Let’s talk about the
playoffs.

Yes, yes, I know, “one
game at a time” should be the mantra, but really – what fun is that?  The Eagles have run off two straight victories
in improbable fashion, lets look at what would happen if they get a few more.

First off the facts:  Even after knocking off the Giants in Jersey the Birds are mathematically eliminated from
winning the NFC East, they’re after the wildcard.  If the playoffs started today the Birds
would be the 8th seed – since only the top six teams get in, that’s
not good enough.  Because of the Cincinnati game
tiebreakers are out of the window as well.  If the Eagles win out they’ll finish 10-5-1,
above all of the other 10-6 teams.  If that
scenario happened it appears likely that a 10-6 team would be left out.  For years it’s been “ten and you’re in,” since
might not be true this year, lets assume that 9 wins will not get the Eagles in
- to make the playoffs they will almost assuredly have to win out.

The second place teams in
the NFC North and West already have six or more losses, so if the Eagles finish
10-5-1, it would be impossible for any of them to pass the Birds.  That leaves the East and South.  That means that final two spots will come
down to the Eagles, Cowboys, the Falcons (two full games behind the Bucs and
the Panthers lets assume ATL is playing for The Charlie Day as well – and the
Carolina/Tampa Bay loser.

Here are their schedules:  

Bucs (9-3): @ Panthers (Mon.), @ Falcons, vs.
Chargers, vs. Raiders

Panthers (9-3): vs.
Bucs (Mon.), vs. Broncos, @ Giants, @ Saints

Cowboys (8-5): vs. Giants, vs. Ravens, @
Eagles

Falcons (8-5): vs. Bucs, @ Vikings, vs. Rams

Eagles (7-5-1): vs. Browns, @ Redskins, vs.
Cowboys

For the Birds to make the playoffs, they’d have to
knock off the Cowboys: if that happens Dallas
would finish with six wins – behind the Birds.

That leaves the Tampa/Carolina loser, ATL, and Philly
fighting for two spots.  A lot of teams
are writing off the possibility that the Bucs or Panthers could slide to 10-6,
but I don’t it’s all that crazy.  Lets
assume that Carolina wins tonight – it’d be
chalk, they’re favored – that drops the Bucs to 9-4 and set to square off
against Atlanta in Atlanta.  If the Bucs win that game the Falcons fall to
10-6 and Eagles are in the playoffs if they win out.  If the Falcons win Tampa would be 9-5 with
two games left.  In that situation the
Eagles would need either the Bucs or the Falcons to lose one game against the
combination of the Vikings, Rams, Chargers, and Raiders.  The NFC South teams would be favored in all
of those games, but as we saw this weekend that doesn’t exactly guarantee the
win.  

So, if you’re an Eagles fan here is what you’re
pulling for:

1. Perfection from the
   Home Team. 9-6-1 doesn’t make the playoffs this year.
2. An Atlanta loss.  That would allow the Birds to control
   their own fate.
3. Barring that, a
   Panthers victory tonight.  If Tampa loses tonight and
   next week there would be two teams a half game ahead of the Birds with two
   games to play.

The odds aren’t exactly in the Birds favor – to me
at least, this all has the feel of another set-up for heartbreak at the hands
of the hated Cowboys with the playoffs on the line in week 17 – but they look a lot better
this morning than they did 24 hours ago.   They’re
certainly not as a long as the ones the Phillies faced, either in 7-in-17, or
in accomplishing what they did this year.  

quote

Three lines on their world:

1. Oklahoma drew the right to lose to Florida in the BCS national championship

2. Oscar De La Hoya continued to prove he’s now a better name than a fighter
3. and Pittsburgh took down Dallas, dimming their playoff hopes

Three lines on ours:

1. The Eagles manhandled the Giants

2. The Sixers have some time off to lick their wounds
3. and Charlie Manuel Day went off without a hitch

Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about, after the jump

EAGLES

Phil Sheridan says the Eagles looked like a real, live Football team on Sunday. SKIP

Yesterday Brian Westbrook passed Harold Carmichael to become the Eagles’ all-time leader in yards from scrimmage. Rich Hofmann looks at them both. READ

Ashley Fox thinks Westbrook’s health led to the difference in the game plan.  He’s still limping around and missing practice, but he did look nice on the field. SKIP

Paul Domowitch says the cold weather forced Andy to run the ball. READ

Sam Donnellon thinks the final score said as much about the Eagles as their dominating performance did, a thought he wraps around the Eagles’ defense. READ

John Gonzalez can’t get over the fact that the Birds actually ran the ball.  SKIP

Don McKee runs 1200 words worth of play-by-play, again. SKIP

Ray Parrillo breaks down L.J. Smith’s return to the party.  Bad weather means more looks to the tight end, and L.J. made the most out of his. READ

Les Bowen’s notes say that L.J. Smith overcame sickness on the field, Reggie Brown was deactivated, and more. SKIP

Bob Brookover’s notes look at the three blocked field goals, the distraction, and more. SKIP

Marcus Hayes argues that the Plaxico incident definitely affected the Giants. READ

Ray Parrillo tops a decent article on Trent Cole and the Defense with an offensively dumb lede. SKIP

Frank Seravelli takes a look at David Akers‘ up-and-down day. SKIP

Paul Domowitch checks back in on his pregame keys. SKIP

Paul Domowitch delivers the talking points. SKIP

Paul Vigna takes a closer look at the numbers. READ

Mike Sielski grades the team. SKIP

Jeff Offord breaks down what the win means. SKIP

Reuben Frank gives a notes version of what happened in East Rutherford. READ

Mike Sielski tries to explain how Westbrook was able to bounce back from injury so quickly. SKIP

Jeff Offord says L.J. Smith showed up all his doubters.  JO is wrong, I still don’t think Smith can block. SKIP

SIXERS

Phil Jasner says the Sixers aren’t adjusting to Elton Brand. READ

Kate Fagan looks at the Sixers’ problems and the time off they have to get them fixed. SKIP

Tom Moore takes the 76ers pulse at the 20 game mark. READ

PHILLIES

Tom Mahon talks with Jimmy Rollins about Plaxico Burress. SKIP

Jim Salisbury reports that Charlie Manuel is after a contract extension. READ

Charlie Manuel Day! READ

Jim Salisbury gives us what to expect at the Winter Meetings. READ

Rich Westcott looks at the HOF candidates with local ties. READ

FLYERS

Ed Moran looks at some of the rumors flying around, and more. READ

Sam Cardichi tries to figure out why the Flyers are in so many close games. My uninformed guess: they’re playing hockey. SKIP

Wayne Fish continues to be impressed by the Flyers’ powerplay. READ

TODAY and MORE

The Eagles are suddenly really interesting, so expect a day filled with notes on the game and the team, as well as quick hits throughout the day.

As always, feel free
to email
with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 9:25 am and is filed under Morning Rounds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.