Each week we'll lay out a rooting guide for non-Eagles games on the NFL schedule for those of you on the fence while watching the other action around the league. Ideal winners bolded.
NFC East
First, a look at the updated NFC East standings:
| NFC East | Record | Div record | GB |
| Eagles | 12-2 | 3-0 | - |
| Commanders | 9-5 | 2-2 | 3 |
| Cowboys | 6-8 | 3-1 | 6 |
| Giants | 2-12 | 0-5 | 10 |
The Eagles play the Commanders this week, and will clinch the NFC East with a win or tie.
The Giants play the Falcons, and the Cowboys play the Buccaneers. The fates of the Falcons and Bucs this season are of more interest to the Eagles at this point, so we'll get to them in them momentarily.
NFC contenders
As usual, let's first look at the NFC seeding if the season ended today (it doesn't).
| Seed | Team | Record | Conf record |
| 1 | Lions | 12-2 | 8-1 |
| 2 | Eagles | 12-2 | 7-2 |
| 3 | Buccaneers | 8-6 | 6-3 |
| 4 | Rams | 8-6 | 5-5 |
| 5 | Vikings | 12-2 | 7-2 |
| 6 | Packers | 10-4 | 5-4 |
| 7 | Commanders | 9-5 | 6-3 |
| 8 | Seahawks | 8-6 | 4-5 |
| 9 | Falcons | 7-7 | 6-3 |
| 10 | Cardinals | 7-7 | 3-6 |
| 11 | 49ers | 6-8 | 4-6 |
| 12 | Cowboys | 6-8 | 4-5 |
| 13 | Saints | 5-9 | 4-6 |
| 14 | Bears ☠️ | 4-10 | 2-7 |
| 15 | Panthers ☠️ | 3-11 | 2-7 |
| 16 | Giants ☠️ | 2-12 | 1-9 |
The Eagles cannot be the 3 seed or 4 seed. There is a 99 percent chance that they will be either the 2 seed (67 percent) or the 1 seed (32 percent), per Inpredictable.
The 1 seed
If we're operating out of the assumption that the Eagles need to win out to have any realistic chance at the 1 seed, they need the following to occur:
- One more Lions loss, AND...
- One Vikings loss, OR a "strength of victory" tiebreaker over the Vikings.
• Lions at Bears: Duh. Rooting for the Bears must be a miserable experience for Chicagoans. Welcome to their world.
• Vikings at Seahawks: This game has some potential for a Vikings loss.
On the "strength of victory" front, the following outcomes are best for the Eagles. The great Deniz Selman mapped out a point system that will decide the SOV tiebreaker, shown here:
So, you know, the following outcomes are best for the Eagles for that tiebreaker:
- Texans at Chiefs
- Rams at Jets
- Cardinals at Panthers
- Giants at Falcons
- Lions at Bears
- 49ers at Dolphins
- Buccaneers at Cowboys
- Saints at Packers
However, some of those outcomes contradict what is best for the Eagles, big picture.
• Obviously, a Lions loss is more ideal, for example.
• A Packers win is better for the Eagles. Why? Well, they're currently the 6 seed, and the Commanders are currently the 7 seed. The Commanders are only a game behind the Packers, and hold the tiebreaker. If the Commanders overtake the Packers for the 6 seed, the Eagles would have to play the 7 seed Packers in the first round if they're the 2 seed. That is a much worse matchup than the Commanders, so it's best if the Packers keep winning and clinch at least the 6 seed.
• It's better for the Eagles if the Falcons — and not the Buccaneers — win the NFC South, so a Falcons win is more ideal.
Irrelevant to the Eagles
- Browns at Bengals
- Titans at Colts
- Patriots at Bills
- Jaguars at Raiders
MORE: Reviewing the Eagles' four 'choke out' drives to close games this season
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