Eagles rooting guide for Week 3 games

The third Sunday of the 2021 NFL regular season is HERE! That means it’s time to run through a Philadelphia Eagles-focused rooting guide for all of the Week 3 games. This exercise will be especially interesting this year since the Birds have more things to care about than usual due to owning picks from the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts in the 2022 NFL Draft.

EAGLES GAME

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at DALLAS COWBOYS: Perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy some non-Eagles football on Sunday before the Birds play in Dallas on Monday night. The Eagles will obviously benefit from a big win over their division rivals. Chance to move up to 2-1 and first in the NFC East early on. Root for the Eagles, of course.

NFC EAST

ATLANTA FALCONS at NEW YORK GIANTS: If you’re of the mind that the Giants are going to be really bad and competing for the No. 1 overall pick, you’ll be OK with a G-Men win. But with it being early in the season, might as well root for them to fall further behind in the NFC East race. Root for the Falcons.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM at BUFFALO BILLS: Two reasons to root for the Bills in this tilt. 1) Washington losing is good for the Eagles when it comes to the division standings. 2) The Bills winning is good for Buffalo in the AFC East standings, which matters with Philly owning Miami’s first-round pick. Root for the Bills.

DRAFT PICK WATCH

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at TENNESSEE TITANS: Big game for Philly’s draft pick implications. Carson Wentz is reportedly playing but it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to make it through the 60 minutes due to his double ankle injuries. The ideal scenario is him playing as much as possible in a loss that drops Indy to 0-3 and strengthens the Titans’ AFC South lead. Root for the Titans.

MIAMI DOLPHINS at LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: Tua Tagovailoa is on injured reserve and Jacoby Brissett is starting in his place. It’d be great for the Eagles if the Dolphins continue to look listless and in contention for a high draft pick that’ll be sent to Philly. Root for the Raiders.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: With the Chiefs being strong contenders to win the AFC West yet again, a win here could be more meaningful to the Chargers, who might have to hope for a wild card berth. The Bolts getting a such a spot would mean less room for Miami and Indy. Root for the Chargers.

CINCINNATI BENGALS at PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Root for the team that you think has the better chance of taking up a wild card spot. For me, that’s the Steelers, who haven’t had a losing season since 2003. Root for the Steelers.

CHICAGO BEARS at CLEVELAND BROWNS: For the sake of more AFC wild card competition, which hurts Indy/Miami and benefits the Eagles, it’d be good for the Browns to win. Then again, each Bears loss helps the Giants get a more favorable pick from Chicago in next year’s draft. Try to focus on the positive angle to either result. Root for the Browns.

BALTIMORE RAVENS at DETROIT LIONS: A Lions win potentially helps the Indy/Miami picks move up in the draft order. But a Ravens win potentially means more AFC wild card competition, preventing the Indy/Miami picks from being worse by those teams making the postseason. Root for the Ravens.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Pats winning meaning more AFC wild card competition and more AFC East competition. Also just better to see an AFC team beat an NFC team from an NFC playoff picture perspective. Root for the Patriots.

ARIZONA CARDINALS at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: Rooting for the Jags is probably futile but it potentially creates more competition for Indy in the AFC South (Ha. Yeah, right.). It also potentially helps the Indy/Miami picks move up in the draft order. And the Cards losing is good for the Eagles’ own playoff hopes. Root for the Jaguars.

NEW YORK JETS at DENVER BRONCOS: The Jets winning potentially helps the Indy/Miami picks move up in the draft order. It also theoretically creates more competition for Miami in the AFC East. But it’s much more realistic that Denver is competing for a wild card spot, especially considering they’ll be 3-0 with a win. Root for the Broncos.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at MINNESOTA VIKINGS: When it comes to the Eagles’ playoff chances, better for the worse team to win. Root for the Vikings.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at LOS ANGELES RAMS: The Eagles play the Bucs in Week 6. It’d be nice if Tom Brady started looking mortal ahead of that game. Not counting on it to happen but one can hope. Root for the Rams.

GREEN BAY PACKERS at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: The ideal scenario to root for is Aaron Rodgers looking as awful as he did in Week 1 and thus the Packers not being a big playoff threat. Probably not going to happen. But maybe it will! Would rather face Jimmy Garoppolo or Trey Lance in the postseason than Rodgers. Root for the 49ers.