We’re in November now so it is relevant to look at the standings. The Chiefs, Steelers and Patriots look like the three best teams in the AFC. For now, let’s focus on the NFC.

East PHI 8-1

North MIN 6-2

South NO 6-2

West LAR 6-2

CAR 6-3

DAL 5-3

SEA 5-3

ATL 4-4

Only two of those teams at the bottom will make the playoffs. That means a couple of good teams will be left on the outside. It is hard to imagine the playoffs without Seattle, but that is a possibility.

The Eagles haven’t clinched a playoff berth yet, but it would take a shocking collapse for this team to miss the postseason. The more likely scenario to discuss is whether the Eagles can maintain the best record and clinch the #1 seed. They control their own destiny in that regard so we’ll see what happens.

The Eagles do have the best record, but are they the best team? That is a fair question.

Football Outsiders released their DVOA rankings and they have the Rams as number one, the Steelers number two and the Eagles at three. The Rams may come as a surprise, but that team is legit. Their offense is playing at a high level. Wade Phillips is doing good work with the defense. They were also #1 in STs rankings by FO. That’s impressive. As for the Steelers, they have been hot recently and look pretty darn good.

I happen to think the Eagles are the best team. Clearly I am biased, but I can make a good case. Both teams are Top 5 on offense (points and yards). Both are very good on STs. Both are good on defense, but very different. The Eagles have a historically good run defense right now. They lead the league and are completely overwhelming RBs. The Rams are 26th in run defense. They give up 4.6 yards per carry.

The Rams have a better pass defense, 9th to 25th. However, some of those yards the Eagles gave up came in garbage time. Opposing QBs have a rating of 75.8 against the Rams and 81.2 against the Eagles. Both are difficult to throw against, but the Eagles have given up more yards.

I also think the Eagles have had to deal with more adversity. The Rams have four guys on IR and none of them was projected to be a key player. The Eagles have had all kinds of injuries and overcome them all to this point. That gives a team a kind of mental and emotional toughness. The Eagles aren’t having a dream season because things are breaking their way. The Eagles have had a lot of issues to overcome on the way to 8-1.

I don’t have a good feel for the Steelers. They lost to the Bears, a bad team, and then got blown out by the Jags. They do have great offensive weapons and the #5 defense in the league so the Steelers can beat any team in the league.

Whether the Eagles are first or second or even third is somewhat irrelevant right now. The key is that they are in the discussion to be the top team because they are having a great season. After all, the real best team will be decided on the field in the postseason.

There are some tough regular season tests left for the Eagles. In a four week span, they play at Dallas, at Seattle and at the Rams. I’m excited to see how the Eagles do. If this really is a championship caliber team, they’ll find a way to win at least a couple of those games. The tough tests will help the team to get ready for the postseason. And that is what all this is about…the postseason.

I don’t care if the Eagles go 15-1 or Carson Wentz is the MVP or whatever regular season accomplishment you mention. I just want the Eagles to win in the postseason.

For now, we’ll enjoy the rest of the regular season and seeing just what this team can do.

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About that run defense…

Only 3 players have had a run of 16 or more yards against the Eagles this season. They have been that good. Presented by @ElkinsChevy. pic.twitter.com/KggdpMwxC9 — NBC Sports Philly (@NBCSPhilly) November 7, 2017

Opposing teams have run the ball only 166 times against the Eagles this year, the fewest in NFL history through nine games. — Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) November 7, 2017

The Eagles have played with the lead for most of the year so that has certainly been a factor in keeping teams from running the ball, but teams just aren’t having success and that is the biggest factor in having them go pass happy.

I don’t think Jimmy has updated this yet with the Broncos game, but you can still see just how good the run D is.

Here is what the Eagles have done to opposing running backs (updated): pic.twitter.com/xdoeVG5zD1 — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) October 29, 2017

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