3 Reasons To Be Hopeful About The Eagles
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings and I sure as heck don't hear anything!
Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2015-16 Philadelphia Eagles, despite their roller-coaster type season. At 5-7 with just four games to play, most NFL fan bases would never dream of the postseason. But thanks to the abysmal NFC East and the team's improved play, there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful about the Birds.
Here are the top three.
3. The Math
While the pessimistic Philadelphia Eagles fans will scoff and snicker at the idea of their "terrible" football team winning the NFC East, the reality of the situation is, it's very possible.
In fact, FiveThirtyEight.com's Elo rating system says the Eagles are clear favorites to win the division with a 43-percent chance. The Giants are second, at just 28-percent.
2. The Schedule
Three straight homes games following an upset win over the defending Super Bowl Champions? Yes, please.
The Eagles will host the Bills, Cardinals, and Redskins in back-to-back-to-back weeks, before ending the season in North Jersey against the Giants. While the 10-2 Cardinals will certainly be a tough task regardless of where the game is played, the other three opponents are far from scary.
With wins over the Redskins (who are 0-5 on the road) and Giants the Eagles will improve their all-important divisional record to 4-2, helping secure the NFC East.
Remaining NFC East schedules
Eagles: vs. BUF, vs. ARZ, vs. WAS, at Nyg
Giants: at Mia, vs. CAR, at Min, vs. PHI
Redskins: at Chi, vs. BUF, at Phi, at Dal
Cowboys: at Gb, vs. NYJ, at Buf, vs. WAS
1. Sam Bradford
The Eagles are 5-2 in their last seven games that Bradford has started and finished.
In his last three starts, Bradford has completed 67.1-percent of his passes for 651 yards, 4 TD, and 0 INT. While his four touchdown passes in three games certainly isn't setting the world on fire, Bradford is taking care of the football --- giving the Eagles a chance to win games. In Bradford's 10 starts this season the Eagles are 5-5 (including the 20-19 loss to MIA where Bradford left early in the third quarter) and have lost those five games by a combined 27 points (5.4 points per game).
Sam Bradford is healthy, playing some of his best football, and coming off a road win over the Super Bowl champions.
