If you were as surprised as I was by the Philadelphia Eagles’ run to the NFC East title in 2006, winning their last 5 games with Jeff Garcia at quarterback in place of the injured Donovan McNabb, brace yourselves: an even more shocking sequel may be in store.
As wretched as they looked two weeks ago in their loss at Baltimore, that coming off the ridiculous tie at Cincinnati, the Eagles now have a fairly clear path to the last NFC Wild Card berth (assuming Carolina or Tampa Bay ends up with the other). Their 20-14 win over the New York Giants — in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate — combined with losses by Dallas, Washington and Atlanta, leaves six contenders with either 7 or 8 wins. But thanks to The Tie Heard ‘Round The World, the 7-5-1 Eagles have the same 5 losses as the Cowboys and Falcons (both 8-5), and are ahead of the Redskins, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears (all 7-6).
So all it would take now for the Eagles to reach the playoffs is for them to win their last three games (Cleveland, at Washington, Dallas — still no easy task with the inconsistency they’ve shown all year) to beat out every team but Atlanta. The Eagles would need the Falcons to tie or lose one of their remaining games (Tampa Bay, at Minnesota, St. Louis). The Eagles’ win over the Falcons earlier in the season would be the tiebreaker in the improbable event of an Atlanta tie.
It’s a trip to be a fan of this mind-boggling team. Every time you think you’re out, the Eagles pull you back in.
on Dec 8th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Bah … lucky win against the Giants. I’d say it was the Giants who lost that game more than the Eagles won it. So many dropped passes, and bad play by Manning. This wasn’t the Giants team we’ve seen all season.
On top of that, the Eagles have already lost to Dallas (away) and Washington (at home) this season. It’s not unthinkable that they will lose again. If they let Westbrook run the ball like they did yesterday they will have a chance. But going up against Dallas and Washington, two good rush defenses, will be a tall order for the Eagles.
But I am virulently anti-Eagles so …
on Dec 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
The Giants won the East already and secured a home playoff game already.
The Eagles are behind the Falcons, Cowboys and Panthers for Wildcard spots. It’s looking less likely that they will sneak into the playoffs.
on Dec 8th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
If the Eagles win their last 3 they finish 10-5-1. Since one of those wins would be Dallas, the best the Boys could be is 10-6, so Philly wins that. The Giants and the top WC team don’t matter, so if the Eagles win out, all they need is for Atlanta to lose once (Tampa, Minnesota, St. Louis) and they get the last WC spot.
Of course, this all hinges on Philly being able to win all 3, no easy feat given the way they have played all year.
on Dec 9th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
JP, the Giants hadn’t clinched the East. They needed one more win or Dallas loss to clinch. The Dallas loss later that day gave them the East.