December 24, 2023
Jeffrey Becker/USA TODAY Sports
If Jared Goff and the Lions win out, the Eagles will be a lower seed than them.
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.
The standings:
| NFC East | Record | Division | GB |
| Cowboys | 10-4 | 4-1 | - |
| Eagles | 10-4 | 3-1 | - |
| Giants | 5-9 | 2-2 | 5 |
| Commanders | 4-10 | 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:
The Eagles are tied with the Cowboys atop the NFC East after both teams lost Week 15. The Cowboys (kinda) lead the NFC East on tiebreakers at the moment because they have played (and won) one more divisional game than the Eagles.
A look at their common opponents so far, should the tiebreaking process get that far:
| Common Opponent | PHI | DAL |
| 49ers | Loss | Loss |
| Cardinals | Loss | |
| Rams | Win | Win |
| Seahawks | Loss | Win |
| Bills | Win | Loss |
| Dolphins | Win | |
| Jets | Loss | Win |
| Patriots | Win | Win |
The next tiebreaker after common opponents is conference record. The Cowboys are 7-3 in the NFC; the Eagles are 6-3. The Cowboys play the Dolphins this week, an AFC team, so the Eagles and Cowboys will be tied on divisional record and conference record after Week 16 if the Eagles beat the Giants.
If the Eagles and Cowboys both win the rest of their games, the division will be decided by the fifth (!) tiebreaker, strength of victory. Deniz Selman has you covered there:
*IF* #Eagles & Dallas both win out, whoever wins the below strength of victory tally wins NFC East: Eagles need MIN+TB+KC+BUF+ARI total wins to beat NYJ+LAC+CAR+SEA+DET total wins.
— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) December 19, 2023
Current win totals and remaining schedules shown below. Games in green are "head to head" games. pic.twitter.com/u8Ljtv8Rau
It's now 35-29 Eagles after the Bills beat the Chargers on Saturday. The Eagles will almost certainly have a better "strength of victory" than the Cowboys, but it's still ideal if the following outcomes go as follows to lock up that tiebreaker:
Lions-Vikings will be of particular interest to the Eagles, as the Lions will clinch at least the 2 seed if they win out. (The Eagles need them to lose at least one game.)
• Cowboys at Dolphins: And, of course, it's ideal if the Cowboys lose to the Dolphins, and the Eagles simply won the division because they have a better record, but ultimately, even with a Dallas loss in Miami the Eagles still need to win out to win the division in most scenarios.
The NFC standings:
| Seed | NFC standings | Record | Conf record |
| 1 | 49ers | 11-3 | 9-1 |
| 2 | Cowboys | 10-4 | 7-3 |
| 3 | Lions | 10-4 | 6-3 |
| 4 | Buccaneers | 7-7 | 6-4 |
| 5 | Eagles | 10-4 | 6-3 |
| 6 | Rams | 8-7 | 6-4 |
| 7 | Vikings | 7-7 | 6-3 |
| 8 | Seahawks | 7-7 | 6-5 |
| 9 | Saints | 7-8 | 4-6 |
| 10 | Falcons | 6-8 | 4-6 |
| 11 | Packers | 6-8 | 4-5 |
| 12 | Giants | 5-9 | 4-5 |
| 13 | Bears | 5-9 | 4-5 |
| 14 | 4-10 | 2-8 | |
| 15 | 3-11 | 2-7 | |
| 16 | 2-12 | 1-9 |
The Niners have a commanding lead in the NFC with a 11-3 record and only 1 loss within the conference. They can actually clinch the 1 seed with a win + losses by all three of the Eagles, Cowboys, and Lions.
• Ravens at 49ers: A Ravens win would eat into the Niners' cushion atop the NFC, and at a minimum would force them to play their starters a little while longer.
The Eagles own the Saints' second-round pick, so the more games they lose they better. The Saints lost to the Rams on Thursday night. But what the hell, as always, let's fire up the PFF mock draft simulator!
• Round 1: Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
• Round 2 (from Saints): Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia
• Round 2: Jackson Powers-Johnson, iOL, Oregon
• Round 3: Trey Benson, RB, Florida State
• Round 4: Cedric Gray, LB, North Carolina
• Round 5: James Williams, S/LB, Miami
• Round 5: Cade Stover, TE, Ohio State
• Round 5: Justin Eboigbe, DL, Alabama
Of course, it's best if a team other than the Saints wins the NFC South:
There are no more byes.
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