Entering the final week of the NFL regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles might be resting their starters, but there are still plenty to get figured out in the NFC playoff picture.
Some of those big questions were answered as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took down the Carolina Panthers 16-14, and the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints will now decide the NFC South winner. As for the number one seed in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks locked it up with a 13-3 win over the San Francisco 49ers, with the 49ers waiting to see the results of the Los Angeles Rams-Arizona Cardinals game to see if they will be the number five or six seed in the conference.
How does all of this affect the Eagles in their quest to either be the number two or three seed? Not a whole lot, but it does show who they might be playing in the NFC Wild Card.
Eagles' Updated Outlook of NFC Playoff Picture
Let's first take a look at the current standings of the playoffs in the NFC:
1. Seattle Seahawks (14-3)
2. Chicago Bears (11-5)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9)
5. San Francisco 49ers (12-5)
6. Los Angeles Rams (11-5)
7. Green Bay Packers (9-6-1)
That still leaves one thing to be decided for the Eagles. If they win and the Bears lose, they earn the number two seed in the NFC. If Chicago wins no matter what, the Bears get the number two seed, and Philly stays at three. Should the Eagles and Bears lose, the Bears would still own the tiebreaker and get the second seed.
What was decided in the Seahawks-49ers game for the Eagles was that Philly's most likely Wild Card opponent is San Francisco. According to Deniz Selman, the Eagles have a 65.5% chance of playing the 49ers, a 24.9% chance of playing the Green Bay Packers, and a 9.6% chance of playing the Rams.
If the Rams beat the Cardinals, the Eagles will face the 49ers. Should the Rams lose, the Eagles will have Los Angeles back at Lincoln Financial Field for the second time this season since the Birds' miraculous 19-point comeback in Week 3 to beat the Rams 33-26.
Read more: Eagles' final moves of Week 18 showed telling sign of who Commanders will face
The Eagles will have a challenging path to the playoffs regardless of who they play, but moving up to the second seed would be nice.