An Eagles' Christmas?

Photo courtesy of sportsgeekery.com

"Three days till Christmas; oh boy, what has Santa gotten for all of us?"

Hopefully, an Eagles win and a Giants loss.  

This upcoming weekend is a very special NFL Christmas weekend.  Philadelphia Eagles fans are all eager for the miracle to happen, an Eagles playoff berth.  There are, however, baby steps involved in those slim playoff chances.  Yet as each game arrives and the Eagles progress, those chances gradually expand, giving hope to the city of Philadelphia. 

  

The fight to inch closer to a playoff spot will begin before the Eagles even take the field at Cowboys Stadium.  It all starts at Metlife Stadium in New York at 1 p.m where the New York Giants will square-up against their rivals, the New York Jets, in the Battle for New York.    

• The Eagles will need a favor from the already humiliated Jets to provide them with a win against the Giants.  J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets!  Show me what you got, Rex Ryan!

With that said, Eagles fans would now be able to enjoy a meaningful game at 4:15 p.m.  Let's take a look at the match-up:

The Cowboys are coming off a dominating game against a lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad.  Defensively, the Cowboys will feed off of defensive-end Demarcus Ware's intensity and linebacker Sean Lee's aggressiveness.  Offensively, Tony Romo is on fire, contrary to games in December from previous years.  His play had the capability to put his team above everyone else in the NFC East, before being abruptly ruined by coaching decisions and special team plays in the final seconds of regulation.  Also, since running back DeMarco Murray is out for the season with a fractured fibula, Felix Jones will be on the menu for a newly-energized Philadelphia Eagles' defense. 

The Eagles hope for good coaching to continue; they have received this these past two weeks.  Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo is starting to understand and make critical adjustments to his defense during the games, adding more blitzes and schemes. Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg are starting to finally understand that if they balance the calls of running and passing plays, then they will win the game. Looking to eye an NFL rushing title, Lesean McCoy has been a beast; he only trails Maurice Jones-Drew by 60 yards. Michael Vick is playing smarter, especially with his decisions on taking unnecessary hits.  

As the NFC East continues with its inconsistency, so does the NFC playoff picture race. 

Who will be victorious?   

   

Eagles Slim Playoff Chances

"Playoffs, don't talk about playoffs; you kidding me, playoffs?"  Thanks Jim Mora for that lovely introduction.

As awful as the 5-8 Eagles season has been, they're miraculously still in the playoff hunt.  This was made possible because of the struggling NFC East.

Sunday's 26-10 victory in Miami helped keep the Eagles on life support as they head into their next game against the New York Jets at home.



However, there are a lot of things that need to happen besides the Eagles having to win out all of their games.

First, Dallas' schedule looks like this: at Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and at New York against the Giants.

• Dallas needs to lose at least 2 games.
• If Dallas beats the Giants, then Dallas has to lose against Tampa Bay    

Second, the Giants' schedule looks like this: Washington, at New York Jets and Dallas.

• The Giants' needs to lose at least 2 games.  
• If the Giants sweep Dallas, then they have to lose to the Redskins and Jets for the Eagles to have a shot.  

It really all comes down to this upcoming week.  The Eagles need at least one upset to happen, whether it is the Giants losing to Washington or Dallas losing to Tampa Bay.  

The Eagles performance this year has been abysmal from offense to defense to coaching. Although they don't deserve to be in the playoffs and a losing record would surely eliminate Andy Reid from coaching this team, I still bleed green!  Hopefully, the switch has turned on for this team.

                 I still believe.  Miracles can happen.  

                            Just ask Tim Tebow.