Even after Dallas’ huge comeback over the Eagles on Sunday, Philadelphia is still the heavy favorite to win the NFC East. But at least the Cowboys’ victory made things a little more interesting going forward,
and puts Philly on its heels ahead of a very tough matchup.
Dallas got back to .500 in remarkable fashion, but remains three wins behind the NFC East leaders. If the Cowboys can match victories with Philly by the end of the season, they will likely take the division. The tie in Dallas’ record gives them a slightly higher winning percentage, rendering tiebreakers like head-to-head or division records moot.
For example, let’s say Dallas wins five of its next six (10-6-1 final record) and the Eagles only win two more (10-7) the rest of the way. They’d both have 10 wins, but Dallas’ tie with Green Bay would give them a better overall record and the division crown.
Here are the NFC East standings going into Week 13:
- Philadelphia Eagles 8-3 (2-2 in division, 7-2 vs NFC)
- Dallas Cowboys 5-5-1 (3-1, 3-4-1)
- Washington Commanders 3-8 (1-1, 1-6)
- New York Giants 2-10 (1-3, 1-8)
This week is a good chance to make up some of that ground. The Eagles are hosting a red-hot Chicago team on Friday, now 8-1 in its last nine games. Philly will benefit from having home field on a short week, but even before Sunday they were struggling against good teams like the Packers and Lions. If the Eagles don’t clean up their act fast, Ben Johnson’s Bears could hang another big loss on the defending champs.
If they want to benefit from a potential Philadelphia loss, the Cowboys will have to handle their own affairs a day earlier against the visiting Chiefs. While this isn’t the dominant Kansas City of yesteryears, it’s still Andy Reid, Pat Mahomes, and guys who know how to step up under pressure. Like Dallas, KC is fighting to get back into its conference’s wild card picture. There will be no lack of motivation from either side.
Beyond this week, the strength of schedule is fairly balanced between Dallas and Philadelphia. Both play the Chargers soon, and then each has another tough opponent as the Cowboys face the Lions next week and the Eagles have the Bills in Week 17. They also have an equal number of weaker opponents on paper: Dallas has the Vikings, Commanders, and Giants while Philly has those same division rivals, plus the Raiders.
Given that seemingly even distribution of challenges, the idea of the Cowboys catching up to the Eagles in the standings is still more of a dream than a goal. But just as some teams catch fire to close a season, which Dallas just might be on their way to doing, others suffer second-half collapses. In addition to its on-field issues, Philly now has to fight off a national media that smells blood in the locker room.
We’ll see what the Cowboys do with their own opportunity on Thursday, and how the Eagles respond the following afternoon. This week, with Philly’s game playing a huge part, will go a long way to either killing Dallas’ fantasies or further fueling them.
