Here's What Needs To Happen For The Eagles To Make The Playoffs

Just two weeks ago, the Eagles barely squeaked by the Giants, and the Los Angeles Rams were 11-1 and looked like the Super Bowl favorites. But when the clock ticked to zero before last night's Sunday Night Football's prime time audience, the Rams had fallen to 11-3 and the improbable Eagles suddenly look like playoff contenders.

At 7-7, the defending Super Bowl champs find themselves in the familiar position of underdogs once more.

Riding a defense that effectively shut down the Rams until the 4th quarter, and the arm of Super Bowl hero Nick Foles, the Birds posted an impressive rebound showing following last week's overtime heartbreaker to the Cowboys.

Foles will start next Sunday's game, the team announced this week, as Carson Wentz could be done for the year with a back injury.

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But more than a few things need to go right for them to advance. Here's a look at the situation around the NFC and all the ways the Birds could land a playoff spot.

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Win the division

The best and simplest way for the Eagles to make the playoffs is to win the NFC East, joining the winners of the other three divisions with automatic playoff berths. This would mean they would play a first round, home playoff game against one of the two Wild Card teams.

At 7-7, they're tied with the Redskins for second place, one game behind the 8-6 Cowboys.

To win the division, the Birds need to win their final two games and the Cowboys need to lose their final two games.

Because the Redskins play the Eagles for the season finale on Dec. 30, it doesn't really matter what the Redskins do. The Eagles control their own fate on the Washington front; a loss to the Skins would obviously end things for the Birds.

Win a Wild Card spot

Things get more complicated if the Eagles are forced to try to land one of the two available Wild Card slots.

Competition is fierce for those two spots. Right now, the Seahawks have a big leg up on the first spot, with an 8-6 record. The Vikings currently hold the second slot, with a 7-6-1 record. In addition to the Redskins at 7-7, the Panthers are the other team still alive with a 6-7 record.

In any circumstance, the Eagles need to win their final two games, making their record 9-7.

They already lost once to the Panthers this year, meaning that if the Panthers win their final three games to tie the Eagles at 9-7, the Panthers would win the tiebreaker. So for the Eagles to finish ahead of the Panthers, the Panthers must finish no better than 8-8.

The Vikings must do no better than 1-1 in their final two matchups for the Eagles to get ahead. If the Vikings win both of their final two games, they'll be 9-6-1, and beat the Eagles.

The Seahawks must lose both of their final two games as well, putting them at 8-8. If they go 1-1 to tie the Eagles at 9-7, the Seahawks would win the tiebreaker because they have already clinched a better in-conference record.

Finally, as mentioned above, the Eagles will automatically finish ahead of the Redskins if they go 9-7, since that would require victory over Washington in the final game of the season.

Scenarios

The most likely way the Eagles earn a Wild Card is if the Vikings go 1-1, the Panthers lose at least once in their final three games, and the Eagles win both of their final two games. It wouldn't matter then what the Seahawks did.

Another, probably less likely scenario is the Seahawks lose both of their final two games, the Panthers lose at least once in their final three games, and the Eagles win both of their final two games. Then it wouldn't matter what the Vikings did.

An even less likely scenario is the Vikings go 1-1 or 0-2, the Seahawks go 0-2, and the Eagles go 2-0. In that case, it wouldn't matter what the Panthers did.

In any case, the most important teams for Eagles fans to root against the next two weeks are the Cowboys, the Vikings, the Seahawks, and the Panthers, probably in that order.

It's a difficult road for the Eagles to defend their 2018 Super Bowl win, sure, but it's far from impossible. And being the underdog is nothing new.

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images