For the second week in a row, things broke well for the Eagles' in their pursuit of a postseason return. Let's see how the division and the conference as a whole is stacking up.
First and foremost, the Giants lost the Bears and now sit at 6-3 for the year one game over the 5-4 Eagles. The Giants have one less conference loss, one less division loss, and they hold the head to head tiebreaker over the Eagles. The Eagles could erase all three tiebreakers with a win at the meadowlands on Dec 17th. The injury woes continued to mount for the G-Men as they lost starting LT Luke Petitgout likely for the season. Starting CB Sam Madison also went down with a hamstring injury. They are already missing pro bowler DEs Strahan & Umenyora(both should return at some point) as well as starters Arrington(season) & Toomer(season). I was even told by a Giant fan friend "The division is yours to lose."
The "muddled middle" of the NFC got less muddled on Sunday as a few teams appear to be dropping out of the race and a few are beginning their runs.
Dallas improved to 5-4 with a win over the Cardinals. They currently sit at 3rd place in the NFC as they lose all tiebreakers to the Eagles and Giants. Due to the fact the Boys only have one division win and have already lost head to head to Philly and NY they will likely have to finish a full game over either team to win the division or wildcard. They also lost their best pass rusher, Greg Ellis for the season
St Louis seems as though they are dropping out of the race as they fell below .500 with their 4th straight loss. Minnesota also fell to 4-5.
Atlanta fell to 5-4 and are tied with Carolina for 2nd place in the NFC south. Both teams currently have 3 conference wins which put them behind the Eagles in the wildcard race. Both teams still have to visit the Linc this year in two games that will likely decide the wildcard race(should the Eagles not win the NFC East). Atlanta lost pro bolw DE Patrick Kerney for the season.
The only real "bad" news is that New Orleans lost and fell to 6-3. Ideally, we want them to win that division since they hold a head to head tiebreaker over the Eagles. The Birds would need to finish a game over NO in any wildcard race.
The plan for the Eagles is still the same. Win your home games and take two of three from the NFC East in the three game road trip... I sure wish I had a snappy rhyme for that plan...