Eagles rooting guide for Week 9 games

The ninth Sunday of the 2022 NFL regular season is here! It’s time to run through a Philadelphia Eagles-focused rooting guide for all of the Week 9 games.

This exercise will be especially interesting this year since the Birds have more things to care about than usual due to owning a first-round pick from the New Orleans Saints in the 2023 NFL Draft.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

Via ESPN:

2023 NFL DRAFT ORDER

Via Tankathon:

EAGLES GAME

No Eagles game today with the Birds already playing on Thursday night. In case you somehow forgot that they advanced to 8-0.

NFC EAST

The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants are both on their bye. Not fun in terms of being able to root against the rivals without an Eagles game to worry about this weekend.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS at WASHINGTON COMMANDERS: The Vikings are a bigger threat to the Eagles winning the No. 1 seed than the Commanders are to the Eagles winning the NFC East. A win for Washington also damages their draft positioning and helps them stay below the Saints pick owed to Philly in the draft order. Root for the Commanders.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at ARIZONA CARDINALS: I would argue the Seahawks are the bigger threat to the Eagles than the Cardinals are. An Arizona win also helps to improve Philly’s strength of victory percentage. Then again, a Seattle loss opens the door for San Francisco to take control of the NFC West, which isn’t ideal. But the Eagles will root for SF to lose as well when they return from this week’s bye. Root for the Cardinals.

LOS ANGELES RAMS at TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: The Bucs are lower in the draft order. Them winning the NFC South would also be preferable to seeing New Orleans win their division ... but still not as much as Atlanta winning it. Ultimately, the feeling here is the Bucs might have a better chance of figuring things out at some point than the Rams do. Los Angeles is the worse team. Better to see them win, then. They have a chance to win a wild card spot to keep a more threatening team like SF out of the playoffs. Root for the Rams.

TENNESSEE TITANS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: The Eagles play the Titans in a few weeks. It would not be good to see them win at Arrowhead in terms of Tennessee looking like a threatening team. But a Titans win would be good for the Eagles if Philly can beat them ... and improve their strength of victory percentage.

DRAFT PICK WATCH

BALTIMORE RAVENS at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: The Ravens already dropped the ball when it came to helping the Eagles by losing to the G-Men. It would be frustrating if Lamar Jackson chokes again and can’t find a way to beat New Orleans. The Saints pick owed to the Eagles is currently at No. 8 overall. A loss helps to ensure it will continue to be in the top 10 and perhaps even the top five depending on other results.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS at ATLANTA FALCONS: If the Eagles could pick a team to realistically (read: not Carolina) to win the NFC South, they would take the Falcons. The Dirty Birds currently have the division lead. It would be good to see them stay there as opposed to Tampa Bay or New Orleans moving into that slot. Root for the Falcons.

MIAMI DOLPHINS at CHICAGO BEARS: The Bears are a bigger threat to pick ahead of the Saints pick owed to Philly. A Chicago win also helps to improve Philly’s strength of victory tiebreaker if/when the Eagles beat the Bears later this season. Root for da Bears.

CAROLINA PANTHERS at CINCINNATI BENGALS: The Panthers are ahead of the Saints picked owed to Philly in the draft order. Would be nice to see that have a chance of changing. Root for the Panthers.

GREEN BAY PACKERS at DETROIT LIONS: The Lions probably won’t get below the Saints pick owed to Philly but, hey, why not root for it to have a chance of happening. Also, doesn’t hurt to try to keep Aaron Rodgers away from the playoffs. Root for the Lions.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: The Jags have one more loss than the Raiders. Better to see them win here to have a chance to move below the Saints pick owed to Philly. Plus there’s the Dougie P factor. And the Eagles having a better strength of victory percentage. Root for the Jaguars.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: The Colts have a better chance of moving ahead of the Saints pick owed to Philly. Root for the Colts.

BUFFALO BILLS at NEW YORK JETS: The Jets have a better chance of moving ahead of the Saints pick owed to Philly. Also would be good to see Buffalo look more vulnerable. Root for the Jets.