Weapon X Mailbag: We’re talking playoffs?

The bye week is over. The energy for a postseason push is palpable. The only thing I want this holiday season is an Eagles playoff game.

As a reminder, if you want to ask a question for a future mailbag, you can tweet at me or send an email to bleedinggreeninfo (at) gmail (dot) com.

@NegadelphiaNorm: We’re talking playoffs? PLAYOFFS?

@SwaggyMitch: Are we making the playoffs man????

Miracle on Broad Street? Do we have a new Saint Nick in town to bring us playoff glory this winter? Am I in for another January of blissfully walking down the street in the Philly cold while listening to BGN Radio and hoisting all my hopes and dreams upon the Eagles?

Do I know everything? Of course not, but I like to believe this weekly feature is entertaining enough to get you amped and ready for a given week’s Eagles game.

I’m saying that they’re going to make it in as the third and final Wild Card team (seventh seed) in the NFC playoffs. The top five in the conference is essentially set in some order with the Cardinals, Packers, Buccaneers, Cowboys and Rams. A Week 2 loss against the 49ers, who are now 7-6 and the sixth, likely keeps the Eagles out of that position in the Wild Card race. The Birds will be in a fight with four other 6-7 teams for a playoff spot: Washington, Minnesota, New Orleans and Atlanta.

It will not be an easy path, but it’s doable.

The Birds have two games remaining against Washington. Win those and WFT is completely out of the race and the Eagles are sitting pretty. Wins against the Saints and Falcons might prove HUGE, as the Eagles hold head-to-head tiebreakers over both. The Vikings have two games against the pesky Bears, plus matchups with the Rams and Packers, remaining on their schedule. Minnesota going 2-2 or worse is very much in play, which would prove disastrous for them.

I’ve been meticulously following FiveThirtyEight’s playoff odds predictions over the last couple of weeks. As of now, the simulation is giving the Eagles a 38 percent chance of making the postseason. Outside of the top six seeds I’m pegging as Arizona, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Eagles have the best odds to make the postseason and likely be that final Wild Card squad.

Playoff odds:

Eagles: 38 percent

Vikings: 33 percent

Washington: 27 percent

Saints: 20 percent

Falcons: 12 percent

Beating Washington on Sunday would raise the Birds’ playoff odds to 54 percent. Beating the Giants the following week would give them a 66 percent chance of reaching the postseason with games against the Football Team and Cowboys remaining.

I’m feeling good. I’m certainly not taking any of these games for granted and assuming they’ll be easy wins. We all witnessed an infuriating loss against the Giants in the Meadowlands three weeks back. It was disgusting. If that loss is the deciding factor in the Eagles missing the postseason, I will be so, so angry all offseason. I wrote about the icky feeling that loss still gives me in my Philly sports newsletter yesterday:

I’m sitting here looking at these standings and sick to my stomach at that performance the Eagles had against the Giants a few weeks back. Nick Sirianni. Jalen Hurts. Jalen Reagor. Boston Scott. Nate Herbig. Blame all of them. It was one of the most pathetic efforts I’ve ever seen from the Eagles in my time as a fan. This season didn’t begin with true Super Bowl aspirations, but the playoffs have been a realistic goal for the past six weeks or so and they came up short against a shit team with a shit quarterback and a shit coaching staff. It’s embarrassing. If that loss is the deciding factor as to why the Birds miss the postseason, it’s going to haunt me.

Get it done, guys. Please. Get it done.