Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys: Loser in serious trouble
The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys find themselves in the rarest of spots on Sunday Night Football. Both at 9-4, it would seem they are terrific bets for the postseason. However, in the wild NFC playoff race, the loser of tonight’s clash will be in serious trouble.
First off, if Philadelphia wins it is all but guaranteed the NFC East title. The Eagles would hold the tiebreaker thanks to beating Dallas twice, and only have the New York Giants and Washington Redskins remaining on the schedule. Win one of those games and it’s clinched. If the Cowboys win, they would have to beat both the Indianapolis Colts at home and the Redskins away to take the division. It’s likely Dallas handles business, and if it does Philadelphia finds itself scrambling for a wild-card spot.
So why is the loser so screwed? Well, while both could certainly get to 11-5, they see roadblocks ahead. The Seattle Seahawks will likely end up winning the NFC West, making the Arizona Cardinals a wild-card team. At worst, Arizona will finish 11-5 and it holds tiebreakers over Dallas and Philadelphia with head-to-head wins. The other wild-card contender will probably be the Detroit Lions, who look like a solid bet to go 11-5 with the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings left on their docket before a trip to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers. Detroit is currently 9-4, so a pair of wins against sub-.500 teams sets it up.
If there is a three-way tie between Arizona, Detroit and Philadelphia at 11-5, the Cardinals would earn the fifth seed and the Lions would sneak into the last spot based on conference record. Slide in the Cowboys instead of the Eagles for this scenario, and the Cardinals still become the fifth seed while the Lions would again take the final spot because of a superior conference record.
When it comes down to it, this NFC East showdown is something of an elimination game. Las Vegas is having a tough time deciding who the better team is despite Philadelphia’s 33-10 beatdown of Dallas on Thanksgiving. Vegas has installed the Eagles as a 3.5-point favorite at home. Considering the home team always gets a field goal for home-field advantage, Vegas basically has these two teams as dead even on a neutral field.
Ultimately, the fallout of a Cowboys defeat would be incredible. Dallas started 6-1 only to go 3-3 over the next six games. If the Cowboys miss the postseason, it will be the fifth consecutive season without a 17th game. Additionally, the Cowboys face some tough decisions in the future with DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant hitting free agency in their primes.
The easiest way to avoid all these negative feelings? Win in Philadelphia and take the NFC East.
