The Philadelphia Eagles entered Week 12 with an 8-2 record. The Dallas Cowboys were 4-5-1.
Had the Eagles not blown a 21-point lead in their loss to the Cowboys, Philly’s magic number (read: the combination of Eagles wins plus Cowboys losses) to officially clinch the NFC East would’ve been down to two.
But the Eagles did blow that game. And then the Cowboys beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving. And then the Eagles lost to the Chicago Bears on Black Friday.
So the Eagles’ magic number to clinch the division remains four with five games left to play. On that note:
EAGLES REMAINING SCHEDULE
Week 14 — at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 15 — vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Week 16 — at Washington Commanders
Week 17 — at Buffalo Bills
Week 18 — vs. Washington Commanders
COWBOYS REMAINING SCHEDULE
Week 14 — at Detroit Lions
Week 15 — vs. Minnesota Vikings
Week 16 — vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Week 17 — at Washington Commanders
Week 18 — vs. New York Giants
Even if the Eagles only win two more games, the Cowboys would still lose the division if they also lose two games (math: two plus two equals the magic number of four). The odds of the Eagles winning the NFC East on FanDuel Sportsbook is -900, meaning that you’d have to place a $900 wager to win $100. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are at +650. So, you’d win $650 by placing a $100 wager.
In other words, the Eagles still have a really good chance to win the division and thus host a home playoff game.
But actually winning in the playoffs? Well, it’s hard to feel great about the Eagles’ chances at the moment with offense looking like a disaster. We can say “maybe it’ll change at some point” but that kind of feels like Charlie Brown believing in Lucy actually not pulling the football away at this point.
While the Eagles’ loss to the Bears hardly prevents the Birds from winning the NFC East, the loss is damaging from the standpoint of trying to get a first-round bye. Chicago now holds a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles in the NFC playoff picture and the Los Angeles Rams have an opportunity to increase their lead over Philly as the No. 1 seed if they beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Here’s the entire current NFC playoff picture … with the disclaimer that a bunch of teams have obviously yet to play in Week 13.
PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS
DIVISION LEADERS
1) Los Angeles Rams: 9-2
2) Chicago Bears: 9-3
3) Philadelphia Eagles: 8-4
4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6-5
WILD CARD TEAMS
5) Seattle Seahawks: 8-3
6) Green Bay Packers: 8-3-1
7) San Francisco 49ers: 8-4
…
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
IN THE HUNT
8) Detroit Lions: 7-5
9) Dallas Cowboys: 6-5-1
10) Carolina Panthers: 6-6
UNSERIOUS TEAMS
11) Atlanta Falcons: 4-7
12) Minnesota Vikings: 4-7
13) Arizona Cardinals: 3-8
14) Washington Commanders: 3-8
15) New Orleans Saints: 2-9
OFFICIALLY ELIMINATED
16) New York Giants: 2-10
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