When will the Eagles play? It’s slightly complicated
by John Kincade
Your Eagles tailgate Divisional Weekend Playoff plans
The Eagles relax, self scout and wait this weekend as 6 NFC teams battle it out to fill out the Divisional Playoff bracket for January 21st and 22nd. The top seed gives them the advantage of recuperation of strength but doesn’t allow them to start game planning against one specific target. They could play the Buccaneers, Cowboys, Giants or Seahawks. The latest formula from ESPN makes it easy to understand.
If you are looking for a Saturday Eagles game then you have a distinct rooting interest. A Saturday game also tells you that the first playoff game should be an easier path. Here are the options;
IF the Seahawks upset the 49ers the Eagles will host them on Saturday 1/21
IF the 49ers defeat the Seahawks and then the Giants defeat the Vikings the Eagles will host them on Saturday 1/21
IF the 49ers and Vikings win they will play on Saturday 1/21
To summarize the situation, the Eagles will play on Saturday if they face the Seahawks or Giants and Sunday if they face the Bucs or Cowboys they will play on Sunday 1/22
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The Saturday prime time game is the best option for the Eagles. It allows an extra night of rest before the NFC Titoe Game on January 29th. It also would mean the lesser competition. Is it time for the NFL to consider reworking the playoff format yet again? The Buccaneers getting to host a game with an (8-9) record over a Cowboys team with a (12-5) record makes no sense. Why not give every division an auto bid but the teams are seeded by final record?
The NFC Standings would be;
1. Eagles
2. 49ers
3. Cowboys
4. Vikings
5. Giants
6. Seahawks
7. Buccaneers
The NFL likes to tweak things to create the optimal format. That is a strength of their league. This would be well worth investigating.
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Last night showed you that Howie Roseman needs to keep shopping in the SEC Aisle
We have discussed it many times on the John Kincade Show. A 65-7 blowout victory by Georgia over TCU in the National Championship Game again proves a few points. TCU has 22 4 or 5 star talent players on their roster. Georgia has 60+. When NFL teams are looking for talent they would be best to focus on shopping in the aisles where the top talent resides. Even more importantly, not only are the SEC rosters more talented, the competition the players face on a weekly basis is far more challenging. That prepares those players to compete at the highest level. It appears that Howie Roseman has figured that out the last 3 NFL drafts. Here is hoping that it continues.
One other thing, the blowout finale reinforces the fact that people always WANTED the College Football Playoff expanded but we never NEEDED it expanded. The average margin of victory in the CF semifinal games is greater than 3 scores. It’s always been about fan bases wanting participation trophies. We all love more games, but pretending that we need them to determine a champion is just idiotic.
