December 17, 2023

Week 15 non-Eagles rooting guide

The Eagles would benefit from Bills and Cardinals wins on Sunday in a continuing chase after the NFC's No. 1 seed.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles will hope Josh Allen plays as well against the Cowboys as he did in Philly earlier this season.

Each week during the NFL season we lay out a rooting guide for non-Eagles games on the schedule. And yes, I'm aware that most of the below is obvious. Ideal winners bolded.

NFC East

The standings:

NFC East	Record	Division	GB
Cowboys	10-3	4-1	-
Eagles	10-3	3-1	-
Giants	5-8	2-2	5
Commanders	4-9	0-5	6

The NFC East is a two-team race between the Eagles and Cowboys, as usual. As a reminder, the tiebreakers for the division are as follows:

Head-to-head games
Division record
Record against common opponents

The Eagles are now tied with the Cowboys atop the NFC East after the Cowboys stomped them Week 14. The Cowboys (kinda) lead the NFC East on tiebreakers because they have played (and won) one more divisional game than the Eagles, but if the Eagles win out they'll win the division.

A look at their common opponents so far, should the tiebreaking process get that far:

Common Opponent	PHI	DAL	WAS	NYG
49ers	Loss	Loss		Loss
Cardinals		Loss	Win	Win
Rams	Win	Win
Seahawks		Win	Loss	Loss
Bills	Win		Loss	Loss
Dolphins	Win		Loss	Loss
Jets	Loss	Win		Loss
Patriots	Win	Win	Win	Win

The next tiebreaker after common opponents is conference record. The Cowboys' loss to the Cardinals (an NFC team) is worse than the Eagles' loss to the Jets (an AFC team).

The NFC East games:

• Cowboys at Bills: This is the game of the week in the NFL. The Bills need to keep winning to stay in playoff contention in the AFC, and the Cowboys need it for playoff-seeding purposes. Obviously, the Eagles will be rooting hard for a Cowboys loss (duh).

• Commanders at Rams: The more games the Commanders win and mess up their draft positioning, the better.

• Giants at Saints: A few weeks ago, the Giants looked like the worst team in the NFL, but after winning three straight they actually have a 2 percent chance of making the playoffs, per The New York Times' playoff predictor. If they beat the Saints, that'll rise to 7 percent. A loss in New Orleans would more or less end their season.

It's probably not ideal for the Eagles if the Giants come into Philly on Christmas with confidence while riding a four-game winning streak and a puncher's chance of making the playoffs.

The chase for the 1 seed

The NFC standings:

Seed	NFC standings	Record	Conf record
1	49ers	10-3	8-1
2	Cowboys	10-3	7-3
3	Lions	10-4	6-3
4	Buccaneers	6-7	5-4
5	Eagles	10-3	6-2
6	Vikings	7-7	6-3
7	Packers	6-7	4-4
8	Rams	6-7	4-4
9	Seahawks	6-7	5-5
10	Falcons	6-7	4-5
11	Saints	6-7	3-5
12	Giants	5-8	4-4
13	Bears	5-8	4-5
14	Commanders	4-9	2-7
15	Cardinals	3-10	2-6
16	Panthers	1-12	0-9

As you can see, the Cowboys aside, the Lions and 49ers are the Eagles' biggest threats for the 1 seed in the NFC.

• 49ers at Cardinals: As we mentioned in our Week 15 picks, in the three Niners-Cardinals matchups since 2022, the Niners are outscoring the Cardinals 111-39, so don't expect any help here.

• The Lions beat the Broncos on Saturday, helping solidify their likelihood of winning the NFC North.

Draft pick watch

The Eagles own the Saints' second-round pick, so the more games they lose they better, typically. But as noted above, in my opinion this is a rare week in which a Saints win over the Giants is more ideal. Anyway, as always, let's fire up the PFF mock draft simulator!

• Round 1: J.C. Latham, OT, Alabama
• Round 2 (from Saints): Kamren Kinchens, S, Miami
• Round 2: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
• Round 3: Calen Bullock, S, USC
• Round 4: TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State
• Round 5: Beaux Limmer, iOL, Arkansas
• Round 5: Justin Eboigbe, DL, Alabama
• Round 5: Mike Sainristil, CB, Michigan

Of course, it's best if a team other than the Saints wins the NFC South: