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December 06, 2020

Week 13 non-Eagles rooting guide: Tanking to the top

Eagles NFL
DougTank6 Jimmy/for PhillyVoice

Doug gets the idea.

After three consecutive losses to the Giants, Browns, and Seahawks, the Eagles now sit at 3-7-1. They are in third place in the pathetic NFC East, a half game out of first place, and a half game away from last place.

 NFC EastGB 
 Giants
 Football Team
 Eagles0.5 
 Cowboys


All season long, we have mapped out the ideal winners for each of the games around the NFL, as they applied to the Eagles' chances of making the playoffs, and the success they might have once they got in.

If you still hope the Eagles win the division, you're probably in the minority at this point, but to each their own. For those folks, your rooting interests are simple. You want the Giants, Football Team, and Cowboys to lose. This week, there's a very good chance that all three of those teams will indeed lose, as they are all at least touchdown underdogs:

  1. Sunday: Giants at Seahawks (-10.5)
  2. Monday: Football Team at Steelers (-7)
  3. Tuesday: Cowboys at Ravens (-7.5)

As for trying to decide who the most ideal first round opponent would be for the Eagles should they win the division, let's just... not. Cool? Great.

For those of you hoping the team loses as many games as possible down the stretch, let's first update the current draft order, via Tankathon.com.

120520TankathonWeek13

Before the start of Week 12, the Eagles were ninth in the draft order. After wins by the Texans, Giants, and Falcons, paired with the Eagles' listless loss to the Seahawks, the Eagles moved up to sixth.

As we explained last week, the Eagles' aren't reasonably going to catch the Jets or Jaguars, but everyone thereafter is within reach, so the Eagles can feasibly pick as high as third overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. If they lose, they will move up in the draft order once again with losses by the Bengals, Cowboys or Chargers. 

It is also ideal for any four-win teams to win, to continue to create a buffer, should the Eagles make the mistake of winning any more games. Those teams would include the Panthers, Giants, Football Team, Lions, Falcons, Texans and Broncos. 

And of course, while the Giants, Football Team, and Cowboys all fall into either of the two buckets above, it's especially ideal if they win, to put the division out of reach as soon as possible. If the Eagles are mathematically eliminated by Week 16 or Week 17, they unabashedly can go full-on tank mode for the final two games against their garbage NFC East brethren.

So let's look at the games this week, ideal winners bolded. Odds, as always, are courtesy of TheLines.com:

  1. Giants at Seahawks (-10.5)
  2. Football Team at Steelers (-7)
  3. Cowboys at Ravens (-7.5)
  4. Bengals at Dolphins (-10.5)
  5. Patri*ts at Chargers (-1.5)
  6. Broncos at Chiefs (-13.5)
  7. Colts (-3.5) at Texans
  8. Saints (-3) at Falcons
  9. Lions at Bears (-3)

The rest of the games... who cares?

This content and the links provided are sponsored by thelines.com and playpennsylvania.com, PhillyVoice.com’s Official 2020/2021 Betting Odds Partner, independently created by PhillyVoice.


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