Eagles fans rooting guide for Week 15 games

The fifteenth Sunday of the 2019 NFL season is here. Here’s a Philadelphia Eagles focused rooting guide for all of the Week 15 games.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

The Eagles have been officially eliminated from winning a wild card spot; it’s division or bust for the Birds.

1 - San Francisco 49ers (11-2)
2 - Green Bay Packers (10-3)
3 - New Orleans Saints (10-3)
4 - Dallas Cowboys (6-7)
5 - Seattle Seahawks (10-3)
6 - Minnesota Vikings (9-4)
...
7 - Los Angeles Rams (8-5)
8 - Chicago Bears (7-6)
9 - Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)
10 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7)
11 - Carolina Panthers (5-8)
12 - Atlanta Falcons (4-9)
13 - Detroit Lions (3-9-1)
14 - Arizona Cardinals (3-9-1)
15 - Washington (3-10)
16 - New York Giants (2-11)

EAGLES GAME

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at WASHINGTON: The Eagles essentially need to win their final three games in order to clinch the NFC East. The silver lining to an Eagles loss is that it would improve their positioning in the 2020 NFL Draft and damage Washington’s position. But screw that, let’s get Carson Wentz to the playoffs. Root for the Eagles.

NFC EAST

LOS ANGELES RAMS at DALLAS COWBOYS: An Eagles win over Washington combined with a Cowboys loss to the Rams would allow the Birds to clinch the division in Week 16 when Dallas comes to Lincoln Financial Field. Crazy to think there’s a scenario where the Eagles could be resting their starters in Week 17. Root for the Rams.

MIAMI DOLPHINS at NEW YORK GIANTS: Important game for the NFL Draft order with the Giants (No. 2) and Washington (No. 3) are currently ahead of Miami. Ideally the Dolphins can find a way to move ahead of those NFC East teams. Root against the Dolphins.

NFC GAMES

Since the wild card isn’t an option for the Eagles, I’ll be focusing on rooting for draft positioning for some of these NFC games. Current draft order via Tankathon:

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at DETROIT LIONS: The Eagles aren’t catching up to the David Blough-led Lions. Might as well root for the Bucs so they don’t move ahead of Philly. Root for the Buccaneers.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at CAROLINA PANTHERS: The Eagles can only move ahead of the Panthers if Carolina wins. Root for the Panthers.

CHICAGO BEARS at GREEN BAY PACKERS: The Bears still have a slight chance to get into the playoffs; it’d be ideal to see them get there. Even if they don’t make it, more wins keeps Chicago behind Philly in the draft order. Root for the Bears.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS at LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: The Eagles should much rather see Jared Goff or Mitchell Trubisky than Kirk Cousins — who always gives them problems — in the playoffs. Plus it’d be fun to see the Vikings choke out of a postseason spot for the second year in a row. Not to mention the Chargers winning allows them to potentially fall behind Philly in the draft order. Root for the Chargers.

CLEVELAND BROWNS at ARIZONA CARDINALS: The Eagles won’t be catching the Cardinals in the draft order. Root for the Browns to stay behind the Eagles. Root for the Browns.

ATLANTA FALCONS at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: The Eagles could catch the Falcons in theory but that probably won’t happen. Plus, every Falcons loss makes the 2020 sixth-round draft pick they owe to the Eagles from the Johnathan Cyprien trade even better. And San Fran getting the No. 1 seed could be preferable to the road to the Super Bowl running through Green Bay or New Orleans instead. Root for the 49ers.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: The Colts are currently behind the Eagles in the draft order and things will stay that way if they win. And who doesn’t enjoy seeing Sean Payton lose? Keeping the Saints away from a first-round bye is preferable. Root for the Colts.

WHAT’S LEFT

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at CINCINNATI BENGALS: The Giants will own the No. 1 pick if they lose and the Bengals win, so Eagles fans don’t want that happening. The silver lining to a Pats loss is 1) the Pats losing and 2) the Pats falling out of a first-round bye and potentially losing sooner in the playoffs, therefore improving the 2020 fifth-round draft pick they owe to the Eagles from the Michael Bennett trade. Root for the Bengals.

HOUSTON TEXANS at TENNESSEE TITANS: Which team would you rather see win the AFC South? That’s what this comes down to. There are more former Eagles on the Titans than the Texans, if that means anything to you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

DENVER BRONCOS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: The Eagles could potentially move ahead of the Broncos in the draft order. Root for the Broncos.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS at OAKLAND RAIDERS: The Eagles have a better chance of staying ahead of the Raiders in the draft order than they do catching the Jags. Root for the Raiders.

BUFFALO BILLS at PITTSBURGH STEELERS: The Bills finding a way to win the AFC East and knocking the Pats down to a wild card spot would be most ideal. Root for the Bills.