NFC Playoff Picture: Updated standings after Thanksgiving games

Here’s an updated look at the NFC playoff picture following Thursday’s Thanksgiving games.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

Top six seeds

1 - Philadelphia Eagles: 9-1 overall, 7-0 conference

2 - Minnesota Vikings: 9-2 overall, 7-1 conference

3 - New Orleans Saints: 8-2 overall, 6-1 conference

4 - Los Angeles Rams: 7-3 overall, 4-3 conference

5 - Carolina Panthers: 7-3 overall, 4-3 conference

6 - Atlanta Falcons: 6-4 overall, 5-1 conference

In the hunt

7 - Seattle Seahawks: 6-4 overall, 4-3 conference

8 - Detroit Lions: 6-5 overall, 5-4 conference

9 - Green Bay Packers: 5-5 overall, 4-4 conference

10 - Dallas Cowboys: 5-6 overall, 4-4 conference

11 - Washington Redskins: 5-6 overall, 4-5 conference

12 - Arizona Cardinals: 4-6 overall, 3-5 conference

13 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-6 overall, 2-4 conference

Analysis

Here’s how each of Thursday’s three games impacted the Eagles.

VIKINGS BEAT LIONS: Eagles fans were rooting for a Lions win on Turkey Day but Detroit unsurprisingly failed to pull off the upset. The Vikings are still No. 2 overall in the conference. The Eagles will need to continue to win in order to stay at the No. 1 seed. If there conference record ends up being the same, Philly likely won’t be able to beat Minnesota on common games or strength of victory tie-breakers. The Vikings are set to play two roads games next: at the Falcons and at the Panthers. It’d be great if Minnesota lost both of those games, but at least one would be nice. The Rams beating the Saints this weekend would also give the Eagles more breathing room.

CHARGERS BEAT COWBOYS: Hahaha. The Cowboys are pretty much done. They look awful without Ezekiel Elliott. Dallas didn’t actually drop in the standings since they only lost to an AFC team but they didn’t move up either. The Cowboys still have to play three more games without Zeke. Their next matchup is a home game set to take place against Washington. Dallas defeated them earlier this season, but they had Elliott for that game. Assuming Philly beats the Bears, a Cowboys loss would allow the Eagles to clinch the NFC East before November is even over. How crazy is that?

WASHINGTON BEATS GIANTS: Meh. A Washington loss would’ve been preferable but they still have some ground to make up. Washington is banged up and they didn’t look good against a bad Giants team so they’re not really scaring anyone. Next up for Washington is that aforementioned Cowboys game on Thursday night. If Washington wins, the Eagles clinch the division. If Washington loses, they drop to 5-7 and fall further out of the playoff picture. Win-win.