Updated playoff picture following Eagles win over Detroit Lions

God damnit. Don’t you just hate when the Philadelphia Eagles win football games, and improve to 8-2 on the season, all while looking like one of the most average football teams in the NFL?

I don’t but hey, a win is a win, and I’m willing to bet that the Eagles are trending in the right direction. The Detroit Lions spent all week telling everyone they were built for this moment. Then the game started, and the Eagles defense held one of the best offenses in football to total nine points at Lincoln Financial Field.

Eagles defense delivers a biblical beatdown on Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions

Yes, the offense was far from perfect. The pregame storylines were all about A.J. Brown, and while he did not torch a banged up Detroit secondary like some people expected, he still hauled in seven catches for 49 yards and moved the chains when the Eagles needed it. Honestly, if he kept running on a few routes, he would have really shown up in the box score but that’s on him.

The Eagles sit at the top of the NFC

Anyways, that’s beyond the point. I can’t possibly spend another week trying to figure out what’s going on in AJ Brown’s head. I would much rather focus on the real story, the Eagles defense, and how the refused to bend while barely acknowledging the existence of the Lions’ offense.

That’s why the Eagles won last night and with that dub, they remained locked into the No. 1 seed in the NFC and if the playoffs started today, here’s what we’d be looking at:

1. Eagles
2. Rams
3. Bears
4. Buccaneers
5. Seahawks
6. Packers
7. 49ers
8. Lions

Projected playoff odds is obviously above 99 percent. That means a first-round bye, home-field advantage, and every NFC team forced to play in front of 70,000 people who plan entire weeks around ruining an opponent’s season.

Nothing is clinched, but the path is there. It also helps that the Eagles have already beaten most of the teams behind them in the standings:

• Rams
• Buccaneers
• Packers
• Lions

In Week 13, they get a shot at the Bears. One more tiebreaker in their pocket would make it even harder to knock them out of the top spot.

The Eagles-Bears Alliance is now complete and will be officially shattered on Black Friday in South Philly

The Eagles control everything from here

The Birds control their path to the No. 1 seed. Keep winning and the NFC Playoffs go through South Philly. The team looked uneven early in the season, but it now looks like a roster that knows exactly what it is and exactly what it needs to do, regardless of their offensive struggles.

The defense is playing at a championship level. The offense still has room to grow. The rest of the NFC picture is starting to tilt in Philadelphia’s favor. If the road to the Super Bowl goes through Lincoln Financial Field again, good luck to anyone who thinks they are walking into that stadium and winning.

Join The Chase