December 12, 2016
With a 27-22 loss to the Washington Redskins, you may have assumed that the Philadelphia Eagles were mathematically eliminated from the NFC playoffs. I know I did. The Birds’ season was cooked last week in Cincy, but dropping to 5-8 with a loss to Washington would surely be the final nail in the coffin, right?
Not so fast:
According to FPI, the Eagles have an 0.00002% chance to make the playoffs (5,000,000-1 odds).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 13, 2016
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, these things need to happen and the Birds are IN:
• The Eagles need to win their final three games (at Baltimore, home against the Giants and Dallas).
• The Falcons need to lose out (vs. San Francisco, at Carolina, vs. New Orleans)
• Washington needs to lose out (vs. Carolina, at Chicago, vs. the Giants)
• Green Bay needs to lose out (at Chicago, vs. Minnesota, at Detroit)
• Minnesota needs to beat Green Bay, but lose their other two games (vs. Indy and Chicago)
• Carolina needs to lose to Tampa in the season’s final week
• New Orleans needs to lose to either at Arizona or Tampa in Weeks 15 and 16
• Arizona needs to pick up one loss (vs. New Orleans, at Seattle and Los Angeles)
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
