October 14, 2018
In past seasons, Philadelphia Eagles fans generally rooted for their own team, and kept an eye on the rest of the NFC East. In 2018, with the Birds initially being among the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, it was perhaps worth keeping tabs on the conference, as opposed to just the division.
And so, each week we laid out a rooting guide for non-Eagles games on the NFL schedule. While a divisional championship is a more realistic goal after a disappointing 3-3 start, we'll still keep tabs on the rest of the NFC. And yes, I'm aware that most of the below is obvious. Ideal winner in bold:
• Panthers at Redskins: First and foremost, the Eagles need to secure the crappy NFC East, and obviously a Redskins loss would help.
• Bears at Dolphins: The Bears look legit, as they're in the conversation for best defense in the NFL. It looks like the Rams are going to run away with at least one first round bye, but hope is not completely lost yet for the Eagles to earn the other. A Bears loss is clearly preferable here, as they are off to a 3-1 start.
• Buccaneers at Falcons: Neither of these two teams look very good at the moment. At some point the Falcons could be getting healthier, and maybe they'll be the more formidable opponent should they go on a run and make the playoffs? So maybe it's just best if the Buccaneers essentially end Atlanta's season in Week 6.
• Seahawks at Raiders: Both of these teams could end up being sellers at the trade deadline, so the outcome of this matchup is perhaps relevant in terms of speeding up the selling process. A Raiders loss would put them at 1-5, at which point they'd have to be considered prime pillaging candidates.
• Cardinals at Vikings: The more games the Cards lose, the better, as the Giants are strong contenders for a top 3 pick. As for the Vikings, while they beat the Eagles a week ago, that's simply not a very good team. It doesn't really matter if they win some games.
• Rams at Broncos: The Rams look juggernauty, so a loss would take some shine off their perceived invincibility.
• Jaguars at Cowboys: The Cowboys don't look like much of a threat, but at this point, it's probably best to see the Eagles gain some separation in the division before rooting for the Cowboys to win some games, thus messing up their draft position. It's better for now for Dallas to lose.
• Ravens at Titans: Here's our weekly reminder that the Eagles own the Ravens' second-round pick, so the more games they lose the better.
• Chiefs at Patriots: Screw the cheating-ass Patriots.
• 49ers at Packers: Again, like with the Cardinals above, the more games the Niners lose, the further the Giants could be pushed back in the draft order. Meanwhile, the Packers really aren't that scary.
Irrelevant to the Eagles:
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
