The Philadelphia Eagles are the reigning Super Bowl champions, but the 2025–26 season hasn’t been smooth sailing. Even so, Nick Sirianni’s team has done enough to secure a postseason berth for the fifth straight year after clinching its second consecutive NFC East title.
Philadelphia hosted the Washington Commanders in the regular-season finale with a chance to improve its playoff positioning. Unfortunately, they suffered a loss. Here’s a look at the Eagles’ seeding scenarios and potential Wild Card opponents.
What Are Eagles Playoff Seeding Scenarios for Week 18
After a three-game skid that began in mid-November, the Eagles responded emphatically, winning three straight games against the Las Vegas Raiders, Commanders, and Buffalo Bills by a combined score of 73–30. Their Week 16 victory over Washington locked up both the NFC East crown and a playoff spot.
While the Week 17 victory over Buffalo was far from pretty, it still came against a Super Bowl contender and provided a confidence boost as Philadelphia looks to defend its title.
Heading into Week 18, the Eagles sat as the No. 3 seed in the NFC. They had a path to the No. 2 seed, which would have required a win over Washington and a Chicago Bears loss to the Detroit Lions.
The Bears did lose to the Lions, but the Eagles failed to get the job done against the Commanders. According to PFSN’s Playoff Predictor, Philadelphia had a 70.8% chance of beating the Commanders and a 32.99% chance of climbing to the No. 2 seed.
If that happened, the Eagles would have hosted the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs, who are locked in as the No. 7 seed. Since the Eagles are the third seed in the NFC, they will host the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card round.
Philadelphia has a long-standing rivalry with San Francisco, and it promises to be an exciting matchup between two teams with a wealth of playoff experience.
The defending champions have the talent to beat any of their opponents, especially at home. However, with an offense that has been inconsistent throughout the season, Philadelphia may not enter any of these matchups as a clear favorite, setting the stage for a challenging start to their title defense.
The Eagles’ starters did not play in Week 18, and they will be fresh to face a 49ers team that played hard yesterday against the Seattle Seahawks. San Francisco is riddled with injuries, and Philadelphia will be a huge favorite to win the game, and make it to the Divisional Round.
