NFL Playoff Picture: How the Eagles can soon clinch the NFC No. 1 seed

Can you believe there are only four games remaining in the 2022 NFL regular season? Time flies when you’re having fun. And Philadelphia Eagles fans are having no shortage of fun with their team advancing to a 12-1 record following a dominant win over the New York Giants.

Week 14 was almost a perfect scenario for the Eagles with the Dallas Cowboys nearly losing the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, the worst team in the NFL blew a chance to take a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter with a turnover on downs from goal-to-go. Still, quite a shaky performance from a Dallas squad that some have insisted is actually better than the Birds.

The Eagles did get some help on Sunday with the Detroit Lions beating the Minnesota Vikings. Everyone should’ve known the Lions were winning as soon as Jalen Reagor inexplicably guaranteed a Vikings victory leading up to the matchup. With the loss, Minny essentially dropped three games behind Philly due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

And so the Eagles now have a fairly straightforward path to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture.

With road wins over the Chicago Bears in Week 15 and the Cowboys in Week 16, the Eagles can lock up home field advantage with two games left to play. The Dallas game figures to be a tough NFC East battle but one would be remiss to bet against the Birds right now.

The Eagles do not NEED to beat the Cowboys to end up with the No. 1 seed. Even if they lose to Dallas, they can still control their way to the top spot by beating the New Orleans Saints in Week 17 and the New York Giants (again) in Week 18. Both of those matchups are in Philly. And they won’t need to win both if Dallas loses one of their remaining non-Eagles games: at Jacksonville (help your old team out, Dougie P!), at Tennessee, and at Washington. Entirely possible they drop at least one of those if they can nearly lose to the TEXANS at home.

But worrying about what happens if the Eagles lose is loser talk. This team has earned the right for people to fully believe they will win their next two games. And from there, the Eagles are looking incredibly dangerous entering the post-season with home field advantage and a first-round bye. They’ll be just two playoff wins at The Linc away from going to the Super Bowl.

Very exciting to think about.

NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

1 - Philadelphia Eagles: 12-1 (clinched playoff spot)
2 - Minnesota Vikings: 10-3
3 - San Francisco 49ers: 9-4
4 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6-7
5 - Dallas Cowboys: 10-3
6 - Washington Commanders: 7-5-1
7 - New York Giants: 7-5-1

In the hunt: Seattle Seahawks 7-6, Detroit Lions 6-7, Green Bay Packers 6-8, Carolina Panthers 5-8, Atlanta Falcons 5-8

Meanwhile, over in the other conference ...

AFC PLAYOFF PICTURE

1 - Buffalo Bills: 10-3
2 - Kansas City Chiefs: 10-3
3 - Baltimore Ravens: 9-4
4 - Tennessee Titans: 7-6
5 - Cincinnati Bengals: 9-4
6 - Miami Dolphins: 8-5
7 - Los Angeles Chargers: 7-6

In the hunt: New York Jets 7-6, New England Patriots 6-6, Jacksonville Jaguars 5-8