NFC Playoff Picture: Eagles Fan Rooting Guide For NFL Week 12

The Philadelphia Eagles don’t play the Green Bay Packers until Monday night. In the meantime, here’s what Eagles fans should be rooting for on Sunday in the interest of Philadelphia’s playoff hopes.

Before we get started, here’s a look at the current NFC playoff picture.

1 – Dallas Cowboys (10-1)
2 – Seattle Seahawks (7-2-1)
3 – Detroit Lions (7-4)
4 – Atlanta Falcons (6-4)
5 – New York Giants (7-3)
6 – Washington Redskins (6-4-1)

7 – Minnesota Vikings (6-5)
8 –  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-5)
9 – Philadelphia Eagles (5-5)
10 – Arizona Cardinals (4-5-1)

And now for Sunday’s matchups.

Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons: The Eagles are already ahead of the Cardinals, but another Arizona loss would increase Philadelphia’s lead. Eagles fans should be rooting for Bruce Arians’ team to lose in this contest. Then again, one could argue it’s better if the Falcons lose their NFC South lead since the Eagles hold a direct tie-breaker over Atlanta … which brings us to the next game. Root for the Falcons.

Seattle Seahawks at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs currently have a tie-breaker over the Eagles in the standings due to owning a better conference record. A Tampa Bay loss here, combined with an Eagles win on Monday night, would put Philadelphia at the No. 7 spot. The Birds would only be 0.5 games back on the sixth seed. So … Eagles fans should be rooting for a Seahawks win. The Buccaneers winning would only be useful to the Eagles if Tampa Bay can somehow go on a run for the NFC South lead that coincides with the Falcons going on a losing streak. That doesn’t seem likely given Tampa Bay’s difficult remaining schedule, though, so Seattle is the team Eagles fans should be cheering on. Root for the Seahawks.

New York Giants at Cleveland Browns: The Giants don’t seem to be as good as their record indicates, but the G-Men have a real chance at going 8-3 with a game against the 0-11 Browns on Sunday. Cleveland pulling off the unexpected upset would be very entertaining for Eagles fans. It would also help the Eagles catch up to New York if the Birds can beat the Packers. Root for the Browns.

Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints: This one doesn’t matter a ton for the Eagles, but a Rams win is preferable here since New Orleans ranks higher in the standings. Not to mention that a Drew Brees quarterbacked team is much more threatening than a Jared Goff quarterbacked team. Root for the Rams.

All of this rooting will obviously be for naught if the Eagles can’t take care of business and beat the Packers on Monday night. But if everything breaks the Eagles’ way this weekend, here’s what the standings would ideally look like for the Birds with five games to go.

1 – Dallas Cowboys (10-1)
2 – Seattle Seahawks (8-2-1)
3 – Detroit Lions (7-4)
4 – Atlanta Falcons (6-4)
5 – New York Giants (7-4)
6 – Washington Redskins (6-4-1)

7 – Philadelphia Eagles (6-5)
8 – Minnesota Vikings (6-5)

…

Feel free to use this post as an open thread to discuss Sunday’s games.