Big Game This Week

Playoff scenarios:

Eagles win: Their magic number to clinch the division is one with two games left to play. They have a legit shot at the #2 seed and a playoff bye.

Eagles lose: Suddenly, the road to the playoffs is a lot longer. The only way to take the division is to win out, and the Giants need an improbable loss to the Redskins. The wildcard comes down to two teams from this bunch: Saints (10-3), Eagles (9-5), Bucs (8-5), Pack (8-5.) The Eagles lose any tie with the Packers. They would probably lose to the Saints on conference record, unless the Saints lose their last two. And they'd likely tie the Bucs on conference record, so the deciding factor would be common opponents.

Remaining schedule:

Saints: at Baltimore, at Atlanta, TB - These are three good teams...they've already lost to Atlanta once, and they did lose to TB last season...but it's hard to imagine them doing worse than 2-1. At 12-4, they'd finish ahead of the Eagles, who can be 11-5 at best with a loss to the Giants. Even if the Saints lose twice, they'd likely have a better conference record.

Packers: at NE, NYG, Chi - A brutal schedule with a wobbly Rodgers or a healthy Matt Flynn at QB. They'll almost certainly finish 9-7, though 10-6 is possible.

Bucs: Det, Sea, at NO - The Bucs are 8-0 against losing teams, 0-5 against winning ones, so it's easy to predict them for a 10-6 finish.

Realistically, the Eagles will have to win out if they lose this weekend, just to squeak into the playoffs as the #6 seed. That makes this game against the Giants huge, and it's going to be a tall order to defeat a division rival on the road two weeks in a row.