Eagles' Playoff Hopes Now Depend Entirely on Luck, Colts

How quickly things change in the NFL.

Two weeks ago, the Eagles were boasting a 9-3 record, coming off a glorious Thanksgiving Day win over the rival Dallas Cowboys and entertaining the possibility of home-field advantage. But after Sunday night's loss to the Cowboys, the Eagles now no longer control their destiny, and their entire season will likely depend on the Cowboys' matchup against the Colts in Week 16.

Why the shocking turn of events? Unfortunately, a two-game losing streak is all it takes to suddenly have a season on life support in the strong NFC. A look at the NFC standings will reveal the hole the Eagles are in.

Team	Division	Record	Conference Record	Division Record
Arizona Cardinals	NFC West	11-3	8-2	3-1
Seattle Seahawks	NFC West	10-4	8-2	3-1
Detroit Lions	NFC North	10-4	8-2	4-0
Green Bay Packers	NFC North	10-4	7-3	4-1
Dallas Cowboys	NFC East	10-4	7-4	3-2
Philadelphia Eagles	NFC East	9-5	5-5	3-1

The table excludes the lowly NFC South, which will sadly produce a postseason team despite being all but guaranteed to have a below-.500 record. Out of all the other NFC playoff contenders, the only team to lose in Week 15 was the Green Bay Packers. The Eagles are therefore the only playoff-contending team in the NFC to have fewer than 10 wins.

Worse than that, however, is the Eagles' conference record. As the table shows, the Eagles have by far the worst NFC record out of all the non-NFC South teams at a lowly 5-5. The second-lowest NFC records are the Packers (7-3) and the Cowboys (7-4). Even if the Eagles win out, beating the Redskins and the Giants to end the season, the Packers are unlikely to lose their remaining two games, as they face off against the lowly Buccaneers (2-12) next week.

Team	Week 16	Week 17
Arizona Cardinals (11-3)	Seahawks (10-4)	49ers (7-7)
Seattle Seahawks (10-4)	Cardinals (11-3)	Rams (6-8)
Detroit Lions (10-4)	Bears (5-8)	Packers (10-4)
Green Bay Packers (10-4)	Buccaneers (2-12)	Lions (10-4)
Dallas Cowboys (10-4)	Colts (10-4)	Redskins (3-11)
Philadelphia Eagles (9-5)	Redskins (3-11)	Giants (5-9)

Finishing with a superior record to grab a fifth or sixth seed also may be overly wishful thinking. The Lions (10-4) play the Bears (5-8) and the Packers (10-4). The Seahawks (10-4) play the Cardinals (11-3) and the Rams (6-8). It's possible, but not likely, that those two teams will finish 10-6 and allow the Eagles to make the playoffs with a 11-5 record.

The most likely scenario, therefore, is that the Eagles make the postseason by winning the division. The one advantage that Philadelphia has is its strong division record (3-1).

The Cowboys play the Colts (10-4) and the Redskins (3-11) to finish the season. It's not likely that they will fall to the Redskins, but falling to Andrew Luck and the No. 2-ranked Colts offense is a realistic possibility.

Philadelphia will need to win out in any playoff scenario. If the Eagles emerge victorious over the Redskins and the Giants (5-9), which they should be favored to, just one loss by Dallas would be enough for the Eagles to clinch the NFC East. Both teams would finish with 11-5 records, but Dallas would finish with a 4-2 divisional record versus Philadelphia's 5-1, giving the Eagles the tiebreaker.

For the Eagles, the postseason is still a realistic goal. But one loss to Dallas has put those hopes in jeopardy. If the Colts go down in Dallas in Week 16, Philadelphia's playoff hopes will very likely go down with them.

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