Eagles clinch playoff berth: who's their probably first-circular opponent, and should they leisure starters in Week 18? - PhillyVoice.com

as a result of they beat the Washington football crew on Sunday while additionally getting some support from the San Francisco 49ers and green Bay Packers (clarification here, if you're enjoying catchup), the Philadelphia Eagles are headed lower back to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus. sure, they have got clinched a playoff berth. 

You doubtless already recognize that via now. So exquisite, what's subsequent?

smartly, the Eagles nonetheless have one typical season game left, at domestic towards the Dallas Cowboys, and then they are on to the playoffs.

In an try and determine the Eagles' seemingly first-circular playoff opponent, I entered in each possible effect involving the five video games with the intention to affect seeding in the NFC playoff race into ESPN's playoff machine. these 5 games are:

  • Cowboys at Eagles
  • Saints at Falcons
  • Panthers at Buccaneers
  • Seahawks at Cardinals
  • 49ers at Rams
  • If the Eagles beat the Cowboys Week 18, they'll face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wildcard circular of the playoffs, unless each of right here two issues happen: 

  • The Panthers beat the Buccaneers, AND...
  • The 49ers beat the Rams.
  • If the Panthers and Niners each win, the Eagles will face the Cardinals if the Cardinals beat the Seahawks. they'd face the Rams if the Seahawks beat the Cardinals.

    more: Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Washington game | good enough, i'm satisfied — Jalen Hurts is decent adequate to steer the Eagles | closing observations: Eagles 20, Washington soccer group sixteen

    but again, if the Eagles beat Dallas Week 18, they'd be tremendously likely to face Tom Brady in Tampa two weekends from now. For the sake of being thorough, listed below are the sixteen viable scenarios involving the groups whose playoff seeding is yet to be determined:

  • Saints-Buccaneers-Cardinals-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Buccaneers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Buccaneers-Seahawks-Rams = (6) Eagles at (6) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Buccaneers-Seahawks- 49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Panthers-Cardinals-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Panthers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Cardinals
  • Saints-Panthers-Seahawks-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Panthers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Rams
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Cardinals-Rams = (6) Eagles at (3) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Seahawks-Rams = (6) Eagles at (3) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Panthers-Cardinals-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Panthers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Panthers-Seahawks-Rams = (6) Eagles at (3) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Panthers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • As I pointed out, just about all eventualities (14 of 16, to be exact) lead to the Eagles enjoying the Bucs.

    received that so far? it's the convenient part.

    somebody smarter than me can likely simplify this, however there are 16 different scenarios if the Cowboys beat the Eagles, and whereas the Buccaneers would stay the surely opponent, the options are a bit more diverse:

  • Saints-Buccaneers-Cardinals-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Buccaneers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Buccaneers-Seahawks-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Buccaneers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Panthers-Cardinals-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Panthers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Cardinals
  • Saints-Panthers-Seahawks-Rams = (6) Eagles at (three) Buccaneers
  • Saints-Panthers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Cowboys
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Cardinals-Rams = (7) Eagles at (2) Rams
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Seahawks-Rams = (7) Eagles at (2) Rams
  • Falcons-Buccaneers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Buccaneers
  • Falcons-Panthers-Cardinals-Rams = (7) Eagles at (2) Rams
  • Falcons-Panthers-Cardinals-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Cardinals
  • Falcons-Panthers-Seahawks-Rams = (7) Eagles at (2) Rams
  • Falcons-Panthers-Seahawks-49ers = (7) Eagles at (2) Cowboys
  • again, the Buccaneers (8 of sixteen scenarios) continue to be the certainly opponent, with the Rams (four of 16 scenarios) being the 2d most likely. The Eagles would face the Rams if the Falcons beat the Saints and the Rams beat the 49ers.

    right here's a handy summarized visual of all the above, in pretty chart form: 

    in order that brings us to the subsequent question... should still the Eagles leisure their starters Week 18?

    Hell sure they should still. To begin, the Buccaneers, while going through some drama at the moment with Antonio Brown's expulsion from the group, remain the Eagles' worst first-round matchup, as explained in our "top-quality Eagles playoff opponent" primer:

    To begin, let's take a look on the playoff records for each and every quarterback among the five teams here:

  • Tom Brady: 34-eleven
  • Aaron Rodgers: eleven-9
  • Dak Prescott: 1-2
  • Matthew Stafford: 0-3
  • Kyler Murray: 0-0
  • here is Rodgers' 17th season. He's a 3-time MVP, he's been voted to 10 professional Bowls, and he owns the top-rated profession landing to interception ratio in NFL history by means of a very huge margin. And yet, if you tripled his playoff wins, he wouldn't have as many as Brady.

    Brady additionally happens to be a matchup nightmare for a team like the Eagles, who've finished a far better job right through the season disguising coverages, however aren't prone to idiot Brady, who also incidentally receives the ball out immediately behind a pretty good offensive line, to unhealthy weapons within the passing game. That's pretty an awful lot respectable satisfactory for me to rank the Bucs as the least appealing first-round opponent. 

    however additionally, the Bucs had the No. 1 run defense in the NFL in 2020, and the No. three run protection so far in 2021. Their leading goal defensively every week is to cease the run, so it's also simply no longer a fine matchup for the Birds on that facet of the ball, either.

    If the Eagles beat Dallas Week 18, as laid out above, they are extremely prone to face the Buccaneers in the first circular. if they lose to Dallas, they're going to still doubtless get the Bucs, but the door is open for them to face (theoretically) extra beatable opponents, like the Rams, Cowboys or Cardinals. 

    Oh, and that they can relaxation starters and evade getting vital players harm? Uh, it really is a no-brainer.

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