Sunday afternoon reference material.
The twelfth Sunday of the 2024 NFL regular season is here! Let’s run through a Philadelphia Eagles-focused rooting guide for all of the Week 12 games.
HUNT FOR THE FIRST-ROUND BYE
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at LOS ANGELES RAMS: The Eagles losing to the Rams would majorly damage their hopes for the No. 1 seed. Gotta win! Go Birds.
DETROIT LIONS at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: The Eagles would love to get some help from old friend Shane Steichen here. The Eagles need the Lions to lose at some point to have a chance to catch them. Root for the Colts.
NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE
MINNESOTA VIKINGS at CHICAGO BEARS: The Eagles would prefer to see the Vikings win the NFC North instead of Detroit or Green Bay. Also, the Bears losing gives them a chance to move ahead of Dallas and New York in the draft order. Root for the Vikings.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS at GREEN BAY PACKERS: The Packers have the better record but the Niners are the bigger threat if they can manage to get healthy and figure some things out. Best to root for San Fran to be killed off. A Packers win also helps to improve the Eagles’ strength of victory tiebreaker. Root for the Packers.
ARIZONA CARDINALS at SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: The Cardinals are the bigger threat. They have a better record, a better point differential, and a better DVOA ranking. The Seahawks are arguably the least threatening team that could win the NFC West. Root for the Seahawks.
DRAFT POSITIONING
The Eagles want to see the New York Giants and Dallas 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 non-playoff teams via Tankathon:
DALLAS COWBOYS at WASHINGTON COMMANDERS: Two reasons to root for Dallas. 1) The Cowboys winning only serves to damage their draft positioning. 2) The Eagles obviously want to see the second place Commanders fall further behind them atop the NFC East. Root for the Cowboys.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at NEW YORK GIANTS: Two reasons to root for the G-Men. 1) The Giants winning only serves to damage their draft positioning. 2) The Bucs losing hurts their chances of winning the NFC South. Root for the Giants.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS at CAROLINA PANTHERS: The Panthers losing keeps them ahead of the Cowboys and gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Chiefs.
TENNESSEE TITANS at HOUSTON TEXANS: The Titans losing keeps them ahead of the Cowboys and Giants. Root for the Texans.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at MIAMI DOLPHINS: The Patriots losing keeps them ahead of the Cowboys and gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Dolphins.
DENVER BRONCOS at LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: The Raiders losing keeps them ahead of the Cowboys and gives them a chance to move ahead of the Giants. Root for the Broncos.
WHAT’S LEFT
BALTIMORE RAVENS at LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: The Eagles play the Ravens in Week 13. They probably wouldn’t mind seeing Baltimore go to overtime on Monday night. A Ravens win here is more beneficial with the thought that the Eagles have an opportunity to improve their strength of victory tiebreaker if they can beat the Ravens next weekend. Root for the Ravens.