10 games in....playoff picture

by captainmike011 on Nov 23, 2009 12:46 AM EST

To begin, does anyone believe the playoffs are only 7 weeks away????? It seems like this season started last week. Amazing. Okay, so lets look at the standings and assess the playoff hunt as it looks right now, even though the picture is nowhere near complete.

THINGS I'M PRETTY SURE OF:

New Orleans and Minnesota will almost surely win their divisions and are probably your top two seeds in the NFC. I don't think anyone who knows anything about football will argue with me here. Minnesota is 3 games up on Green Bay and holds the head to head tiebreaker, so in essence its a 4 game lead with 6 to go.

THE NFC West is not going to produce a wild card. San Fran is sitting there with a mathematical chance at 4-6, but would need a really good run to challenge. They've made strides, but not quite enough this year.

STILL UP IN THE AIR

The NFC East is about as murky as it gets, with Dallas holding a narrow one game lead. They have some tough ones upcoming though, with the Giants, Eagles, Chargers and Saints still on their schedule. Like many of us predicted, this race won't be decided until all 16 games are played.

What will happen with Atlanta and Green Bay? These were teams I pegged as good wild card candidates, but Atlanta is reeling badly right now at 5-5. Green Bay still has offensive line woes, which is never a good thing to have if you're making a playoff push.

The Eagles (of course). Inconsistent play at QB and penelty prone. Gotta get that crap fixed, and fast. On the plus side, having the tiebreaker over Chicago helps our wild card chances.

A LOOK AHEAD FOR THE EAGLES

The Birds face Washington at home and then away at Atlanta in the next two weeks. If we can get these next two, our chances of at least a wild card are well enhanced. Especially a win over Atlanta, which would give us the tiebreaker. The next two weeks will clarify the picture at least a little. On a side note, we're 11 weeks in and not one NFL team has yet been eliminated from playoff contention. Although I think that changes this week as Tampa, Cleveland, and St Louis starting gearing up for the race to the number one overall draft pick, the NFL's ultimate booby prize.

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The NFC East is about as murky as it gets,

have to agree there .. it is a mess you could say

R.I.P Jim Johnson 1941-2009
we will miss you Jim Johnson, thank you for everything you done to the eagles defense making them the best of the best, RIP JJ...

by EAGLE_MAN71 on Nov 23, 2009 2:13 AM EST reply actions

I'm worried about Atlanta

their defense is definitely beatable, but Matt Ryan is 11-1 at home in his career.

"What did it feel like? That collision, I didn't feel nothing, because he was pretty much defenseless. It was like running through a cardboard box. Seriously. Cardboard box."- Sheldon Brown on his pounding of Reggie Bush in the '06 Playoffs

by jalarsen1 on Nov 23, 2009 9:44 AM EST reply actions

I still don't see it

Ryan is decent, but he’s not all-world. Their running game is suffering without Turner, and their defense…is not good.

by cwel87 on Nov 23, 2009 12:46 PM EST up reply actions

Chances are, they’ll get Turner back in time for their game against us. Playing Atlanta @ Atlanta is about as tough a game as they get. Not to mention the extra incentive for that crowd to beat “Vick’s team”.

I’m worried about this game. I like our chances, but my only point is it’s no walk in the park.

"The last time the Eagles won by scoring in the final two minutes of regulation was a 23-20 win over Oakland in 2005."

by Smitty2K3 on Nov 23, 2009 1:46 PM EST up reply actions

this is my position exactly

this is as tough a game as we have left on the schedule. I like our chances, but I’d like them ALOT more if we were in Philly

by jalarsen1 on Nov 23, 2009 2:06 PM EST up reply actions

atlanta

atlanta sucks wit no turner

An inconsistent coach is far worse than an inconsistent quarterback.(Route 36)

by jack is better than asante on Nov 23, 2009 10:38 AM EST reply actions

Oddly enough so does my fantasy team

Jim Johnson 1941-2009

"The 0-2 pitch, swing and a miss! STRUCK HIM OUT! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of baseball! And let the city celebrate! " - Harry Kalas 1936-2009

by Whodie126 on Nov 23, 2009 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

funny how that works

by Manoovi on Nov 23, 2009 1:02 PM EST up reply actions

Tony G

is the best TE we’re playing against; and given our track record against TE’s, I’d say we have some work cut out for us…all I want for pre-Christmas is to get Jordan back in the game

by jalarsen1 on Nov 23, 2009 2:08 PM EST up reply actions

whoa whoa

where the hell were u before when ppl were arguing wit me that tony g is not good anymore .. and they would take celek over him .. even tho tony led the nfl in catches last year .. and is the best of all time

An inconsistent coach is far worse than an inconsistent quarterback.(Route 36)

by jack is better than asante on Nov 23, 2009 5:43 PM EST up reply actions

Your memory is spotty. No one was on here was arguing with you about whether Gonzalez was good anymore. That debate was should the Eagles trade a 2nd round draft pick (and possibly more) for a 33 yr old Pro Bowl TE, or look to the future with a young talent (Celek or 2nd Rd TE). Gonzalez is obviously a stud. The question at the time was for how long.

Smack it up, flip it, rub it down... OH NOOOooo!

by J800 on Nov 24, 2009 12:35 AM EST up reply actions

because celek= chuck norris in green

thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro

by wild_eagle on Nov 24, 2009 2:29 PM EST up reply actions

dude...

Do you ever offer anything of intelligence or value to these boards? Seriously, turner’s replacement ran for over 70 yards and 2 touchdowns against a pretty good giants defense yesterday. Also, Ryan lead a comeback from 31-17 down to force overtime. If this is sucking without Turner then I would love to know your definition of “sucks.” Defense is Atlanta’s problem, not the offense.

by PhilsForever on Nov 23, 2009 2:53 PM EST up reply actions

that last comment was directed to jibta

by PhilsForever on Nov 23, 2009 2:54 PM EST up reply actions

ahh yes

thats why they lost to a freefalling giants team .. snelling only did good cuz of his work load .. he got a lot of carries .. thats why turner is good too .. but turner is a better rb as well .. and a 5-5 record isnt to scary .. i would be more worried about san fran with gore and davis than atlanta

An inconsistent coach is far worse than an inconsistent quarterback.(Route 36)

by jack is better than asante on Nov 23, 2009 5:44 PM EST up reply actions

They are beatable

But once again we have to be on our A game. If the Gints can put up 34, so can we. Hopefully Asante turns out to be fine and Sheldon’s hammy heals fine. They are weak against #2 receivers so hopefully Jeremy can capitalize on that.

by macjack09 on Nov 23, 2009 11:16 AM EST reply actions

Penalties.

If we can some how get our penalties under control, we’d be a lot better…even with all the injuries…

I know there’s alot of reserves getting playing time…but where’s the discipline.

by 5 plus 10 equals 6 on Nov 23, 2009 12:45 PM EST reply actions

We need to get our O-line healthier and our LB/DBs healthire

Then we need to play consistently football and we’ll have a real shot

E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!

by Joe_D on Nov 23, 2009 2:39 PM EST reply actions

Eagles playoff picture

If you look at the current standings and the remaining schedule for each of the contenders, the playoff picture looks relatively clear. There are only 11 NFC teams with 6 or fewer losses at this point and the Eagles have head to head wins against 3 of them (New York, Carolina, and Chicago) and a chance to get additional head to head wins against 3 others (Atlanta, San Francisco, and Dallas).

At 11-5, the Eagles are essentially in. If they beat New York, they will have a tie-breaking advantage over them. If they beat Dallas, they will have a tie-breaking advantage over the loser of the Dallas/New York game.

At 10-6, the Eagles have a very good chance of getting in (especially since that implies a win over either Atlanta, New York, or Dallas at the very least). At 10-6, the worst the Eagles could be in conference is 8-4. Atlanta already has 4 conference losses and New York and Green Bay each have 3.

At 9-7, things get much more difficult (especially if the 3 wins are against the weaker teams on their schedule (Washington, San Francisco, and Denver)). Assuming that New Orleans, Minnesota, and Arizona are in, at this point it seems like the Eagles are fighting against Dallas, New York, Green Bay, and Atlanta for the final three spots. At 9-7, however, San Francisco, Carolina, and Chicago might also find their way into the mix. Although someone told me that if the remaining NFL schedule were decided randomly that the Eagles would have a 35% chance of making the playoffs at 9-7, I’m skeptical.

So, the Eagles need to stay on the winning track. Given their traditional late season success, I like their chances. Back to back wins over Washington and at Atlanta would be two big steps in the right direction.

by dave in san mateo on Nov 23, 2009 2:56 PM EST reply actions

playoffs

We have a really good shot at the playoffs. Green Bay has major holes on their defense w/ kampman and harris going down. So unless they can overcome those losses, they’re probably not making the playoffs. Eagles beat Atlanta, and the falcons will have lost to all 3 east teams lookin at the playoffs. I’ll go as far to say you might see 3 nfc east teams in the playoffs again if the giants have actually turned their season around, and dallas doesnt fall apart down the stretch.

We own the tie breaker over basically everyone behind us if we beat san fran and atlanta and we’ll be hurting their chances. As much as i have a lot of optimism for the Eagles, it’s more about the weakness of the NFC. We’ve looked like a much weaker division this year, and sure enough we’ll end up w/ 3 playoff teams. I hope we get the division and host the wild card round.

"Eagles fans are a passionate group who love their team," said McNabb, "if not the actual players. It's not like winning a Super Bowl before the first month of the season is the hardest thing they've ever asked of me. That'd be all those times they asked me to go kill myself."

by greenbean#twoOH on Nov 23, 2009 3:34 PM EST reply actions