Chance for the No. 2 Seed Seemed to Good to Be True for the Philadelphia Eagles

This was the last situation the Philadelphia Eagles wanted to experience at the end of the season: A loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 to lose the NFC East title.

Not to mention their missed opportunity to get the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

There’s no doubt how much the loss to the Cowboys hurts for not only the Eagles, but their fans that seem to ride this same roller coaster each season.

Philadelphia gets hot towards the end of the season and seems to be one of the favorites in the NFC entering postseason play. Once they get to that point where it seems like they are finally going to go the distance, the Eagles fail and let everyone down.

After two straight losses to the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers, the Eagles appeared to be slowly slipping away as contenders in the NFC with a 5-4 record. After their loss to the Chargers, they went on a six-game winning streak and set themselves up with a chance at the No. 2 seed in the NFC—which seemed nearly impossible a few weeks ago, considering the Minnesota Vikings seemed to be a sure lock for it.

Of the four teams who had a shot at the No. 2 seed entering Week 17, the Eagles had the best chance out of anyone, considering they just needed to win against the Cowboys. There was no scenario where they needed to win and receive help from other teams like last season.

All they had to do was win.

Instead, the Eagles enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the NFC and will open the postseason against the same Dallas team that has already beat them twice this season.

Sure, it would have been nice for the Eagles to enjoy an extra week of rest. However, the end of Philadelphia’s win streak may be a blessing in disguise.

Over their six-game winning streak, there were at least four games the Eagles could have easily let slip away yet still managed to come through.

Their fourth quarter comebacks against the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins.

A 45-38 win over the New York Giants in a game which no team seemed to know how to play defense.

And, of course, there was the 30-27 win over the Denver Broncos where the Eagles blew a 17-point second half lead.

As impressive as each win seemed, it was only a matter of time before the Eagles luck ran out and they came up on the losing side. All good things must come to an end at some point, and Philadelphia’s luck seemed to run out last weekend in Dallas.

The Eagles and their fans should be glad the winning streak came to an end last weekend instead of in the divisional round of the playoffs. The only win streak that matters in the NFL now is which of the remaining 12 teams is still streaking after February 7.