Unrelenting schedule makes Eagles’ failure to win close games more lethal

The Eagles have the hardest schedule in the NFL. And as such, at 4-4, the squad has just a 27 percent chance to make the playoffs and 4 percent chance to win the NFC East — according to fivethirtyeight.com.

Philadelphia is 0-3 in their division following a 28-23 loss to the Giants in Week 9. They had the bad fortune to face the Vikings, Cowboys and Giants in consecutive weeks. Each of those three teams was fresh off their respective bye weeks making the task of winning close games down the stretch all the a lot tougher. They will face the Falcons next week coming off extra rest having played last Thursday night.

Recent squandered opportunities in winnable games will make it all the more difficult for the Eagles to make up ground, as things get even worse after they host the Falcons in Week 10.

A trip out West to play the Seahawks, a home game against the Packers on Monday Night Footballand short week against the Bengals in Cincinnati offer yet another relentless stretch of games.

All three of the Eagles home divisional games fall in the final four weeks — with a date against the Ravens in Baltimore mixed in the middle.

These facts — paired with the Eagles diminishing play in their recent five games which saw them go 1-4 — could mean that winning now is not realistic with a youthful squad, rookie head coach and rookie starting quarterback.

“We’re obviously building something here, but, when you look at these games, that we’ve been in at the end, the encouraging thing is that we really should have won those games,” Doug Pederson said, refusing to let negativity seep in despite an ugly recent stretch.”The Detroit game, we had the lead. Dallas, we had the lead. And then yesterday, we had opportunities late in the game, to take the lead and/or win the football game, so, these are all things that, as we build this thing, we’re going to win these games down the stretch as we go. That’s part of heading in the right direction for me.”

The Browns hold the Eagles’ first round pick in 2017, so their finish will not matter with regards to draft position. So even if they were thinking of “tanking” there would be no incentive to do so.

Philly holds Minnesota’s first rounder (they acquired it for Sam Bradford in the preseason) so the best Eagles fans can do is root against the Vikings.