NBc10’s Matt DeLucia tells why a game that the Eagles are not even playing is so important to them. Tune into Thursday Night Football on NBC10 to see if the Birds will win the NFC East.
By the end of Thursday night, the Eagles might be NFC East champions.
If the Cowboys lose to Washington (or tie) on Thursday Night Football on NBC, the Eagles will officially clinch the division title for the first time since 2013.
If the Cowboys win, the Eagles can still clinch the division this weekend with a win (or tie) in Seattle.
The Eagles are the only team in the NFL that can clinch a playoff berth this weekend. If they do, it will be the earliest any team has clinched the NFC East since ... 2004.
But even if it doesn't happen this weekend, barring a complete meltdown from the Eagles and resurgence from the Cowboys, the Eagles are going to win the division. In order for them to miss the NFC East title, the Eagles would need to lose out and the Cowboys would need to win out. Not gonna happen.
"Obviously it's one of our goals to win the NFC East, but the bigger message is you're still playing and fighting for home field," head coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday. "You're fighting for that first-round bye if possible. I mean, there's a lot of things that you're still playing for, even though you've checked the box for your first goal. It's great, love it, but the Eagles have also won a bunch of NFC East titles here, too. We're proud of it. It's a tribute obviously to the players, but there's something bigger out there that we strive for."
At 10-1, the Eagles have the best record in the NFC and would be the No. 1 seed if the playoffs began tomorrow. But the Vikings (9-2), Rams (8-3), Saints (8-3) and Panthers (8-3) are all on their heels.
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While the Eagles have won nine straight, the Vikings are tied for the second-longest winning streak in the NFL at seven games.
Getting back to the NFC East title, the Eagles haven't won it since Chip Kelly's first season as head coach and no team has won the division in back-to-back seasons since the Eagles won four in a row from 2001-04. With Carson Wentz entering his prime, the Eagles have a chance to duplicate that success in coming years.
