FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys' loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday significantly lowered their chances of winning the NFC East crown — until Philadelphia's loss to Seattle on Monday night.
The two results have the Eagles and Cowboys tied once again at the top of the division, this time at 10-4 with three games to go.
"It was marvelous," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said about the Eagles loss on Monday night. "I watched every bit of it. I was about to doze (off) and then when they made those two plays at the end … I couldn't sleep until 4 this morning because of the impact it can have on our year and our season."
The remaining schedules for both teams will see the Cowboys travel to Miami before coming home to face Detroit and going back on the road to face Washington, while the Eagles will host the Giants and Cardinals before a rematch with the Giants in New York.
For the Cowboys to win the NFC East, they will need the Eagles to lose one of their final three games while also either winning out or only losing one game to Detroit or Miami. A loss to Washington would almost certainly write Dallas in as the five seed in the NFC.
If both teams win out, the fifth tiebreaker rule would be enacted after the two teams would have the same head-to-head record, same division record, same record against common opponents and same conference record. That tiebreaker would look at the win percentage of all teams that each team has beaten, which gives the edge to Philadelphia as of Week 16. It's not a given that the Eagles would win that tiebreaker at season's end, but it is highly likely.
For Cowboys fans, the rooting guide would involve the Eagles losing at least one game down the stretch. If that were to happen, the Cowboys can afford to lose to either Miami or Detroit and still win the division.
There is a lot to play out in the final three weeks, and while the Eagles schedule is much more favorable than the Cowboys, Jalen Hurts and his team will have to rebound off a three-game skid in December.
