Philadelphia Eagles set themselves up for playoff run

The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off a huge road win over the Carolina Panthers last Thursday night.

At 5-1, the Philadelphia Eagles have made a statement to the entire NFL with a recent win over the Carolina Panthers, and are now tied for the best record in the NFL. They are now in the midst of an 11-day layoff leading up to a huge divisional showdown with the Washington Redskins.

While it seems like so many teams in the NFL are in flux right now, the Eagles have themselves set up in a great situation. Continuing to get healthier and get three straight home games leading up to the bye.

More from Section 215

• 4 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster Spots
• Best Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket
• 3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn Siposs
• Cowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak Prescott
• Devon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on Eagles

There have been times this season when Philadelphia has missed key players like Fletcher Cox, Ronald Darby, Wendell Smallwood and Lane Johnson. At this point, the outlook has to be positive given the fact they should only continue to get healthier going forward.

Throughout the absence of Ronald Darby; Jalen Mills, and Rasul Douglas have really stepped up and held it down in the secondary, showing the next man up mentality the Eagles have played with thus far. Looking at how well Philadelphia has played so far, despite all of the injuries just shows how scary of a team they can be when healthy.

Darby should begin to practice very soon and hopefully, the 11-day layoff is enough for Jordan Hicks to heal up as well. Having these two back and healthy should add more dangerous pieces to this Eagles team on the rise.

It was very evident the impact Cox`s return had on the Eagles’ defense. Cox was a key catalyst to the defensive success against Carolina. In addition to Cox, we have seen the improvement of this defense and team as a whole when key pieces returned from injury.

With so many of those key pieces already back and the return of some more, this Philadelphia team is currently sitting in a great spot.

Carson Wentz looks like the real deal. Wentz is leading an offense that is clicking at such a high level right now, and should only improve. Doug Pederson has silenced many of his critics and has established a nice run to pass balance with his top back LeGarrette Blount.

In addition to all of that, Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor continue to carve up defenses over the middle of the field. Taking advantage of all of the space that is being opened up due to the presence of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.

Speaking of Jeffery and Smith, those two have yet to really hit their strides yet. If defenses try to put more focus on Ertz and Agholor, Wentz will have no problem looking to his outside threats more. That is what makes Philadelphia’s offense so dangerous.

With the Eagles humming along so nicely, what about the rest of the NFC and the teams that could be a threat to make a run for home field in the postseason?

The Green Bay Packers suffered a terrible blow after losing quarterback Aaron Rodgers for what looks like to be the entire season. The Atlanta Falcons continue to look like they are having a Super Bowl hangover, and the Eagles have proved they can beat the Panthers. Philadelphia needs to continue to widen that gap between them and Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, which they can do with a key NFC East win on Monday night.

The team that really scares me the most is the Seattle Seahawks. That is a team that has shown the ability to get hot late and rides that momentum into the postseason. While the Seahawks are not as potent as they were a few years back, they are still a scary team come playoff the Eagles would need to be aware of

With the rest of the NFC scrambling at the moment, Philadelphia must keep up this run they are on and make a push for that top seed. The Eagles have a chance to be in very good shape after their bye. They have three straight home games starting this Monday night and if they can play at home like they have over the past handful of years, they should be in very good shape for the stretch run.

There is a great possibility that Philadelphia can enter the bye week 8-1, or at worst 7-2. But, obviously, this is the NFL where anything can happen, so we must take this week by week.

Next: 5 reasons Philadelphia Eagles are team to beat in NFC

All in all, when you combine the Eagles getting more healthy, the flux that so many competing NFC teams are in, and the way the schedule shapes out, Philadelphia is in a great spot right now. The Eagles are currently sitting pretty atop the NFC right now, and have themselves positioned greatly for a run. And if the pieces continue to fall in the right direction, this will be a very dangerous team come January.