The Eagles Have Played a Remarkably Difficult Schedule, But It Gets Better, Maybe
I’m not trying to making excuses for the Eagles here, but they have defied all expectation to this point by going 5-5, when you consider that after starting 3-0, they’ve played 5 of their last 7 games on the road, including road games against every team in the NFC East, and all 7 games against the only 7 teams in the NFC with winning records:
@CrossingBroad There are only 7 teams with a winning record in the NFC and the Eagles have played all of them in the past 7 weeks
— Wheaties (@_Wheaties) November 22, 2016
Just how insane is this schedule? Since 1991, the Eagles haven’t played the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins on the road before playing any of them at home. Never mind the fact that they ran through the entire NFC East, all on the road, over the span of four weeks, which hasn’t happened since 2006, when they played three straight road games at the end of the season against the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys– they won them all. They’ve also played three teams coming off bye weeks. And then you add in the fact that had they not beaten the Giants in their meaningless season finale last year, they would’ve gotten to play the Rams in London this year rather than playing the Seahawks on the road (thanks, Pat Shurmur!). [Thanks to my boy Jamie Yannacone for reminding me of that.]
The fact that they’re 5-5 is rather remarkable. Let’s go game-by-game since the bye:
Close road game with a solid comeback that ultimately came up short.
Road loss against a 6-3 team that has only lost once in its last eight games.
Home win.
Winnable road game lost by the coach.
Ditto.
Home win.
Road loss to maybe the best team in the NFC.
With even just two normal decisions by Doug Pederson, the Eagles are probably 7-3 and sitting at second in the NFC East, just one game behind the Cowboys. But even despite the .500 record, they still have a chance to make the playoffs:
Won't take that. If they just win the 4 home games, NYT simulator has them at 67 percent to get in. 5-1 and their at 97%.
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) November 22, 2016
They get a whole bunch of breaks coming up here. First they’ll get the flailing Packers on Monday Night Football, at home. And then they’re on the road against a Bengals team that might be without A.J. Green. And then three of their last four are home games against the division, with a tough road contest against the Ravens mixed in. Four wins is certainly not out of the question, and five is somewhat doable. The Cowboys are very good, but will they be able to keep it up all season? The Giants are due for a regression. The Redskins… well, who knows. And the Packers and Bengals are ripe for the picking. I wouldn’t count the Eagles out yet. Then again… they do have the hardest remaining strength of schedule.