Eagles Draft Watch: Week 15 Edition


With Sunday’s win over the Bucs, the Eagles improved to 4-9 on the season with three games left.

Three teams – the Jaguars (2-11), Chiefs (2-11) and Raiders (3-10) – have fewer wins than the Eagles. Four teams – the Panthers, Lions, Cardinals and Titans – have the same record (4-9) as the Birds.

The tiebreaker among teams with the same record is strength of schedule. The team with the overall easier schedule gets the higher pick. Here’s a look at the top five.

WinsLossesOpponent SOS
Chiefs (1)211.500
Jaguars (2)211.541
Raiders (3)310.457
Eagles (4)49.510
Panthers (5)49.510
Titans (6)49.532
Cardinals (7)49.562
Lions (8)49.566

The Chiefs get the nod over the Jaguars because they’ve had an easier schedule. The Raiders are third as the only 3-9 team.

But why are the Eagles ahead of the Panthers? Somehow, their strengths of schedule are identical. Each team’s opponents have combined for a 106-102 record (.510 winning percentage) through 13 games. But the Eagles (2-8) have a worse conference record than Carolina (4-7). That gives the Birds the edge. The Eagles still have two conference games remaining – against the Redskins and Giants. The Panthers have one conference game left – in Week 17 against the Saints.

Even if the Eagles had lost yesterday, they would be fourth since the Raiders have an easier strength of schedule.

Of course, a lot can change in the next three weeks. In addition to being tied with four teams at 4-9, five teams (the Saints, Dolphins, Bills, Chargers and Browns) are just a game better at 5-8.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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