Eagles fans rooting guide for Week 13 games

The thirteenth Sunday of the 2019 NFL season is here. Here’s a Philadelphia Eagles focused rooting guide for all of the Week 13 games.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

Here’s what the postseason race currently looks like, via ESPN.

The Eagles’ best shot of making the playoffs is by winning the NFC East (24% chance per Football Outsiders) as opposed to relying on a wild card berth (1.9%).

EAGLES GAME

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at MIAMI DOLPHINS: The Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Buffalo Bills makes this game less meaningful for the Eagles since Philly will still have the common games tiebreaker even if they lose to Miami. Put another way, the Eagles can lose to the Fish and still win their last four games to win the NFC East. But if the Eagles can’t even beat the Dolphins, are they really going to win the division? This needs to be a “get right” game for the Birds. Win and pull even with the 6-6 Cowboys. Root for the Eagles, duh.

NFC EAST

GREEN BAY PACKERS at NEW YORK GIANTS: The Giants would own the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft if the season ended today and they’d likely take stud Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young. The Eagles should rather see the G-Men ruin their draft positioning here with a meaningless win. Also, if the Packers suddenly go on a losing streak and the Eagles somehow catch up to them in the wild card race, Philly does have that head-to-head tiebreaker over Green Bay. Root against the Packers.

WASHINGTON at CAROLINA PANTHERS: Washington would own the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is the season ended today. It’s not impossible they’ll take a quarterback given how Dwayne Haskins has struggled. A Washington win ruins their draft positioning and also hurts Carolina in the wild card race. Root against the Panthers.

NFC GAMES

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS at BALTIMORE RAVENS: The 49ers getting the No. 1 seed is preferable to the New Orleans Saints getting the No. 1 seed. Root for the 49ers.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: A struggling Nick Foles is still looking for his first win as a member of the Jags. Root for BDN. Root for the Jaguars.

LOS ANGELES RAMS at ARIZONA CARDINALS: The Eagles’ slim chance for a wild card spot will improve with the Rams losing. Root for the Cardinals.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS at SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: The Eagles have a better chance of catching the 8-3 Vikings than they do the 9-2 Seahawks. Kirk Cousins is much more likely to implode down the stretch than Russell Wilson is. Root for the Seahawks.

DRAFT PICK WATCH

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at HOUSTON TEXANS: The Eagles own the Patriots’ fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft due to the Michael Bennett trade. Might as well root for it to be as good as possible even though it’ll be a low fifth anyway. Plus it’s always easy to root against the Pats. Root for the Texans.

WHAT’S LEFT

TENNESSEE TITANS at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Important game for Frank Reich’s Colts to stay alive in the AFC South race. Root for the Colts.

NEW YORK JETS at CINCINNATI BENGALS: The Bengals have a two-game lead on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Ideally the Bengals will win so that the Giants and/or Washington could potentially fall behind the Jets in the draft order. But we don’t want to see the Bengals lose their top pick to the Giants or Washington. Might just be safer to root for a Bengals loss. Root for the Jets.

CLEVELAND BROWNS at PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Root for the team you’d rather see make the playoffs.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS at DENVER BRONCOS: The Giants and Washington have a better chance of catching the Broncos in the draft order. Plus Denver might draft a quarterback high if Drew Lock struggles. Root for the Chargers.

OAKLAND RAIDERS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: If you want to see Andy Reid win the AFC West once again, you’ll be rooting for the Chiefs.

ALREADY PLAYED THIS WEEK

Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons