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Playoff scenarios: What the Eagles need for the NFC's No. 1 seed

The Eagles can clinch a first-round bye with a win Sunday over the Giants - and maybe even the No. 1 seed, too.

Wide receiver Torrey Smith, who already has one Super Bowl ring, knows the road to another would be much easier if the Eagles can get homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
Wide receiver Torrey Smith, who already has one Super Bowl ring, knows the road to another would be much easier if the Eagles can get homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. YONG KIM / Staff PhotographerRead moreYong Kim / Staff

At 11-2 overall — and with a .900 winning percentage in the NFC (9-1) — the Eagles control their own path to the top playoff position. They have three remaining games: at the New York Giants (2-11), vs. the Oakland Raiders (6-7), and vs. the Dallas Cowboys (7-6).

The Eagles get a first-round bye if they win any of their next three games. That would give them at least 12 wins and a better conference record than the competing potential 12-win teams. So the Eagles would clinch a bye with a win over the Giants on Sunday.

The Eagles get the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the playoffs if they win two of their next three games, or if the Minnesota Vikings lose one game. The Eagles could clinch the No. 1 seed on Sunday with a win over the Giants and a Minnesota loss to Cincinnati.

[NFL Standings]

The tiebreaker for two teams is:

  1. Head-to-head, if applicable.

  2. Best won-lost percentage in games played within the conference.

  3. Best won-lost percentage in common games, minimum of four.

  4. Strength of victory.

  5. Strength of schedule.

If both the Eagles and Vikings finish 13-3, the Eagles would have the edge because they'd have at worst the same conference record and they'd have the better winning percentage in common games after Minnesota lost to Carolina.

Remaining Schedules

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