December 24, 2022

Week 16 non-Eagles rooting guide

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Chuck Cook/USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles will hope Andy Dalton still has a few more losses in him.

With a win over the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve, the Philadelphia Eagles will clinch the NFC East as well as the 1 seed, a first-round bye, and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, while celebrating with hats and t-shirts on their biggest rivals' field. There is still a whole lot to play for, even if the Cowboys made the Birds' path to all of the above easier with their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday.

Even with the Eagles so close to wrapping up the NFC's top seed, there's still stuff to root for around the rest of the NFL, so let's get to all that. Ideal winners bolded.

The 1 seed

Again, as noted above, if the Eagles win today, it's a wrap. If they don't win today, then one of the following two things would have to occur for the Eagles to still get the 1 seed:

They would have to beat either the Saints Week 17 or the Giants Week 18.
They would need the Cowboys, 49ers, and Vikings to all lose at least one more game.

So, the following outcomes are better for the Eagles, just in case:

Giants at Vikings
Commanders at 49ers

Yes, the Eagles can benefit from two other hated rivals winning today. There is actually an unlikely scenario in which the Eagles can lose today, and they can still clinch the 1 seed by the time they have to play the Saints next Sunday. That would be if the Giants beat the Vikings, the Commnaders beat the 49ers, and the Cowboys lose in Tennessee on Thursday Night Football in Week 17.

Draft positioning

A week ago, the Saints' first-round pick, which of course is owned by the Eagles, was fifth overall. With the Saints' win over the Falcons Week 15, it tumbled down to ninth overall. As always, let's fire up the mock draft simulator each week just for fun:

• Pick No. 9: Paris Johnson, Jr., OL, Ohio State: RG of the present, RT of the future.

• Pick No. 31: Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida: Huge, athletic beast of a man with iDL versatility.

• Pick No. 63: Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas: Big-hitting, productive, athletic off-ball linebacker / edge defender hybrid.

• Pick No. 95: Derick Hall, Edge, Auburn: Speed / speed-to-power rusher with upside if he can build on his pass rush repertoire.

• Pick No. 196: Jake Haener, QB, Fresno State: Crafty playmaker lacking special physical gifts. Gives me some Gardner Minshew vibes.

• Pick No. 227: Mohamed Ibrahim, RB, Minnesota: Compact, physical run finisher, but lacking speed.

Anyway, getting back on track, a look at the top 18, via Tankathon:

Texans: 1-12-1
Bears: 3-11
Broncos (owned by the Seahawks): 4-10
Rams (owned by the Lions): 4-10
Cardinals: 4-10
Colts: 4-9-1
Falcons: 5-9
Panthers: 5-9
Saints (owned by the Eagles): 5-9
Raiders: 6-8
Browns (owned by the Texans): 6-8
Steelers: 6-8
Packers: 6-8
Jaguars: 7-8
Jets: 7-8
Seahawks: 7-7
Patri*ts: 7-7
Lions: 7-7

Both the ceiling and the floor of that Saints pick can improve this week. Here are the ideal winners around the rest of the league in terms of draft positioning, in order of importance:

Saints at Browns: Duh.
Buccaneers at Cardinals: The Saints will be officially eliminated from the playoffs with a loss and a Bucs win. Also, it's better if the Bucs win the NFC South. They can give the Cowboys a game in the wildcard round, while the second most likely NFC South winner, the Panthers, probably cannot.
Lions at Panthers
Falcons at Ravens
Colts at Chargers
Raiders at Steelers: Both of these teams are 6-8, but the Raiders had a super soft schedule this season, so they would win a draft order tiebreaker if they end up with the same record as the Saints.
Broncos at Rams: These two teams represent the third and fourth overall picks. I don't think it matters which team wins, but one of them will fall in the draft order.
Bears at Bills
Dolphins at Packers
Seahawks at Chiefs
Patri*ts at Bengals
Texans at Titans: I think it's best if the Texans simply land the No. 1 overall pick and they take a quarterback.