LeSean McCoy and the Philadelphia Eagles control their own destiny in the NFC East race, but they are also alive for the wild card as well. Image: NJ.com
With week 12 in the rear-view mirror, the final quarter of the Philadelphia Eagles season awaits and Chip Kelly has his team playing games that effectively are playoff games as the race for NFL postseason berths intensifies.
Kelly's squad is riding a four-game winning streak and with a 6-2 conference record, are sitting in prime position in both the NFC East division and NFC wildcard races.
If the season ended today, the Eagles would be in seventh place behind the San Francisco 49ers (8-4), one game out of the playoffs.
However, by beating the Cardinals on Sunday the Eagles not only helped themselves in the conference record tie breaker category which could come into play in the wild card hunt, but also in terms of having the head-to-head advantage over the Cardinals should both teams finish with matching records.
In terms of the wild card picture it appears that it could become a three-team race between the Eagles, 49ers and Cardinals as the second-place finisher in the NFC South race (either the New Orleans Saints or Carolina Panthers) will likely lock down the fifth seed.
When it comes to the NFC East race, the Eagles and Cowboys both control their own destiny, meaning that if both teams win out then the winner of the December 29th season finale between the two teams will win the division crown. Dallas owns the division record tiebreaker over the Eagles, with a record of 4-0 and can enter the season finale against the Eagles at worst with a 4-1 record. Philadelphia is currently 3-2 in the division.
The Eagles remaining teams on their schedule have a combined record of 23-24-1. They play host to the Detroit Lions this Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field before traveling to take on Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings and returning home to host the Chicago Bears before rounding out the season in Arlington against the Cowboys.
Dallas' road to the postseason is slightly easier than the Eagles. Not only do they own the division tiebreaker record over the Eagles but their remaining opponents have a combined record of 21-26-1. The Cowboys travel to Chicago to take on a Bears team that is desperately fighting for their playoff lives in the NFC North race before hosting the Green Bay Packers, traveling to Washington to square off against the division rival Redskins and finally rounding out the season at home against the Eagles.
The Eagles have little margin for error down the stretch, but their victory over the Cardinals on Sunday helped them both in the standings as well as in keeping pace with the Cowboys for the division title.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
