{"id":651506,"date":"2026-01-03T20:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/651506\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T20:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:14:14","slug":"eagles-rooting-guide-for-nfl-week-18-games-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/651506\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles rooting guide for NFL Week 18 games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The eighteenth weekend of the 2025 NFL regular season is here! The playoffs are nigh.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s run through a Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>-focused rooting guide for all of the Week 18 games.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the current NFC playoff picture, via ESPN:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s a look at the Eagles\u2019 playoff scenarios via the great Deniz Selman:<\/p>\n

THE PURSUIT OF THE NO. 2 SEED<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: The Eagles are hoping to beat the Commanders while also resting their starters. Go Birds.<\/p>\n

DETROIT LIONS at CHICAGO BEARS: If the Eagles win and the Bears lose, the Birds are the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture. Root for the Lions.<\/p>\n

THE EAGLES\u2019 FIRST ROUND OPPONENT AS THE NO. 3 SEED<\/p>\n

Your preference might vary but the betting lines indicate that the 49ers are a more preferable first round opponent for the Eagles than the Rams. Here\u2019s a look at the look ahead spreads for the Eagles\u2019 potential Wild Card games:<\/p>\n

Eagles -3 vs. Packers (can only happen if Philly is the No. 2 seed)
Eagles +1.5 vs. Rams
Eagles -2.5 vs. 49ers<\/p>\n

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: If the 49ers win this game, they\u2019ll be the No. 1 seed. The Eagles would rather see them in the Wild Card round. Root for the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

ARIZONA CARDINALS at LOS ANGELES RAMS: If the 49ers lose and the Rams win, the Eagles will host the 49ers instead of the Rams. Root for the Rams.<\/p>\n

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFC PLAYOFF PICTURE<\/p>\n

CAROLINA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: The Bucs are 1-7 in their last eight games but they\u2019re favored in this game (speaking to how bad Carolina is) and they rank higher than the Panthers in point differential and DVOA. Baker Mayfield also has more playoff experience than Bryce Young, for what it\u2019s worth. Could be argued, then, that the Bucs are the preferable team to win this game and potentially win the NFC South so they get into the playoffs and beat the No. 5 seed. Also worth noting that the Bucs have previously beat two of the potential No. 5 seeds, the 49ers and Seahawks. Maybe they can knock them off in the postseason?! Probably not. But you can hope for it anyway. Root for the Buccaneers.<\/p>\n

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at ATLANTA FALCONS: The Bucs can only make the playoffs if they beat the Panthers and the Falcons lose (otherwise, the Panthers make it over Tampa based on a three-way tie with Atlanta). Root for the Saints.<\/p>\n

DRAFT PICK CONSIDERATIONS<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the current 2026 NFL Draft order for non-playoff teams, via Tankathon<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DALLAS COWBOYS at NEW YORK GIANTS: The Giants could go from having the No. 1 pick to potentially dropping as low as No. 7 within two weeks. Would be great. Do the unselfish thing and lose, Dallas! Root for the Giants.<\/p>\n

NEW YORK JETS at BUFFALO BILLS: Thanks to last year\u2019s Haason Reddick trade, the Eagles own the Jets\u2019 third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The more the Jets lose, the more favorable the pick will be for the Birds. Root for the Bills.<\/p>\n

CLEVELAND BROWNS at CINCINNATI BENGALS: The Eagles want to see the Browns move ahead of the Giants in the draft order. Root for the Bengals.<\/p>\n

TENNESSEE TITANS at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: The Eagles want to see the Titans move ahead of the Giants in the draft order. Root for the Jaguars.<\/p>\n

GREEN BAY PACKERS at MINNESOTA VIKINGS: The Packers are resting their starters, so, the Vikings probably won\u2019t lose. But it would be good to see Minny move ahead of Dallas in the draft order. Root for the Packers.<\/p>\n

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at HOUSTON TEXANS: The Eagles want to see the Colts\u2019 pick owed to the Jets move ahead of the Cowboys in the draft order. Root for the Texans.<\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS at LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: The Eagles really want the Raiders and not the Giants to get the No. 1 overall pick. Root for the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

MIAMI DOLPHINS at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: The Eagles want the Dolphins to stay ahead of the Cowboys in the draft order. Root for the Patriots.<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS at DENVER BRONCOS: Doesn\u2019t really matter outside of in the weeds strength of schedule tiebreaker implications for draft pick order.<\/p>\n

BALTIMORE RAVENS at PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Which team do you want to win the AFC North? Take your pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The eighteenth weekend of the 2025 NFL regular season is here! The playoffs are nigh. Let\u2019s run through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,7,6,242,109,83988,2476],"class_list":{"0":"post-651506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-eagles","8":"tag-eagles","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","13":"tag-philadelphia-eagles-playoffs","14":"tag-philadelphiaeagles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115833003468537917","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}