December 26, 2023
Here we'll track the Philadelphia Eagles' playoff clinching scenarios as they continue to progress throughout the rest of the regular season.
First, the NFC East standings:
| NFC East | Record | Division | GB |
| Eagles | 11-4 | 4-1 | - |
| Cowboys | 10-5 | 4-1 | 1 |
| Giants | 5-10 | 2-3 | 6 |
| Commanders | 4-11 | 0-5 | 7 |
If the Eagles win their next two games, they win the division because they will have a better record than the Cowboys (duh). They will not win any tie-breakers over the Cowboys if it comes to that.
The NFC standings:
| Seed | NFC standings | Record | Conf record |
| 1 | 49ers | 11-4 | 8-1 |
| 2 | Lions | 11-4 | 7-3 |
| 3 | Eagles | 11-4 | 7-3 |
| 4 | Buccaneers | 8-7 | 6-4 |
| 5 | Cowboys | 10-5 | 7-3 |
| 6 | Rams | 8-7 | 6-4 |
| 7 | Seahawks | 8-7 | 6-5 |
| 8 | Vikings | 7-8 | 6-4 |
| 9 | Falcons | 7-8 | 4-6 |
| 10 | Packers | 7-8 | 5-5 |
| 11 | Saints | 7-8 | 4-6 |
| 12 | Bears | 6-9 | 5-5 |
| 13 | 5-10 | 4-6 | |
| 14 | 4-11 | 2-8 | |
| 15 | 3-12 | 2-8 | |
| 16 | 2-13 | 1-10 |
The Eagles will only have a higher seed over the 49ers if they have a better record. Obviously, the 49ers have a head-to-head advantage over the Eagles. The 49ers will also win any three-way tiebreaker because they'll have the best record in the NFC.
If the Eagles and Lions both win out and the seeding is only between those two teams, the Lions will have the higher seed based on a better record against common opponents, as shown here:
| Common opponent | Eagles | Lions |
| Chiefs | Win | Win |
| Seahawks | Loss | Loss |
| Buccaneers | Win | Win |
| Vikings | Win | Win |
| Vikings | N/A | Win (hypothetical, Week 18) |
| Cowboys | Win | Win (hypothetical, Week 17) |
| Cowboys | Loss | N/A |
| TOTAL | 4-2 | 5-1 |
The great Deniz Selman sums it all up here:
#Eagles clinching scenarios going into Week 17.
— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) December 26, 2023
Eagles...
- lose any tie to DAL, so magic number for NFC East is 2
- lose any 2-way tie to SF (head to head)
- lose 13-4 2-way tie to DET (common opps)
- can win 12-5 tie vs DET (sov)
Also: 3-way SF/DET/PHI tie goes to SF (NFC rec) pic.twitter.com/V5UYISi2lP
Here are the most recent playoff-clinching scenarios this upcoming weekend, via the fine folks at playoffstatus.com.
There are two scenarios in which the Eagles can clinch the NFC East on Sunday.
• If the Eagles beat the Cardinals, and the Cowboys lose to (or tie) the Lions.
• If the Eagles tie the Cardinals, and the Cowboys lose to the Lions.
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