October 06, 2019

Week 5 non-Eagles Sunday rooting guide

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

In past seasons, Philadelphia Eagles fans generally rooted for their own team, and kept an eye on the rest of the NFC East. Ever since they won their first Super Bowl, and now that they are thought of as contenders to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, it's perhaps worth keeping tabs on the conference, as opposed to just the division.

And so, each week we'll lay out a rooting guide for non-Eagles games on the NFL schedule, and yes, I'm aware that most of the below is obvious.

Last week, the Eagles were helped out by losses by the Dallas Cowboys and L.A. Rams. This week, they were already helped once again by a Rams loss on Thursday Night Football. Ideal winning team bolded:

• Packers at Cowboys (4:25 p.m.): All season long, any Cowboys loss is good for the Eagles.

• Vikings at Giants (1:00 p.m.): The Vikings seem to be experiencing internal turmoil, which could be exacerbated further by yet another loss, this time to a weak Giants team. Because the Eagles play the Vikings next week, they could benefit from their continued collapse.

• Patriots at Washington (1:00 p.m.): It's not happening, but a win would help knock the Washington team further down the draft order.

• Buccaneers at Saints (1:00 p.m.): The more losses the Saints suffer before Drew Brees returns, the better. The Bucs have been hot on offense, but they're not legitimate contenders, in my view.

• Bears at Raiders (1:00 p.m.): The Bears don't have a quarterback, but they do have an outstanding defense, and are legitimate contenders.

• Browns at 49ers (MNF): If the Niners win this game, it'll be time to take them seriously at 4-0.

• Jaguars at Panthers (1:00 p.m.): The Panthers aren't contenders, but it's better if they just go away, I guess?

• Falcons at Texans (1:00 p.m.): Substitute "Falcons" with "Panthers" in the above analysis.

• Cardinals at Bengals (1:00 p.m.): Both of these team have no wins, and whichever team loses this matchup might be willing to begin engaging in trade talks a little early, rather than waiting for the deadline. Both teams have players that would be of interest to the Eagles, so it doesn't really matter who wins.

• Broncos at Chargers (4:05 p.m.): Again, if the Broncos lose, they'll be 0-5, and could be more willing to deal players to teams who can use them now.

Irrelevant to the Eagles: