The Cowboys dominating 33-13 victory over the Eagles on Sunday night tied the two teams for first in the NFC East.
It also put both teams into a three-way tie with the 49ers for the best record in the NFC at 10-3.
As it stands now, the 49ers have the tie-breakers for the top seed in the playoffs. Dallas is currently in first in the NFC East.
But the Cowboys' current tie-breaker advantage over Philadelphia vanishes if the Eagles win out no matter what Dallas does.
The Cowboys also have the toughest remaining schedule of the three teams.
Dallas faces the Bills (7-6) in Buffalo next week, the plays division leaders Miami (9-3) on the road and Detroit (9-4) at home.
A road win over Washington is never a lock either. So Dallas needs to keep winning and then get help.
The Eagles' toughest remaining opponent is coming up next Monday when they play the Seahawks (6-7) in Seattle.
Philadelphia has two games with the Giants (4-8) and they host a game with the lowly Cardinals.
The 49ers will host the Ravens (10-3) in two weeks with their other three opponents being the Cardinals, Commanders, and Rams.
Clearly, Dallas must win out and get one more loss from the Eagles and 49ers if they want the division and the No. 1 seed.
History Against Dallas?
Since the NFL expanded from a 14-game schedule to a 16-game slate in 1978, then to 17 games in 1990 and 18 games in 2021, Dallas has not fared well.
The Cowboys are 25-20 in Week 15 games and 24-21 in Week 16 games. But they are a woeful 13-21 in Week 17. That is right at .500.
They are 2-1 in Week 18 games, winning in 2021 and losing in 2022. Dallas won a Week 18 game scheduled in 1993 when the NFL tried out two bye weeks for that season.
Dallas is 0-1 against both Miami and Buffalo and 1-2 against Detroit in games played over the final four weeks of the season.
Overall though, Dallas is 8-5 against Buffalo, despite having lost the last two meetings. The Cowboys are 3-3 in games played in Buffalo.
Dallas is 8-7 overall against the Dolphins, winning the last four contests.
The Cowboys are 4-2 in games played at Miami.
Dallas enjoys an 18-12 mark over the Lions with five straight wins under their belt over that franchise. They are 12-3 at home when playing Detroit.
Assuming Dallas runs the gauntlet, and gets one loss from the Eagles and 49ers, they will head for Washington with a 77-48-2 record over the Commanders.
But Dallas is just 34-31 in games played at Washington.
Against The Eagles All-Time
Dallas is now 6-3 against the Eagles in Week 14 matchups – 4-1 when those games are played in Texas.
The Cowboys are 74-56 all-time against Philadelphia.
The Cowboys have won the last six meetings at AT&T Stadium and hold a 10-6 mark at their newest home.
They were 26-14 in games played at Texas Stadium and 7-4 at the Cotton Bowl.
How Hard Can It Be?
The Kansas City Chiefs appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Travis Kelce improvised, lateraling the football after catching a pass to Kardarius Toney. Toney raced into the endzone for the apparent score.
Only one problem though.
Toney had lined up offsides on the play. And it wasn't even close.
Replay showed Toney with his foot well across the line at the snap. Making it even worse, he was looking right down the line at the ball.
The Cowboys have had some critical offsides calls go against them under similar circumstances with players lined up incorrectly.
Seriously, how hard can it be guys? And for a receiver, they have the ability to check with the official standing right there.
Brutally bad work there, especially given Toney's woes with dropped passes this year,
Expect a much different receiver room in Kansas City next year.
Anyone Have Any Points To Spare
Sunday saw two of its NFL games go into halftime in a scoreless tie for the first time since Oct. 30, 1988.
One of the teams involved (Houston) didn't even exist back then. Another (Las Vegas) was playing in a different city entirely.
Both the Houston-Texans-New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings-Las Vegas Raiders games failed to record a single first-half point.
The Texans and Jets managed to find where they left their offenses by the second half. The Jets won the game 30-6.
The Vikings and Raiders never quite did.
Greg Joseph's 36-yard field goal with just under two minutes left in the game accounted for all of the scoring.
The 3-0 final sounded more like an upcoming Twins-Athletics game with Oakland's baseball team moves to Vegas in 2028.
One of the teams involved in 1988's “First Half of Futility' was the Cowboys. Dallas hosted the Phoenix Cardinals at Texas Stadium and the teams were tied 0-0 at halftime.
Phoenix won the game 16-10 on two Earl Ferrell touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The other 1988 game was Miami at Tampa Bay. The Dolphins won, scoring 17 point in the third quarter.
The Buccaneers answered with 14 in the fourth after a scoreless first half.
