Week 8 gives Eagles fans a weird little menu: some games matter for the division, some matter for the draft, and some matter because Philadelphia’s own 2027 draft position is tangled up in other teams’ results.
Start with the Eagles themselves. Philadelphia is at Washington with a 3.7% chance of making the playoffs, according to FTN Fantasy.
FanDuel has the Eagles at +1100 to qualify for the postseason, which is the second-longest odds among NFC teams, ahead of only the Arizona Cardinals at +3500. That’s why the rooting conversation is split right down the middle.
Some fans will want the Eagles to keep winning as long as they can. Others will look at the 2027 NFL Draft and see value in every loss.
A win would put Philadelphia at 3-5 and set up a chance to get to 4-5 before the Week 10 bye. A loss could push the Eagles as high as No. 2 in the draft order.
In the NFC East, the cleanest answer is simple: root for Arizona over Dallas. If the Eagles are still thinking about the division, the Cowboys need to lose. And even if the draft is the bigger priority, the Cardinals winning keeps Arizona behind Philadelphia in the draft order.
The draft math gets messy fast after that. Baltimore at Buffalo matters because the Eagles own the Ravens’ fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft through the Cam Jurgens trade, so Philadelphia benefits if that pick gets better.
That means pulling for the Bills. Tennessee at Cincinnati is another one where the Eagles need help from the team behind them in the draft order, so Tennessee is the side to root for.
Las Vegas at New York is similar, only the threat is flipped: the 2-5 Jets are the bigger danger to jump Philadelphia than the 3-4 Raiders, so the Jets are the pick.
There’s also a Browns-Steelers angle that goes beyond the teams on the field. Cleveland and Pittsburgh are both 5-2, so neither looks like a direct draft-order threat to the Eagles.
But Philadelphia owns Baltimore’s fifth-round pick, and the Eagles don’t want to see the Ravens gain ground in the AFC North. A Browns win would make Cleveland 6-2 overall and 3-0 in division games, which would make life harder for Baltimore.
So the Browns are the play there.
Indianapolis at Jacksonville has its own wrinkle. The Colts are in fire-sale mode, and because of last year’s Sauce Gardner trade, they don’t have their own first-round pick in this draft - the Jets do. More losing from Indianapolis could help that owed pick land ahead of the Eagles, so Philadelphia should be pulling for the Colts.
There’s a similar two-way benefit in Chargers-Rams. The Eagles may not be able to catch the winless Chargers in the draft order, but it’s at least in play.
And if you care about the wild card picture, the Rams losing helps there too. So the Chargers get the nod.
Kansas City at Denver is another one where the Broncos feel like the more likely team to slide into trouble and threaten Philadelphia’s draft position, so the Broncos are the rooting choice.
Finally, New England at Miami ties into both the draft and another Eagles asset. Philadelphia needs the Dolphins to keep winning a bit more if it wants a shot at moving ahead of them in the draft order.
On top of that, the Eagles own the more favorable of either New England’s or Chicago’s 2027 fifth-round pick because of the A.J. Brown trade.
That makes a Patriots loss the preferred outcome, with Miami as the team to back.
The teams left on the board for Eagles fans to keep an eye on are New Orleans, the New York Giants - Philadelphia’s Week 9 opponent - San Francisco, and Houston.
In Other News...
Eagles Are Flirting With Another Costly Saquon Barkley Decision
Saquon Barkleys season has already been a stop-and-start one, with injuries piling up and the Eagles trying to manage his workload as the games keep coming. He was back at practice Friday after sitting out the first two sessions of the week, and the expectation is that he will be available for the next game, which only sharpens the attention on how carefully Philadelphia is handling him.
The concern around Barkley is bigger than one practice report because the Eagles are still dealing with the fallout from Jalen Hurts season-ending blood clot situation. Hurts initially had what seemed like a minor issue before it worsened after he kept playing and traveling, and now there is a real unease that Philadelphia could be drifting into the same kind of risk with another key player if it does not get the balance right. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Send A Clear Message About Their Depth Before Commanders Game
The Eagles added some extra insurance for their Week 8 matchup with Washington by elevating running back Elijah Mitchell and edge rusher Mason Reiger from the practice squad. Mitchells move comes with some familiarity, since it is his second temporary elevation of the season, while Reiger is in line to make his Eagles debut as Philadelphia continues to manage the edges of its roster heading into a divisional game.
Philadelphia also left tight end Zach Ertz and cornerback Jakorian Bennett on injured reserve ahead of the Commanders game, keeping those spots unchanged for now. The decisions underscore how the Eagles are piecing together depth on the fly, with the practice squad again serving as a short-term solution as the team prepares for a key NFC East test. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Face A Brutal Sunday Night Test They Desperately Need
Sunday night brings a tricky divisional measuring stick for the Eagles, who head into their matchup with Washington dealing with plenty of outside skepticism and a fair amount of uncertainty of their own. The buildup has centered on recent form, injuries and how both teams stack up right now, with analysts split on which side has the edge and plenty of attention on whether Philadelphia can steady itself in a game that could say a lot about where this season is headed.
Washingtons injury situation adds another layer to the matchup, even if the conversation around the game has mostly focused on how the Eagles respond under the lights. Philadelphia is staring at a test it badly needs, not just for the standings but for the tone it sets going forward, and the fact that so many predictions are still up in the air only underscores how much is riding on this one. [Read more 🡒]