Down But Still Not Out- What is It Going to Take For The Eagles to Finally Be Eliminated?

I crossed playoffs off of the list for the 2011 Eagles when they had embarrassing 4th quarter loss after 4th quarter loss. Hope was still seldom alive because of the Cowboys losing and the expectation that the Giants would collapse second half of the season like all New York teams seem to do, but I wasn't betting on the Eagles going to the playoffs.

With hope still alive, I definitely nixed playoffs from the conversation after the horrible loss to the Chicago Bears and to the Arizona Cardinals, where the Birds let two teams have fourth quarter comebacks to win the games. In my opinion, the Cardinals loss being the worst all season, because the defense just shut down and let a young and inexperienced QB lead a game-winning drive.

After that loss, I thought to myself there is no way Eagles can make the playoffs now, no way. The Cowboys had been heating up and their schedule was more favorable than the Eagles.

From the Cardinals, the Eagles faced the Patriots in what was probably considered the 4th or 5th "must win" game of the season and lost horrendously. Vince Young did lead a 4th quarter comeback to beat the Giants to give the Eagles their 4th win but after that the loss to the Patriots and almost as horrible, the loss to the Seahawks, the Eagles HAD to be mathematically eliminated. I mean they had four wins and best they can finish with is 8-8. It still turns out though by some miracle or maybe by the grace of God, the Eagles are not out of the question to not only make the playoffs but to win the NFC East as well.

Let me repeat: The 4-8 Eagles who have had almost no continuity all season can still win the NFC East.

Do you believe it? I don't. I didn't, until I saw the numbers.

Typically one of the best and strongest divisions in football, the NFC East has faltered this year. The best team is the Cowboys at 7-5 and then the Giants are 6-6 and both the Eagles and Redskins a miserable 4-8. It is a good thing the Eagles aren't in the NFC North because if they were they would have been mathematically eliminated about four Packers wins ago.

Before I explain how winnable this division actually is at this point, I'll present the scenario the Eagles need to win the NFC East:

In order to win the NFC East, the Eagles have to win their remaining four games and finish with a record of 8-8. The Cowboys need to lose three of their remaining four and the Giants have to lose two of their remaining four. If all of this happens all three teams will be 8-8 but the Eagles will have the head-to-head against the Cowboys, a tie with the Giants and the best divisional record of the three making them the NFC East Champion.

Considering the team is 4-8, this scenario is actually a heck of a lot more probable than it could be. The fact that a playoff situation even exists is still mind-boggling to me but it isn't out of the question. It is quite possible the Cowboys only win one more game and the Giants two especially since they play each other twice more before the season ends. These games will very well make or break the Eagles chance at playoffs.

Looking at schedules, the Eagles still Miami on a recent hot streak, Dallas, Washington and the NY Jets. This is not an easy schedule by any means. As I mentioned Miami has been hot as of late and while the Jets may not looks as good as in past years they are still a force to be reckoned with. Even the Redskins and Cowboys could cause the Eagles some trouble. That said, all of these games are winnable if the Eagles can play like the superbowl caliber team they are on paper. With Vick hopefully back taking snaps, McCoy having a career year and Maclin and Jackson catching passes, the Eagles offense should have favorable match-ups in all of these games. Look for the Christmas Eve game against Dallas to make or break the Eagles season as I think they beat both Miami and NY before their final match-ups against Dallas and Washington.

For Dallas, their toughest remaining games are two against the Giants and the Eagles can take solace in the fact that one of these teams has to lose. If all works out for Philly, the Giants and Cowboys will split this series. In that case Dallas would have to lose against Tampa Bay which could happen, the Eagles and the Giants. The Giants then would have to lose one of their two remaining match-ups against either the Jets or the Redskins.

So if by some miracle all of this happens,  the Eagles are going to the playoffs and that, well that in and of itself would be some sort of minor miracle and it would certainly be a season to remember. And if they don't, well no one is expecting them to make it anyway so it won't make much of a difference.