Philadelphia finished last season at 8-8 in the toughest division in the NFC, playing one of the toughest schedules in the NFL. The Eagles only played two games against teams with fewer than seven wins in 2007. This season the Eagles have an easier schedule, with four games against teams that won under seven games, and only six games against playoff teams.

Donovan McNabb lobbied for a big playmaking receiver in the off-season. The Eagles flirted briefly with the idea of bringing in Randy Moss, but instead settled for DeSean Jackson in the draft. AccuScore wanted to see how much Randy Moss would have helped the Eagles this season, and the result was in favor of McNabb. The Eagles would have been scoring two more points per game with Moss, which would have put them in a dead heat with the Dallas Cowboys as the leaders of the NFC East, according to AccuScore simulations.

That being said, the Eagles are not out of contention this season, and not just due to their easier schedule. Philadelphia had the 18th worst passing defense last year thanks to injuries to their secondary. They improved on this weakness by bringing in the top free agent cornerback, Asante Samuel. Samuel is helping the Eagles pass defense to become the 12th ranked unit in AccuScore forecasts, with the Eagles defense allowing the sixth fewest points in simulations.

Despite the tough division, the Eagles are the current AccuScore favorite for the final seed in the NFC playoffs. Philadelphia is finishing the season at 9-7, with a 46.7 percent chance of making the playoffs. McNabb may not have gotten the top receiver he wanted, but the defense with Samuel is a top ten unit according to AccuScore forecasts, and McNabb ranks eighth in passing yards with his current group of receivers. Those two combined will get the Eagles back to the playoffs.

Click here to see how the Eagles perform in week one simulations against the St. Louis Rams.