Quarterback Jalen Hurts returned to the Philadelphia lineup, and the Eagles returned to winning.

Philadelphia’s 22-16 victory over the New York Giants on the final Sunday of the regular season secured the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs for the Eagles. The top seed comes with the only bye in the NFC postseason field.

MORE NFL:

· MAC JONES: ‘TOUGH TO LOOK TO THE FUTURE RIGHT NOW’

· STEELERS’ NAJEE HARRIS RUNS FOR 1,000 YARDS AGAIN

· JOSH JACOBS WINS NFL RUSHING TITLE AFTER HIS ‘HARDEST GAME’

Philadelphia won 13 of its first 14 games with Hurts at quarterback. But a sprained throwing shoulder suffered on Dec. 18 had sidelined Hurts for the past two games. The Eagles lost both games with Gardner Minshew at quarterback, which put the San Francisco 49ers in range of the conference’s No. 1 postseason seed had Philadelphia lost to the Giants.

“I feel like coming into this game I’ve been really pushing myself beyond measures to try to be available,” Hurts said, “and rather the risk-reward of playing today, whatever that was, we did what we had to do. We’re the No. 1 seed and we’re NFC East champs, and that’s the goal we set out to do. Now I can continue to recover and be ready for the playoffs.”

When asked how his shoulder felt, Hurts said, “Good enough to win today,” while Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni described the former Alabama standout as “still sore.”

“It wasn’t like he was perfect out there in the sense of what he felt like,” Sirianni said. “We didn’t feel like there was more risk, but he was hurting. He was hurting bad. But that’s the kind of competitor he is, the kind of person that he is, the kind of teammate and leader that he is that he was able to go out there and stick and tough through it.”

Hurts completed 20-of-35 passes for 229 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and ran nine times for 13 yards. The game was the first this season for Hurts in which he did not have at least either a touchdown pass or a touchdown run.

“I had some things I had to battle within myself,” Hurts said. “I knew I wanted to be available for my team. It’s really tough being out, let alone taking some losses when you’re out. I wanted to be available for my team. I really feel like if you want something you got to do what you got to do to go get it. Today, we did just enough to get that goal. Now, it’s 0-0, and we have a new goal in front of us.”

After opening with a field goal on a series that started with a 35-yard completion on Philadelphia’s first snap of the game, the Eagles took their second possession 80 yards in 12 plays to grab a 10-0 lead with 4:14 left in the first quarter. Hurts completed his five passes for 62 yards on the touchdown drive.

After that, Philadelphia’s offense produced four field goals and two punts, and Hurts threw an interception in the end zone on a third-and-goal snap from the New York 7 on the play after a 2-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith was nullified because guard Landon Dickerson was flagged for being downfield illegally.

“We just accomplished a great goal of ours,” Hurts said. “It’s something this year that we set out to do, and it’s something that we did. My whole thing moving forward is: Let’s prepare to play our best ball. It’s been a great ride this year, but the job isn’t finished, so keep on going.”

Philadelphia’s next opponent won’t be known until after the Wild-Card Weekend games are played. But the Eagles will play at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Jan. 21 or 22.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.