Nick Foles and the Eagles are right in the thick of the NFC playoff picture in Chip Kelly's first season at the helm in Philadelphia. Image Courtesy of Huffington Post
Chip Kelly will never admit it.
Neither will his assistant coaches or the players themselves.
But, expectations have been raised at One Novacare Way as the head coach makes his first sojurn through an NFL schedule at the helm of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Entering the final month of the season, Kelly and the Eagles are very much in the thick of the NFC East division race, certainly having come a long way from a disastrous 1-3 start.
At 6-5 the Eagles are in a virtual tie for first place with the Dallas Cowboys atop the NFC East standings, but in actuality the Birds are in eighth place in the conference and on the outside looking in at the postseason thanks to Dallas' unblemished 4-0 division record and holding the head-to-head tiebreaker against Kelly and company.
The Cowboys survived a 24-21 battle against the Giants at MetLife Stadium Sunday and for all intents and purposes ended the Giants' postseason aspirations sending Tom Coughlin and company to a 4-7 record.
New York is 1-3 in the division and do not hold any tiebreakers against either the Cowboys or the Eagles.
So, the sprint to the finish in the NFC East is effectively a two-horse race between the Eagles and Cowboys with the teams meeting for a season ending matchup in Arlington on December 29th.
Dallas has a short week this week by playing the Oakland Raiders – who gave away a game at home Sunday – on Thanksgiving before facing meaningful games against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers before taking on the Washington Redskins and Eagles to close out the season.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have a tall order in front of them before the final Sunday of the season against the Cowboys.
Coming off the bye week the Eagles face the Arizona Cardinals who not only have won four straight games and enter at 7-4, but also bring along head coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles who each can make a case for being passed over for Kelly.
Following Sunday's matchup with the Cardinals the Eagles host the Detriot Lions, a fellow worst-to-first story that is playing out in the NFC North, before traveling to take on the Minnesota Vikings and returning home to host the Chicago Bears before taking on the Cowboys.
Not a murderers row by any stretch of the imagination, but four of the final five opponents remaining on the Eagles schedule have a winning record.
The first game the Eagles win against any of those four teams will be the first victory against a team with a winning record that Philadelphia has posted this season.
It will be difficult for Kelly, his assistant coaches and even the players to avoid scoreboard watching over the course of the next four weeks, even as they are on the field, as it is imperative that the Eagles keep pace with Dallas to have any hope of making a playoff berth.
If the Eagles enter the season's final Sunday tied with the Cowboys, then that finale will effectively be a play-in game for the team's first opportunity to taste postseason action since January 2011.
It's certainly encouraging to see the Eagles playing meaningful football entering the month of December.
However, whether Kelly, his assistants or the players will admit it or not, expecations recently have been raised to even surpass that fact.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
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