSean Jackson can prove he belongs here in 2012. I also want to see if Michael Vick can put together a strong game.

These are the kinds of things that fans should look at in this game. As I said, the season ends after this game and soon it will be time to start thinking about the draft and free agency. But with one more game to watch, we can still think about football. The Eagles should win this game, but it won’t save their season. Instead, it is about building for 2012. Some of these players won’t be back with the Eagles in 2012. Others are hoping to land bigger roles with the team. The players should think of this is one final audition for next season. This kind of disappointment won’t stand for another season.

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The Philadelphia Eagles have faced questions about the fate of Andy Reid for most of the last few months. For that matter, all of the NFC East coaches have had their future look uncertain at some point this year. But Eagles fans like myself are resigned to having Reid coming back for 2012, while Dallas Cowboys fans were assured by Jerry Jones that Jason Garrett isn’t going anywhere.

That may not sound good to Cowboys fans if the team loses their NFC East title game to the New York Giants on Jan. 1. Yet while Jones promised on Dec. 30 that Garrett is safe even if Dallas loses, Tom Coughlin has no such public assurances from the New York Giants so far.

This makes the Cowboys-Giants battle have even more at stake than the NFC East, as at least one coach is still playing for his job. Coughlin could still stay if the Giants lose and turn a 6-2 start into an 8-8 finish and a season-killing loss at home. However, it would be an uphill battle to get one last chance in New York.

Like Reid, Coughlin has gotten even closer to wearing out his welcome with a disappointing 2011. But while the Eagles put Reid in jeopardy by struggling from the start, it took until midseason for the Giants to put Coughlin on the hot seat. He has escaped getting fired for some time – most notably by winning the Super Bowl in 2008 – yet just making the playoffs will have to do to make his case now.

Reid, Coughlin, Garrett and Mike Shanahan were all just as likely to get fired as they were to make it to 2012 at various points. But it seems that Shanahan and Reid will at least get one more season while Garrett has escaped the wrath of Jones for now. This would make it even more notable if Coughlin was the only NFC East coach to get the ax after all, even though he is the only one to win a Super Bowl with an NFC East team. Yet that was years ago and the Giants haven’t even won a playoff game since then.

Since this is the ugliest NFC East season of all time, it would make sense if at least one coach got fired for it. However, if the disappointing seasons of the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles and Washington Redskins aren’t enough to get any of their head coaches fired, it shows how untouchable and lucky they really are – or it could just trigger a bloodbath for 2012.

Still, while Shanahan, Reid and Garrett expect to breathe easy when it comes to their jobs, Coughlin still needs one more victory to do the same. If the Giants’ win over the New York Jets on Dec. 24 is their last of the season, then Coughlin will have to sit on pins and needles awaiting his fate. But with a win and a divisional title, he can likely relax like the rest of his peers when it comes to 2012 – if he was capable of relaxing.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

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Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Philadelphia Eagles have nothing at stake against the Washington Redskins on Jan. 1. Eagles fans like myself can only root for a .500 record that is completely misleading to how 2011 really went – and a loss doesn’t seem likely to get Andy Reid fired anyway. The Redskins have nothing to play for either, since they are 5-10 and stuck in last place yet again.

This makes the Eagles-Redskins battle completely meaningless as a whole. What’s more, it is even more embarrassing since it is one of the few Week 17 games that have absolutely no stakes at all.

There are only two other games that will not make any impact on the playoff picture or on the top of the NFL draft order. The 7-8 Chicago Bears visit the 3-12 Minnesota Vikings, after the Bears got knocked out of the playoff race and the Vikings knocked themselves out of the race for Andrew Luck. Meanwhile, the 7-8 Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals do battle with only an 8-8 record on the line for the winner.

Every other game means something in some way for some team – and even the Indianapolis Colts-Jacksonville Jaguars battle is huge since it will settle the No. 1 draft pick one way or the other. The other finales will determine postseason berths and playoff seeding for one or both teams in action. But the Eagles and Redskins are completely free of such worries, however.

Washington is used to just playing out the last game of the season with nothing to shoot for, but it is a different story for Philadelphia. It is either resting for the postseason, trying to secure a better seed or seeking to clinch a spot in the playoffs by now. Instead, the Eagles are only attempting to reach .500 and not have any injuries that will impact the start of 2012.

Considering the rest of the high impact action in Week 17, there is no reason to tune into the Eagles-Redskins game over all the others, unless one is a fan of these teams. Unfortunately, myself and others are stuck with the Eagles and will have to yawn through the finale. In between, we will either be infuriated that Philadelphia couldn’t win four straight earlier in the season, or be mad at only the third losing season in the Reid era.

There is a slim chance that this finale could be historic as the last game in Philadelphia for Reid and DeSean Jackson, but we won’t know that for sure for weeks or months. For the moment, this is the most boring and meaningless Week 17 Eagles game in a long time, and perhaps the most boring Week 17 battle in the NFL as a whole.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

Other stories by this contributor

Shanahan, Reid likely to survive disappointing 2011

Smith latest Dallas legend to question Cowboys

Cowboys, Giants to reverse momentum yet again?

2011 Jets collapse nearly as bad as 2008

Rumors of Spagnuolo’s return to Eagles more of the same

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Read More: Asante Samuel (CB – PHI), Trevor Laws (DT – PHI), LeSean McCoy (RB – PHI), Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins

Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (ankle) is listed as questionable for his team’s game against the Washington Redskins on Sunday, but he did participate fully in practice according to the team’s final injury report of the week released on Friday.

Meanwhile, cornerback Asante Samuel has been ruled out by the team with a hamstring injury. He did not practice with his teammates on Friday.

Tackle Todd Herrmans (ankle) and defensive tackle Trevor Laws (knee) are listed as probable and were full participants in Friday practice.

McCoy ran for 126 yards and a touchdown against the Redskins back on Oct. 10. He has 1,309 yards and 17 touchdowns this season and was named to his first Pro Bowl earlier this week.

For more on the Redskins, please visit Hogs Haven, SB Nation’s Redskins blog. For the perspective from the other side, please visit SB Nation Philly and Bleeding Green Nation, SB Nation’s Eagles blog.

Read More: Michael Vick (QB – PHI), Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick reflected on the Eagles season today and the future as his team heads for an early offseason after they were eliminated from playoff contention.

Vick on the realization that his season is ending on Sunday:

“Yeah, it was hard. I was just out on the field just saying to myself it wasn’t supposed to end like this. But I think God has a defined plan for everything that goes on in everybody’s lives and all of the guys in this locker room and it all remains to be seen. So we just have to keep the faith and keep believing and just pray that better days are ahead and I think they are.”

Vick on the fans who were disappointed with the season Philadelphia has had:

“We’re all going through it together. We want to win just as bad as they do and, you know, certain things just didn’t happen the way that we wanted them to and this is where the chips fell. So hopefully, we’re all disappointed and wish that the outcome could have been different but we apologize and hopefully we can give them want they want very soon.”

Vick didn’t want to go into details on what he wanted to work on during Sunday’s game. He did say that he didn’t feel any pressure to win a Super Bowl next season, although it will be a goal of his, as it is every season.

For more Eagles coverage, visit our team page or our blog Bleeding Green Nation.