LANDOVER, Md. — If the Eagles are going to win the NFC East, it’s going to have to come down to the last week of the season.
The Eagles took down the Redskins 37-27 on Sunday afternoon but then the Cowboys took care of business too. They beat the Rams 44-21 at AT&T Stadium.
That means that while there’s a good chance that the winner of next week’s Eagles-Cowboys game at the Linc is the winner of the division, it’s not guaranteed in the case of the Eagles.
Both teams are 7-7 heading into that Week 16 battle. The Eagles cannot win the division without winning next weekend. Because if the Cowboys win, they’ll have eight wins and the Eagles wouldn’t be able to get more than that. The first tie-break is head-to-head record and if the Cowboys win in Week 16, they’ll be 2-0 against the Eagles.
Basically, if the Cowboys beat the Eagles next week, they win the division. But it’s not as simple for the Eagles.
So there are two ways for the Eagles to win the division:
1. Beat the Cowboys and the Giants
NFL
If the Eagles just win their last two games, they’re in the playoffs. Pretty simple.
2. Beat the Cowboys, lose to the Giants, Cowboys lose to the Redskins
This scenario would require some help. But if the Eagles beat the Cowboys and then lose to the Giants in Week 17, they could still make the playoffs. But they would need the Cowboys to lose at home to Washington in Week 17. If that happens, the Eagles would be 8-8 and the Cowboys would be 7-9.
But what the Cowboys’ win on Sunday did eliminate was the best-case scenario for the Eagles. Coming into the weekend, it was looking like they would have a chance to be playing for the division in Week 16 and then basically get a bye in Week 17. That’s off the table.
It’s been a wild few months. And if the Eagles win the division, we won’t know it until the final week of the season.
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