Thanks to the Vikings' upset win over the No. 3 seed Saints, the NFC playoff picture is set for the Eagles to perhaps get a much more favorable divisional round matchup — should they prevail against Seattle Sunday afternoon, that is.
- MORE ON THE EAGLES
- NFL playoffs live updates/open thread: Eagles vs. Seahawks
- Eagles-Seahawks inactives, with analysis
- Five over/unders for Eagles' wild-card matchup vs. Seahawks
A win would send the Eagles to Green Bay for a 6:40 p.m. kickoff on Sunday, with the Vikings slated to face the 49ers in San Francisco on Saturday. It's a huge advantage for the Eagles, theoretically, for two reasons.
First, they have already beaten the Packers in Lambeau this season, a surprising 34-27 win way back in Week 5. Second, they'll avoid having to fly to the West Coast on a short week for a Saturday game.
So while sportswriters are pretty unhappy about the change of potential venues for next week, it's good news for football reasons for Philadelphia.
Here's the slate:
Saturday, Jan. 11
Vikings at 49ers, 4:35 p.m. ET (NBC)
Titans at Ravens, 8:15 p.m. ET (CBS)
Sunday, Jan. 12
Texans at Chiefs, 3:05 p.m. ET (CBS)
Seahawks/Eagles at Packers, 6:40 p.m. ET (FOX)
An extremely unlikely scenario still exists — thanks to Minnesota — that the 4-seeded Eagles could host an NFC Championship Game should the Vikings upset the Niners next week, which would set up a rematch of the 2018 NFC title game at the Linc.
The Eagles also look like they'll have DeSean Jackson next week too if they win, another piece of good news for Birds fans.
First thing's first though — they need to win their wild-card matchup with Seattle.
Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports