Eagles Week 17 playoff clinching and seeding scenarios

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Eagles Week 17 playoff clinching and seeding scenarios

The Eagles still only need a win or a tie to clinch the NFC East. The chase after the playoff 1 seed is pretty much over unless they get some heavy help.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Peter Casey/Imagn Images

The Eagles are limping down the stretch and could use a week off if they're not going to be the 1 seed in the NFC.

Each week we'll track the Philadelphia Eagles' playoff clinching scenarios and seeding possibilities as they continue to progress throughout the rest of the regular season.

The Eagles already clinched a playoff berth a couple weeks ago. It's just a matter of where they'll be seeded in the tourney.

The Eagles failed to clinch the NFC East Week 16, but very likely still will

NFC East	Record	Div record	GB
Eagles	12-3	3-1	-
Commanders	10-5	3-2	2
Cowboys ☠️	7-8	3-1	5
Giants ☠️	2-13	0-5	10

The Eagles lost to the Commanders Week 16, so their NFC East title was put on hold for at least a week. They can clinch the NFC East Week 17 with a win or tie over the Cowboys or a Commanders loss or tie to the Falcons. If the Eagles lose to the Cowboys and the Commanders beat the Falcons, the Eagles can still clinch with a win or tie over the Giants Week 18 or a Commanders loss or tie to the Cowboys.

1-seed watch

Let's first look at the NFC standings: 

Seed	Team	Record	Conf record
1	Lions - x	13-2	9-1
2	Eagles - x	12-3	7-3
3	Rams	9-6	5-5
4	Falcons	8-7	7-3
5	Vikings - x	13-2	8-2
6	Packers	10-4	5-4
7	Commanders	10-5	7-3
8	Buccaneers	8-7	6-4
9	Seahawks	8-7	4-6
10	Cowboys ☠️	7-8	5-5
11	Cardinals ☠️	7-8	3-7
12	49ers ☠️	6-9	4-6
13	Saints	5-9	4-6
14	Bears ☠️	4-11	2-8
15	Panthers ☠️	4-11	3-7
16	Giants ☠️	2-13	1-10

The Eagles' chances of earning the 1 seed plummeted with their loss to the Commanders. Before their loss, they had around a 34 percent chance of earning the 1 seed. Now, Inpredictable calculates their chances at 4 percent.

In order to win the 1 seed, the Eagles need the following:

1. They have to win Week 17 against the Cowboys and Week 18 against the Giants.
2. Lions loss Week 17 at 49ers.
3. Vikings loss Week 17 vs. Packers.
4. Vikings win over the Lions Week 18.

Four percent feels almost feels a little high.

Resting starters Week 18

Basically, two things have to occur for the Eagles to be locked into the 2 seed before Week 18, enabling them to rest starters against the Giants:

1. They clinch the NFC East Week 17.
2. They are eliminated from 1 seed contention with a Lions or Vikings win Week 17.

And no, if they're locked into the 2 seed they're not going to play Saquon Barkley and their entire offensive line to try to get Barkley the single-season rushing record, unless, like, there's some super unlikely scenario in which he only needs like 10 or 20 yards or something.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-week-17-playoff-clinching-and-seeding-scenarios-2024-lions-vikings-commanders/