The NFL changes a lot from year to year, something that the Eagles could learn the hard way this season.
In 2013, the Eagles won 10 games and that was enough to make them NFC East champions and hosts of a home game in the playoffs. This year, the Eagles could wind up with 11 wins and get nothing for their efforts but the chance to start the offseason before 2015 gets underway. Should that happen, coach Chip Kelly won’t be chalking it up to bad luck or the breaks of the game.
“Right now, we’ve only got nine wins,” Kelly said, via ESPN.com. “I mean, for us to think of questions like that, that doesn’t help us beat Washington. So I don’t really think about it. If we win 11 games and it’s not good enough to get in, shame on us because we didn’t win the right games. That’s the bottom line. That’s what this whole deal is all about and we know it going in.”
Kelly’s right on the money when it comes to losing the wrong games. The Eagles have lost five games in the NFC, including matchups with the Cardinals, Seahawks and Packers that could result in their elimination from the playoffs via a head-to-head tiebreaker. Throw in last week’s loss to the Cowboys and that would make four losses to teams in the NFC playoff field, which is a couple too many for a real hard luck argument.