Philadelphia Eagles: The Detailed Path to the Playoffs

The Philadelphia Eagles' win over the New York Giants has kept alive the very small hope that the Eagles might make the playoffs. Let's look at exactly what needs to take place to make this possible.

Hoping for a wild-card spot seems futile, since the Eagles would lose a tiebreaker to both the Falcons and Bears based on losses to each of them. So the Eagles' path to the playoffs must be to win the NFC East.

A record of 9-7 could win the NFC East. Let's see how.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles could wind up at 9-7 by losing to the Patriots and winning the other five games. If they do, they will wind up with a 5-1 record in the NFC East.

While this is a tall order, it is not unreasonable. The two toughest opponents would seem to be the Cowboys and the Jets. The Jets have not been setting the world on fire, and the Eagles handled the Cowboys easily recently.

The trap game on the schedule could be the Thursday night game in Seattle. That is a brutal turnaround to fly across the country in a short week. The master scheduler should never let something like that happen.

New York Giants

 It is easy to see the Giants losing their next three games against the Saints, Packers and Cowboys. They could then rally by defeating the Redskins, the Jets and finally the Cowboys on New Year's Day. So they would end up 9-7 as well by splitting their final six games.

Dallas Cowboys

They could split their two games with the Giants and lose one of their away games against either the Cardinals or Bucs. If the Eagles can beat them again on Christmas Eve, the Cowboys will end up 9-7 as well.

And with the best NFC East record at 5-1, the Eagles would win the division.

Do I think this is going to happen? No. But on the other hand, there is nothing really out of the question in the results discussed above either.

What could derail this plan?  First, the Eagles could lose more than one game. Second, either the Giants or Cowboys could finish stronger than indicated. Third, the Giants and Cowboys might not split their two games. If they do not, whoever wins both games will almost certainly win the NFC East.

So everything has to happen as outlined, or the Eagles cannot pull off this miracle. Stranger things have happened.