There’s nothing more exciting than December football, especially when playoff implications are involved. For better or worse, every team in the NFC East has a shot at winning the divisional crown and advancing to the playoffs. With just two games left this season, here’s how the Philadelphia Eagles can still make their way into the big dance.
The standings
Washington 6-8
Cowboys 5-9
Giants 5-9
Eagles 4-9-1
The games remaining
Washington: Vs Panthers, @ Philadelphia
Cowboys: Vs Eagles, @ Giants
Giants: @ Ravens, Vs Cowboys
Eagles: @ Cowboys, Vs Washington
What the Eagles need in week 16
If you’re not quite ready to give up on the season and root for a top-5 pick just yet, the path from here on out is simple. The Eagles love ‘controlling their own destiny’ and right now that destiny has to involve a pair of wins against divisional opponents if they are to have any hope of stealing the Crown at the last breath.
Needing to pass all three teams in the division isn’t exactly ideal, but it’s not impossible. Teddy Bridgewater is a monster as a road underdog and the division-leading WFT are surrounded by mists of controversy right now. If Washington drop the ball here and the Eagles claw out a win over the Cowboys, that’s two birds killed with one stone in the hopes that the Ravens can knock off a third. Then it all comes down to week 17.
A win over the Cowboys today would eliminate Dallas from the NFC playoff picture and vault the Eagles one step closer.
If the Eagles somehow beat both the Cowboys and Washington, they’d somehow have rallied to a 4-2 divisional record…which is frankly ridiculous considering the amount of (self-created) problems the team has endured.
However, if Washington find a way to push through adversity and beat the Panthers, they effectively eliminate the Eagles and Cowboys at the same time, rendering their week 17 results useless.
As for the Giants, the Eagles just need them to lose (as they should) against the Ravens. If they don’t, then they’re right in the thick of it and could be facing a disheartened Dallas team who may have already thrown in the towel. If the Giants win-out, they would win the NFC East if Washington lose once…which seems likely. This is easily big blue’s biggest game of the season, so watch it closely Eagles fans.
Buckle up, Eagles fans
Today is going to be spicy. The divisional race is either going to be agonizingly close going into week 17 or totally out of reach. Each scenario would open its own bucket of worms, but the Birds have every chance to come out of today as a real contender to retain their divisional crown – becoming the first team to do so since they did it back in 2004.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
