Eagles end up NFC’s No. 5 playoff seed after Cowboys win NFC East

The Eagles (11-6) already clinched a playoff spot entering Week 18, but two straight losses to end the season made their path to a second straight Super Bowl much more challenging.

After starting the season with a 10-1 record, the Eagles have suddenly lost five of their last six games, a skid summed up perfectly by Birds’ fan Jasmine Jones being caught by Fox Sports cameras yelling, “What the hell are you doing?”

After losing Sunday to the New York Giants (6-11), the Eagles will end up with the NFC’s No. 5 seed and will travel to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) in the wild-card round. The game’s date and time has not yet been announced.

In order to end up in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII, the Birds are going to have to win three playoff games on the road.

Since 1990, just two teams have entered the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and gone on to win the Super Bowl — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and the New York Giants in 2007.

The Dallas Cowboys (12-5) are NFC East champs after defeating the Washington Commanders (4-13) Sunday. They’ll enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, and host the Green Bay Packers (9-8).

No team has won the NFC East in consecutive seasons in nearly 20 years, when the Eagles won the division four years in a row from 2001 to 2004. It’s the longest streak in the NFL, and will continue for at least one more season.

Entering Week 18, six NFC teams remained alive in the hunt for the conference’s three final playoff spots, with two divisions still up for grabs.

Now everything is wrapped up. The San Francisco 49ers get a bye, and here are the NFC matchups for wild-card weekend:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) barely defeated the lowly Carolina Panthers (2-14), but the win secured them the NFC South. They’ll host the No. 5 seed in wild-card weekend at Raymond James Stadium, which would be the Eagles if either the Birds lose or the Cowboys win.

Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers (9-8) punched their ticket to the postseason by defeating the Chicago Bears (7-10) on Sunday. They’ll face the Cowboys during the wild-card round.

The Packers’ win eliminated the Seahawks and Saints from the playoffs.

In the AFC, we now know the seven teams that will face off in the playoffs, with the Baltimore Ravens (13-4) holding No. 1 seed.

Heading into tonight’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, only one AFC playoff game is locked-in for wild-card weekend: Cleveland Browns (No. 5) at Houston Texans (No. 4)

Here are the remaining playoff scenarios:

Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins (11-5) have already clinched a spot in the postseason, but they’ll win NFC East for the first time since 2008 and end up with the No. 2 seed with a win on Sunday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills (10-6).

A loss and the Dolphins will drop down to the No. 6 seed, meaning they’ll travel to face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) during wild-card weekend.

The Bills will also win the AFC East and the No. 2 seed with a win against the Dolphins. But the Bills clinched a playoff spot Sunday, thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8) loss Sunday. So a loss by Buffalo Sunday night will drop them to either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed.

The Jaguars’ loss eliminated them from the playoffs.

The Houston Texans (10-7) clinched a playoff appearance by defeating former Eagles backup Gardner Minshew and the Indianapolis Colts (9-8) Saturday night. The loss eliminated the Colts from the playoffs.

On Sunday the Texans clinched the AFC South title, their first since 2019, thanks to the Jaguars’ loss.

Thanks to their win Saturday night against the Ravens and the Jaguars’ loss on Sunday, the Steelers clinched a wild-card spot in the postseason.

The NFL playoffs begin with the wild-card round, with the first game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Jan. 13 on NBC.

There are six wild-card games that will air on Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC. The new wrinkle this year is one wild-card game will stream exclusively on Peacock, NBC’s subscription service.