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 | 10-2 | 3-0 | – |
| Commanders | 8-5 | 2-2 | 2.5 |
| Cowboys | 5-7 | 3-1 | 4.5 |
| Giants | 2-10 | 0-5 | 7.5 |
The Eagles' lead over the Commanders remains at 2.5 games, with a chance to extend it to 3 games with the Commanders on their bye week. The Eagles now have a 97 percent chance of winning the division (as well as at least the 2 seed), per Inpredictable.
• Saints at Giants: If the Giants win some games down the stretch and mess up their draft positioning, then I suppose that's good for the Eagles. But really, I'm not sure it even matters. They're almost certain to draft a quarterback, but are the quarterbacks in the 2025 class really even that good? Shedeur Sanders? Cam Ward? Carson Beck? Jalen Milroe? Garrett Nussmeier? Quinn Ewers? Drew Allar?
Those guys aren't better prospects than Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels were last year, and I'm not so sure any of them are even better than Drake Maye. So, I mean, who cares if the Giants draft a quarterback in a weak quarterback draft?
• Bengals at Cowboys: It would be funny if the Cowboys won some games down the stretch and retained Mike McCarthy as their head coach.
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 | 12-1 | 8-1 |
| 2 | Eagles | 10-2 | 6-2 |
| 3 | Seahawks | 7-5 | 3-4 |
| 4 | Falcons | 6-6 | 6-2 |
| 5 | Vikings | 10-2 | 5-2 |
| 6 | Packers | 9-4 | 4-4 |
| 7 | Commanders | 8-5 | 5-3 |
| 8 | Buccaneers | 6-6 | 6-3 |
| 9 | Cardinals | 6-6 | 3-5 |
| 10 | Rams | 6-6 | 4-5 |
| 11 | 49ers | 5-7 | 3-5 |
| 12 | Cowboys ☠️ | 5-7 | 3-5 |
| 13 | Saints ☠️ | 4-8 | 3-5 |
| 14 | Bears ☠️ | 4-8 | 2-5 |
| 15 | Panthers ☠️ | 3-9 | 2-5 |
| 16 | Giants ☠️ | 2-10 | 1-8 |
In addition to their big lead in the NFC East, the Eagles also have a three-game lead over the NFC West-leading Seahawks and a four-game lead over the NFC South-leading Falcons.
The 1 seed
The Lions and Packers already played Thursday night, and the Lions won. As noted in my picks post (we'll cover it again here, in case you missed it), that game was of major importance to the Eagles, because a Lions loss to the Packers was the Eagles' best path to winning a tiebreaker over the Lions for the 1 seed.
Eagles-Lions tiebreaker primer:
• First tiebreaker: Head-to-head matchup: Not applicable.
• Second tiebreaker: Better conference record: Both of the Eagles' losses were to NFC teams, so they cannot win this tiebreaker if they and the Lions both finish 15-2. They can win it if they both teams finish 14-3, AND the Eagles' final loss is to the Steelers, AND all three of the Lions' losses are to NFC teams.
• Third tiebreaker: Record against common opponents (minimum of four): The Eagles and Lions have five common opponent this year, shown below:
| Common Opponent | Eagles result | Lions result |
| Rams | Win | Win |
| Buccaneers | Loss | Loss |
| Jaguars | Win | Win |
| Cowboys | Win, ??? | Win |
| Packers | Win | Win, Win |
As you can see, the Lions are 5-1 against their common opponents. With their win over the Packers Thursday night, they clinched at least a tie in common opponent records.
• Fourth tiebreaker: Strength of victory in all games: The combined record of the teams the Lions have beaten so far is 66-70. The combined record of the teams the Eagles have beaten is 51-72. When you also consider that the Lions' remaining opponents have a combined record of 38-22 while the Eagles' remaining opponents have a combined record of 27-34, it's safe to say the Lions are going to win this tiebreaker.
Basically, the Eagles need the Lions to lose two more games. Their remaining schedule:
• Week 15: Bills (10-2)
• Week 16: At Bears (4-8)
• Week 17: At 49ers (5-7)
• Week 18: Vikings (10-2)
It's certainly possible that the Lions can lose two of their four remaining games, but the Eagles would also have to win out, or again, only lose one game, specifically to the Steelers.
• Falcons at Vikings: The Eagles also have to worry about the Vikings for the 1 seed, even if the Lions falter. The Eagles-Vikings tiebreakers are a little more complicated, but the short-short version is that the Vikings pretty much have to lose at least one more game, even if the Eagles win out.
Other NFC games
• Raiders at Buccaneers: As we mention every week, the Eagles should want no part of the Bucs in the playoffs. The more they lose, the better. It's also worth noting here that at some point it's going to be ideal if the Commanders win some games so they lock in the 7 seed instead of the Bucs.
• Bears at 49ers: The 49ers look nothing like the team that went to the Super Bowl last year, but I think that every team in the NFC would just rather they not get into the playoffs.
• Seahawks at Cardinals: Again, anyone other than the 49ers out of the NFC West is ideal. The Seahawks are 7-5, and the Cardinals are 6-6, so it's best if the Seahawks stay at least two games ahead of the 5-7 Niners.
• Bills at Rams: Again, just anyone other than the Niners.
For future reference
• Browns at Steelers: The Eagles play the Steelers next Sunday. I don't think it matters who wins, but I think the Eagles would to see this be a physical game.
Irrelevant to the Eagles
- Jaguars at Titans
- Jets at Dolphins
- Chargers at Chiefs
BYE: Commanders, Broncos, Colts, Patriots, Ravens, Texans.
MORE: 5 things to watch in Eagles-Panthers
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
