October 20, 2024
Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images
Jayden Daniels and the Commanders are heavy favorites over the Panthers Week 7.
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. And yes, first and foremost the Eagles have to get their act together.
• Panthers at Commanders: The NFC East looks like this:
| NFC East | Record | Div record |
| Commanders | 4-2 | 1-0 |
| Eagles | 3-2 | 0-0 |
| Cowboys | 3-3 | 1-0 |
| Giants | 2-4 | 0-2 |
The Ravens cooled off the Commanders Week 6, but the Commanders are heavy favorites Week 7 over the Panthers, who are probably the worst team in the NFL. A Commanders loss is ideal, duh.
First, let's look at the NFC seeding if the season ended today (it doesn't).
| Seed | Team | Record | Conf record |
| 1 | Vikings | 5-0 | 3-0 |
| 2 | Falcons | 4-2 | 4-0 |
| 3 | Commanders | 4-2 | 2-1 |
| 4 | 49ers | 3-3 | 1-3 |
| 5 | Lions | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| 6 | Buccaneers | 4-2 | 4-1 |
| 7 | Packers | 4-2 | 2-2 |
| 8 | Bears | 4-2 | 2-0 |
| 9 | Eagles | 3-2 | 2-2 |
| 10 | Cowboys | 3-3 | 1-2 |
| 11 | Seahawks | 3-3 | 0-3 |
| 12 | Cardinals | 2-4 | 2-3 |
| 13 | Giants | 2-4 | 1-3 |
| 14 | Saints | 2-5 | 2-3 |
| 15 | Rams | 1-4 | 1-4 |
| 16 | Panthers ☠️ | 1-5 | 0-3 |
• Lions at Vikings: While the Vikings have gotten out to an incredible start, it's hard to look at Sam Darnold as a legitimate threat to lead them through the playoffs to the Super Bowl, so if a team other than the Eagles is going to earn the 1 seed in the NFC, it may as well be Minnesota. The Lions are the more dangerous of these two teams, in my opinion, and a loss to the Vikings in this matchup would hurt their chances of winning the NFC North. And, of course, if you make the playoffs as a wildcard, your march to the Super Bowl is usually exclusively via road games.
• Seahawks at Falcons: The Falcons are a more ideal NFC South winner than the Buccaneers, who very clearly have Jalen Hurts' number.
Ideally, some team could battle the 49ers in the NFC West, but they don't really have much competition, as the Rams are banged-up, the Seahawks are pretenders, and the Cardinals aren't good.
• Chiefs at 49ers: As always, every Niners loss is good for the rest of the NFC.
• Texans at Packers: The Packers proved that they were dangerous in January last season, and nobody wants to play in Lambeau that time of year, so again, the Vikings are the most ideal NFC North winner.
• Ravens at Buccaneers: As noted above, the Eagles want no parts of the Bucs in the playoffs again. (Or at least they shouldn't.)
• Raiders at Rams: The Rams are 1-4 with a -45 point differential, but they are getting some of their best players back from injury. If they fall to 1-5, they might start thinking about selling ahead of the November.5 trade deadline, which would make them an easier opponent when the Eagles face them in L.A. Week 12.
MORE: Eagles activate S Sydney Brown from PUP list
The following bolded teams play the Eagles this season, so they're just worth keeping an eye on, but it doesn't really matter who wins these games.
MORE: Five things to watch in Eagles-Giants
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