NFL Playoff Predictions: Scenarios in Which Eagles Make the Postseason

With a win in Week 11, the Philadelphia Eagles have prolonged their playoff desperation.

As sad as the 2011 season has been, the Eagles have not been knocked completely out of playoff contention.

Thanks to blown leads and poor play, an Eagles postseason appearance will require several small miracles.

The NFL is a league in which crazy things happen, and that is exactly what the Eagles need.

Eagles Must Win Out

First and foremost, the Philadelphia Eagles will have to go on a staggering run.

In order to keep their faint hopes alive, this team will need to win each of their final six games.

A seventh loss would likely be the last straw for this Philadelphia squad.

The Eagles must be prefect from here on out and get some help. It's an extremely tall order, but here's what it takes.

Eagles Catch Cowboys

The first Eagles playoff scenario is for them to catch the Dallas Cowboys, who currently sit atop the NFC
East.

The Eagles will aim to chase down the division leader rather than having to scratch and hope for a Wild Card berth.

If Philadelphia truly does catch fire and finish the season 10-6, the division title could be within their grasp.

Cowboys Beat Giants, Fall to Eagles

The Eagles still have one more matchup with the Cowboys.

If Philadelphia wins that December game, it will control the head-to-head tiebreaker over Dallas.

In order for this scenario to fully come together, Dallas will also have to split with the New York Giants.

With a loss to Philadelphia and one to New York, the Cowboys could finish with a 10-6 record.

If the Eagles are able to win out, as we said they must, they would take the division title by virtue of head-to-head wins.

Eagles Catch Giants

The New York Giants are currently second in the division with a 6-4 record, identical to that of the Cowboys.

In order to storm back and take the NFC East, the Eagles will also have to pass the Giants.

The Eagles and Giants will not face each other again this season, so the Giants will have to give a little help in order for the Eagles to complete this comeback.

Catching two divisional rivals with only six games remaining won't be easy, but it is possible.

Giants Collapse Under Weight of Schedule

It’s no secret that the Giants have to face a brutal second-half schedule.

They started off with a quality win against New England, but have since fallen to San Francisco and Philadelphia.

If the Eagles have any hope of taking the division, New York must continue to lose.

The Giants still have to play the Saints, Packers, Jets and the Cowboys twice. That’s not an easy road.

With three more losses, the Giants will leave the door open for the Eagles.

What It Takes for the Wild Card

If the Eagles can’t catch both the Cowboys and Giants, they will have to push for a Wild Card berth.

These scenarios are even tougher than a division title at this point.

Philadelphia is already three games out of the sixth spot and would to contend with even more teams jockeying for position.

A Wild Card spot is unlikely, but here is what would have to happen.

Seattle Drifts Back

This is by far the easiest portion of any of these playoff scenarios.

The Seattle Seahawks are 4-6 and ahead of the Eagles by one position in the Wild Card hunt.

The Eagles can pass the Seahawks during a Week 13 head-to-head matchup.

Knocking off Seattle moves Philadelphia one step closer to a playoff spot.

Edge out Atlanta

The Falcons are going to be difficult to catch. They are 6-4 and have a relatively nice schedule to close out the season.

The toughest matchups left for Atlanta are at Houston and at New Orleans.

The Eagles need the Falcons to lose both of those road contests and suffer an upset.

The Falcons would have to fall to a team like Carolina in order to get knocked down to 9-7 and give the Eagles a shot.

Chicago Collapse

The Chicago Bears are in a strong position at 7-3 and three games ahead of the Eagles.

It would take a disastrous 2-4 finish in order for Philadelphia to have a chance to pass the Bears, who hold a head-to-head win.

With quarterback Jay Cutler seemingly done for the regular season, the Bears will have to count on Caleb Hanie down the stretch.

However, with Matt Forte and a strong defense, this would mark a monumental collapse even with an unproven quarterback.

Detroit Collapse

The final (and least likely) scenario is for the Detroit Lions to completely fall apart.

Detroit is another 7-3 team that is three games ahead of the Eagles.

There are some challenges on the Lions schedule as they face Green Bay twice, New Orleans, San Diego and a surprisingly strong Oakland team.

In this scenario, the Eagles can only hope that the Lions regress back to their 2008 form.

I don’t see that happening.