There’s still something for Dallas to play for today

The playoffs are no longer in play. For the 29th straight season, the Dallas Cowboys will not make it to an NFC Championship or a Super Bowl contest.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Cowboys don’t have something to play for at noon today in Philadelphia.

And no, we’re not just talking about the tired old “playing for pride” trope either.

Spoiler Alert

The biggest goal remaining for the Cowboys in 2024 is to play the role of spoiler.

In today’s game against the Eagles, Dallas can all but end Philadelphia’s hopes of securing that coveted first round playoff bye with a win.

They’d also put the Eagles in jeopardy of losing the NFC East title. However, since Philadelphia ends the year at home against the tanking lowly Giants, that seems unlikely.

But a Cowboys’ win coupled with a Commanders’ win tonight against Atlanta would make the season finale at home against Washington interesting at least.

In addition to having a say in who actually does win the division, and the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, Dallas can still finish above .500. They’d need to win both games for a 9-8 record.

Two losses would end Dallas’ year with a 7-10 mark instead.

How Dallas Beats Philadelphia

Hurts has been ruled out with a concussion. His backup, Kenny Pickett, has banged up ribs and did not exactly scare the Commanders’ defense last week.

The Eagles could start Tanner McKee at quarterback today if Pickett can’t go.

If that is the case, or even if Pickett starts, the Cowboys need to load up the box and shut down Saquon Barkley. Make the backup quarterbacks beat you.

Take away Barkley and make a no-name beat you.

Then again, the Cowboys do have a history of turning no-name quarterbacks into Hall of Famers. So pick your poison.

On offense, Dallas has to keep feeding Rico Dowdle the ball. Cooper Rush needs to take what the defense gives him when he does drop back to pass.

Today will be his third start against the Eagles. He’s 0-2 coming into this game.

In both games, he tried to force the ball downfield and Philadelphia’s defense feasted on him.

Pound the ball, even if it’s just three straight running plays, or three straight check-down passes. A punt is far better than a pick.

Keep the score low and Dallas wins.

Try to make it a shoot-out, and the Cowboys lose.

My preseason prediction post had the Cowboys losing this game to fall to 7-9. Despite Sunday’s win over the Bucs, I see no reason to change that.

Eagles 31, Cowboys 17.

Against The Eagles

The Cowboys are 74-57 all-time against Philadelphia, with the Eagles winning the last meeting last month in Dallas.

Philadelphia is 32-31 when these contests are played in Pennsylvania.

Dallas is 3-3 all-time against the Eagles in Week 17 contests.

All six games were played between 2008 and 2017, with four of the six being played in Philadelphia. The Cowboys are 2-2 on the road and 1-1 at home in these six games.

The last Week 17 meeting between the two teams ended with a 6-0 Dallas win on a 20-yard Dak Prescott pass to Brice Butler with 2:41 left in the game.

All-time Week 17 Records

The NFL didn’t begin regularly scheduling Week 17 games until the 1990 season.

However, the 1982 schedule did have a 17th week added due to the strike. Even though the teams only played nine games that season.

Needless to say, the 34 total Week 17 games the Cowboys have played have not been so kind to Dallas, especially lately.

The Cowboys come into today’s game against the Eagles with a 14-21 overall record in Week 17 contests.

They are 8-5 at home and a dismal 6-16 on the road. The bad news?

Today’s game is a road game.

Dallas won last year’s Week 17 game at home against the Lions and their last Week 17 road game in 2022 at Tennessee.

A Record-Setting Debut

That first Week 17 game in 1982 was at Minnesota and ended in a 31–27 Vikings’ win.

Dallas would go on to the NFC Championship game that year despite the season-ending loss.

But that last game set the stage for a record that will never be broken. Tony Dorsett dashed for 99 yards and a touchdown in that game.

And he did it with just 10 Cowboys on offense after Ron Springs inexplicably ran off the field.

Dallas made it two Week 17 losses in a row in 1990 with a 26-7 loss at Atlanta. But then they won their next three Week 17 games.

By the end of the 20th Century, the Cowboys were 6-5 in Week 17 games after back-to-back home wins over the Redskins and Giants in 1998-99.

ALL-TIME WEEK 17 VS. OPPONENTS

NFC EAST

GIANTS (2-5)

EAGLES (3-3)

COMMANDERS (4-5)

NFC WEST

CARDINALS (1-1)

RAMS (0-1)

49ERS (0-0)

SEAHAWKS (0-0)

NFC SOUTH

FALCONS (1-1)

PANTHERS (0-0)

SAINTS (0-1)

BUCCANEERS (0-0)

NFC NORTH

BEARS (1-0)

LIONS (1-2)

PACKERS (0-0)

VIKINGS (0-1)

AFC EAST

BILLS (0-0)

DOLPHINS (0-0)

PATRIOTS (0-0)

JETS (0-0)

AFC SOUTH

TEXANS (0-0)

COLTS (0-0)

JAGUARS (0-0)

TITANS (1-1)

AFC NORTH

RAVENS (0-0)

BENGALS (0-0)

BROWNS (0-0)

STEELERS (0-0)

AFC WEST

BRONCOS (0-0)

CHIEFS (0-0)

RAIDERS (0-0)

CHARGERS (0-0)