How the Eagles can win the NFC East, clinch Wild Card spot

The Philadelphia Eagles playoff hopes are slim, but they are far from dead. Sunday’s loss doesn’t finish the Eagles in the NFC East race, but they need a miracle to pass the Dallas Cowboys.

Here’s the catch. The NFC is so bad the Eagles are still in the Wild Card race, even with a loss to the Cowboys Sunday. 

The Eagles can still make the playoffs in the NFC East and the Wild Card. Let’s go through all the scenarios:

NFC EAST

Eagles – Win at Los Angeles Rams, Win vs. Houston Texans, Win at Washington Redskins

Cowboys – Lose at Indianapolis Colts, Lose vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lose at New York Giants 

The Eagles need to win out and the Cowboys need to lose out. Dallas is two up on Philadelphia in the NFC East with three games to play and the Cowboys own the tiebreaker by sweeping the Eagles, so basically they are three up. 

The Eagles have to finish 9-7 and Dallas needs to finish 8-8 to win the division. This is the only way how. 

The Eagles season took a huge hit with a loss to the Cowboys. Their playoff hopes aren’t dead…yet. Make sure to keep following along the rest of the way— take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Eagles newsletter now!

WILD CARD

The Carolina Panthers lost to the Cleveland Browns to fall to 6-7 while the Washington Redskins lost to the New York Giants to fall to 6-7. The Minnesota Vikings (6-6-1) lost to the Seattle Seahawks (8-5) Monday night. A loss keeps the Eagles a half game out of the final Wild Card spot. 

Here’s what the Eagles have to do to get a Wild Card. 

Eagles – Win at Los Angeles Rams, Win vs. Houston Texans, Win at Washington Redskins or win two of their last three games. 

Under the first scenario, the Vikings (6-6-1) would have to lose one of their remaining three games to the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. That would put the Eagles at 9-7 and the Vikings at 8-7-1. 

Under the second scenario, the Vikings would have to lose two of their remaining three games to the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. That would put the Eagles at 8-8 and the Vikings at 7-8-1. 

Under the first scenario, the Eagles would need the Carolina Panthers (6-7) to lose one of their remaining three games to the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. The Eagles would be 9-7 and the Panthers would be 8-8. 

Under the second scenario, the Eagles would need the Panthers (6-7) to lose two of their remaining three games to the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. The Eagles would be 8-8 and the Panthers 7-9. This is including the Vikings losing three of their last four games.

Again the Eagles playoff odds are slim to none, but they are not dead yet. They have to win out to realistically have a shot, but can also have a margin of error as well.