Eagles' Rooting Guide for NFL Playoff Implications of Week 15
The Philadelphia Eagles find themselves in an unfamiliar position in the NFC standings entering Week 15.
The Eagles dropped down to the No. 5 seed after their Week 14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Philadelphia can still win the NFC East if it finishes the season 4-0, but it would also love to get some help from Dallas' opponents, starting with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
A Buffalo win will not help with any tiebreakers, but it would open up a window for the Eagles to reclaim first place in the NFC East with a Monday night win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Nick Sirianni's team is out of the race for the No. 1 seed either, but it needs help from the San Francisco 49ers' opponents for that to happen.
The 49ers are unlikely to lose against the Arizona Cardinals, but if the Cardinals can beat the Cowboys without Kyler Murray, why not dream of an upset with him?
Bills over Cowboys
1 of 3
The Eagles need Josh Allen to produce a similar performance against Dallas that he had at Lincoln Financial Field.
Allen and the Bills need a win on Sunday to gain some ground in the AFC wild-card race, which will see at least one team drop from 7-6 in Saturday's clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts.
Buffalo could leapfrog the Houston Texans, who listed C.J. Stroud as doubtful for Sunday, the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals.
Losses by Cincinnati and Denver to the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions on Saturday would help Buffalo's wild-card cause, and in turn, potentially provide a boost to the Eagles' chances of moving one game ahead of the Cowboys in the NFC East.
Dallas has not lost since Week 9, but that defeat came on the road in Philadelphia. All three of Dallas' losses taken place on the road.
A Buffalo win would be great from the Eagles' perspective to slow down Dallas' momentum and hopefully start a two-game losing swing with the Miami Dolphins opposing the Cowboys in Week 16.
Cardinals over 49ers
2 of 3
If the Cardinals can beat the Cowboys without Murray, they can defeat the 49ers with him.
That has to be the rallying cry among the Eagles organization and fan base in Week 15.
The Cardinals sit in a weird spot going into Sunday since they are in competition for the No. 1 overall pick, but do not need to tank for Caleb Williams or Drake Maye if Murray is still their quarterback.
Murray has four games left to confirm that he can still be Arizona's quarterback for years to come and that draft picks should be used to build around him.
Arizona won its last game in Week 13 on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it could catch the 49ers napping on Sunday.
San Francisco has a potential Super Bowl preview on the horizon against the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Day and it is coming off a gauntlet in which it faced the Seahawks twice and beat the Eagles.
The 49ers reside in a perfect let down spot, and if a loss happens, the Eagles could take back the No. 1 seed with a win over the Seahawks.
Broncos over Lions
3 of 3
The Eagles are mostly concerned with the 49ers and Cowboys, but they would not mind a buffer between themselves and the Lions.
Detroit enters Saturday as the No. 3 seed with a 9-4 record. A loss to the Broncos would probably take the Lions out of the home-field advantage competition for good.
It is hard to imagine the 49ers, Cowboys and Eagles all finishing with five losses, so a Lions defeat would likely keep the NFC North leader locked into the No. 3 seed for the rest of the season.
The Lions will not matter to the Eagles unless they are both division leaders and contain the same record.
Detroit plays Minnesota twice and visits Dallas in the final three weeks of the regular season, so Saturday's result may not matter, but the Eagles would prefer for the Lions to lose sooner rather than later to keep them third for good.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
