You’re annoyed.
I get it.
The Eagles had a golden opportunity to capture the No. 2 seed in the NFC in Week 18, and failed to take advantage. If you were in favor of the starters playing, you can feel vindicated today. I was in favor of rest, and don’t regret it. I accepted yesterday’s possible outcomes before going in. It was always on the table.
But as everyone yells about Nick Sirianni, the front office and how Sunday’s game vs. the Commanders was coached (poorly), I feel like we’re collectively missing something pretty big with how the NFC playoff picture set up.
We can debate the two or three seed until we’re blue in the face, but here’s what’s not debatable: Thanks to the Rams moving to No. 5 and the Seahawks capturing the No. 1 seed, the Eagles found themselves on the more advantageous side of the bracket. If chalk holds (meaning all three NFC favorites win) on Wild Card Weekend, here’s the Eagles path back to the NFC Championship Game:
Home vs. 49ers.
At Bears.
Those teams currently own 12-1 (49ers) and 9-1 (Bears) odds to win the NFC, which rank sixth and fourth, respectively. The Eagles rank third at +430. Do you know which teams are No. 1 and No. 2? The Seahawks (+185) and Rams (+250). On Divisional Weekend, the Seahawks and Rams could beat each other up and have one guaranteed to be eliminated while the Eagles play a good, but flawed Bears team.
Yes, I’d rather be the No. 2 seed vs. the No. 3. We all would. But if you had told me a few weeks ago that the Eagles could avoid both Seattle and Los Angeles until the title game and have to beat San Francisco and Chicago to reach the final game of the NFC season, I would have signed up for that in a heartbeat.
That, more than seeding, is the real story of the final week of the year for the Eagles.
Now let’s go win another Super Bowl.
You can watch every Eagles Radio Network Pregame Show live on YouTube. We’ll be live from The Linc on Sunday getting ready for 49ers-Eagles.
I talked about the one issue we should all have with the Eagles coaching staff from yesterday’s game on WIP Daily.
Thanks for reading and subscribing!
