Can Carson Wentz and the Eagles actually be a threat in the playoffs?
By John Buhler
Despite all the injuries, the Philadelphia Eagles now control their own playoff destiny. Can Carson Wentz and the team actually be a threat in the playoffs?
In one of the biggest games of the Week 16 slate, the Philadelphia Eagles were able to improve to 8-7 on the season by beating the Dallas Cowboys 17-9 on Sunday evening. With a win on the road vs. the New York Giants or a Cowboys’ loss at home to the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia will win the NFC East for the second time in three years.
Philadelphia now controls its own playoff destiny and should be able to take care of business against a New York team, which is one of the worst squads in professional football. But should the Eagles punch their ticket into the postseason next week, can quarterback Carson Wentz and the team actually be a viable threat in the NFC playoffs?
It’s an interesting question because we can’t know for certain. On paper at the beginning of the year, many people had the Eagles as the favorite to get to Super Bowl LIV out of the NFC, myself included. However, this team is so banged up, it’s ridiculous, and we still don’t know what Wentz is capable of in the postseason. He has yet to make a playoff start in his NFL career due to injuries.
There are a few reasons we can believe the Eagles are capable of winning a game this January. If the Eagles win the division, they will host the No. 5 seed at Lincoln Financial Field on Wild Card Weekend. No NFC Wild Card team will want to face an Eagles team with nothing left to lose as home underdogs. This team and city thrive on embracing the underdog mentality. Dog mask time!
Overall, when the Eagles play up to their ability, they can at least hang with anybody in the NFC. Just look at how they performed earlier this season against the Green Bay Packers. The Eagles might have one more performance like that in the tank this season before they inevitably run out of gas.
But outside of winning a home playoff game on Wild Card Weekend, this team has a definite NFC Divisional Round ceiling. Do you really think Philadelphia is capable of winning a road game vs. the best team in the NFC, whoever that is? Me neither. Plus, we still don’t have the slightest clue about what Playoff Wentz has to offer. If he’s like January Nick Foles, that’s great for Philadelphia.
So, can the Eagles actually be a threat in the NFC playoffs? Sure, as they are the most formidable team the NFC East can offer at this point. Dallas is soft, has no home-field advantage in Arlington and is about to fire its head coach. If the Cowboys somehow get in, they will be the worst team to make the NFL playoffs and it won’t even be particularly close. They’ll lose by three scores at home.
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Philadelphia has great ownership, an excellent general manager, a Super Bowl-winning head coach and a franchise quarterback with a chip on his shoulder. Nobody outside of the City of Brotherly Love has any reason to believe in this team. All this does is feed into the narrative of being overlooked and disrespected. Philadelphia will thrive off that. Bring out the dog masks now!