Eagles Playoff Implications: Who should we be rooting for in Week 15?

Welcome to another Sunday without Philadelphia Eagles football.
The Eagles were set to play the Washington Football Team who, at this point, should just be referred to as “Washington Football” since they quite literally do not have a team. WFT were down 20+ men ahead of Sunday’s game due to a COVID outbreak and the National Football League decided to go back on their word regarding these circumstances and postponed the matchup.
Philadelphia will now go up against the COVID-ridden “Washington Football” on Tuesday evening at 7 PM ET.
Just as last week, even with no Eagles football this Sunday the playoff race is still very much alive and there are a handful of teams to root for, or at least, teams to root against, in Week 15.
First things first, a blatantly obvious one – the Eagles can not lose to a decrepit Washington team this week.
Eagles Must Win
Let’s be real if that were to happen then we do not even deserve to be in the playoff conversation anyway, but nonetheless, Washington currently holds control of the 7th seed in the NFC Playoff Picture while Philadelphia trails behind just outside with the 9th seed.
Washington is on track to get some of its key pieces back but for any of the upcoming playoff scenarios to hold any merit – the Eagles have to come out on top. A loss here does not entirely disqualify us, but a lot would then have to happen in order for us to stand a real chance.
Tuesday evening will be our first go at Washington this season and considering the rest of our schedule consists strictly of NFC East matchups, this is officially must-win territory. This is one of the few games left where the Eagles can actually help control their own playoff destiny rather than relying on the fate of other teams to assist them in getting the job done.
I mean, we still need some help along the way but a victory in this one would be monumental.
Root for the Chicago Bears
Behind the Eagles winning themselves, this is the most important game this weekend.
In Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears have to take advantage of Kirk Cousins’s primetime woes and come out on top. On paper, the Vikings may appear to be the stronger team but this is a divisional matchup therefore anything is possible.
Chicago put up a fight against a very strong Green Bay team last week which is promising considering we need their best in this matchup as well.
On an extremely positive note, Kirk Cousins who is coming off a primetime win in Week 14 is still just 9-17 under the limelight. The Viking’s win over the Steelers was a brutal sight to see for Philadelphia, but now we can fall back on the fact that no team has won back-to-back primetime games with Cousins as their starting quarterback.
The numbers do not lie, the odds are in the Bears (and the Eagles) favor here. The best-case scenario in Week 15 would be for both Philadelphia and Chicago to come out victorious.
Root for the Falcons
This next one would just be the cherry on top. For the second week in a row, we have to ironically root for the Atlanta Falcons. Technically we should be rooting for Atlanta to stack up some losses considering they trailing Philadelphia with the 10th seed and any separation here would relieve some pressure.
Nevertheless, this refers back to my previous point which is as long as the Eagles win, a Falcons victory will mean next to nothing. Philadelphia would still hold the tiebreaker and remain ahead in the playoff standings. Seeing that the 49ers currently hold the 6th seed, a loss in this one to potentially shake up the Wild Card teams would give the Eagles a much better opportunity to make the postseason.
Root Against the Saints, Panthers, and Seahawks
This is by no means crucial, but it does make the weekend that much more fun. Root against the Saints, Panthers, and Seahawks who currently stand behind the Eagles as 11th, 12th, and 13th seeds. Philadelphia owns the tie-breaker over the Saints and Panthers no matter what, but how fun would it be if all three of these teams continued to lose removing any threat to potentially surpass us?
There is another NFC East matchup this weekend with the Cowboys and the Giants, however, Dallas realistically is going to run New York into the ground and is so close to clinching this division outright, this should have no real effect on the Eagles.
Even if the 4-9 New York Giants were to win, they would still have some catching up to do. Technically nothing is out of the question as of yet, but we remain blindly optimistic here while we still can.
It would also be a waste of time to focus on the Los Angeles Rams even though they also hold a Wild Card spot, they are just too far ahead of the rest of the teams competing it is genuinely not worth it. Their win over the Arizona Cardinals emphasized this; unless we start to see a real fall-off, do not hold your breath on the Rams.
All in all, for Week 15 we die for our Eagles, we would throw ourselves in front of a moving bus for the Chicago Bears, we casually support the Atlanta Falcons, and then we basically hate everyone else.
Keep checking back to TheLibertyLine.com for all of the latest in Philadelphia Eagles news.
[…] my article previewing this week’s slate of games and playoff implications, I noted that the Falcons need to step up and beat the 49ers and that we should actively be rooting […]