Eagles rooting guide for Week 16 games

Philadelphia needs some help to get the No. 1 seed.

The sixteenth Sunday of the 2024 NFL regular season is approaching! Let’s run through a Philadelphia Eagles-focused rooting guide for all of the Week 16 games.

HUNT FOR THE FIRST-ROUND BYE + MERRY CLINCHMAS

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at WASHINGTON COMMANDERS: The Eagles’ most simple path to the No. 1 seed involves 1) them winning out, 2) Detroit losing once, and 3) Minnesota losing once. At the very least, a win over the Commanders means the Eagles clinch the NFC East and no worse than the No. 2 seed. Go Birds.

DETROIT LIONS at CHICAGO BEARS: The Eagles are huge Bears fans this week. Root for da Bears.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS at SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: The Eagles are huge Seahawks fans this week. Root for the Seahawks.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

Here’s a look at the current NFC Playoff Picture via ESPN:

LOS ANGELES RAMS at NEW YORK JETS: The Seahawks winning the NFC West is preferable to the Rams winning that division. Also, a Rams loss helps to keep San Francisco alive, which could matter in terms of Detroit playing the Niners in Week 17. Eagles might need SF to try hard to win that game. Root for the Jets.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS at MIAMI DOLPHINS: The Eagles don’t want the 49ers to make the playoffs but they do want the Niners to be motivated to beat the Lions in Week 17. Root for the 49ers.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at DALLAS COWBOYS: The Eagles would rather the Bucs not win the NFC South/make the playoffs. And the Cowboys winning really only serves to damage their draft positioning. Root for the Cowboys.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at GREEN BAY PACKERS: In the event the Eagles have to settle for the No. 2 seed, it would not be ideal to host Green Bay in the wild card round. The Packers winning helps to prevent them from falling to the No. 7 spot. Root for the Packers.

DRAFT POSITIONING

The Eagles want to see the Giants and Cowboys pick up some meaningless wins to ruin their draft positioning. They also want to see other teams stay/move ahead of their NFC East rivals in the 2025 NFL Draft order. Speaking of, here’s the current outlook for projected non-playoff teams via Tankathon:

NEW YORK GIANTS at ATLANTA FALCONS: The Giants winning could take them out of the running for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The silver lining to a Giants loss is that the Falcons still have a chance to prevent Tampa from winning the NFC South. Root for the Giants.

ARIZONA CARDINALS at CAROLINA PANTHERS: The Panthers losing gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Cardinals.

TENNESSEE TITANS at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: The Titans losing gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Colts.

CLEVELAND BROWNS at CINCINNATI BENGALS: The Browns losing gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Bengals.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at BUFFALO BILLS: The Patriots losing gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Bills.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS at LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: The Raiders have the best chance of preventing the Giants from getting the No. 1 pick. Need Las Vegas to keep losing. Root for the Jaguars.

WHAT’S LEFT

HOUSTON TEXANS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: If you really want to get into the weeds, you can root against the Texans because the Eagles own Houston’s fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. But it might be more prudent to root against the Chiefs getting a first-round bye and thus giving Patrick Mahomes extra time to heal.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS at BALTIMORE RAVENS: The case can be made that the Ravens are the more threatening team to the Eagles in a potential Super Bowl matchup. So, best to see Baltimore not make it there. They’ll have a harder path by not winning the AFC North.