Division hopes on the line Sunday

[Verdict]

Division was lost when we lost to GB

There is no way of knowing this for sure. It conjecture at this point.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I know, El Presidente, but we can’t go 3-4 with a one loss Eagles team, and an NFC that is begging us to snag a WC spot — with Rodgers out, Cam regressing, Ryan regressing, the Vikings without their starting QB, and a somewhat inconsistent SEA team.

We need this win. IMO, this is about as “must win” as it gets this early in a season.

4-3 ensures we control our destiny (as Syd pointed out), and gets us 2-0 in the division (probably at least as important as the overall record).

Idg, I don’t want to see us 3-4 and 1-1 in the NFCE. Would be horrible.

Right on amigo

 

[LocimusPrime]

If you can't beat a Commanders team with almost zero healthy offensive linemen, you're doomed anyways

 

[gmoney112]

I can't see it. If it were a trap game, maybe. But the closest thing they have to a trap game coming up is the DEN game next week (prior to playing Dallas). If that were in DEN, it might be a candidate, but it's in PHI.

They do have a decently-tough stretch to end the season with @DAL, (CHI), @SEA, @LAR, @NYFG, OAK and then DAL again. All of those games are winnable for them, but there could be a couple losses sprinkled in, too.

Broncos
D
Bears
Seahawks
Rams
Giants
Raiders
D

2 games against us, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams, Raiders. I could see them finishing 10-6, and that's if they get out of the Niners game with no significant injures. The Peters loss is big, and Hicks is *the man* in the middle of their defense, which runs a lot of nickel where he's the #1 LB. He was the "headset guy" that got the plebs lined up. Along with his talent, that's a significant loss in itself.

That's a lot of pass defense and teams that can get after the passer on that schedule. Raiders have been pretty bad on defense, but they did just beat the Chiefs. Eagles secondary is also not great and Oakland can throw the ball. I expect the Giants to at least play them tough, even the Bears have a pretty good defense.

I expect the Eagles DL will pick up the slack here, but Wentz and the offense is going to be tested. A lot of tough teams, if another key player goes down I don't like their chances. If they go cold, or just have a streak of bad mojo, they could easily drop 5 games. I think the Bears and Giants are the closest thing to gimmes, but they could lose any of the other games.

I will say if Wentz plays extremely well in that stretch I'd be happy to give him some props.

I'll say we're both 10-5 heading into the final game, winner secures division and loser gets wildcard.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Not really.

We need 10 wins to make the playoffs, barring something weird happening.

10 games left so everybody do the math. We have to win 7 games, so we can only afford 3 loses. Now if we lose to Washington, we still need 7 wins but there is now only 9 games left. Thus we would need a 7-2 record down the stretch. Lose to the Chiefs or Atlanta and we still need 7 wins but only 8 games left. Anybody got us pulling off a 7-1 finish?

This is not really that complicated, with each loss the odds of making the playoffs decrease significantly, it’s just simple math.

 

[Melonfeud]

You're right that I used short-hand there that wasn't accurate.

It was a more general comment about progressing the season faster than people ought to. The raced to declare the division winner, the wildcards, the playoffs, the eventual Superbowl champ. Sometimes it plays out just like it looks it's going to. Sometimes you get a Crazy Ivan and the division leaders or WC contenders reverse.

+3 points awarded for utilization of the term:
"Crazy Ivan" in an NFL season outcome scenario

(Meanwhile,,,, Tom Clancy smiles with a satisfied sense of satisfaction)

 

[Bohuntr97]

We just need to win. We can' control what others do, but we can control our own fate. Just win from here on out.

 

[noshame]

I love this team but I'm not convinced after playing the 49ers. We're healthy and if we're going to make any noise at all and starts with beating the skins on the road.

It's that simple, it pains me to agree with Erod but I do

 

[StarBoyz83]

Will you be impressed or will you move the bar?

I'll feel good about this team this season that better? People talk about football at work I stay quiet.. Not going to be all up on Dallas beating a terrible team and acting like they're contenders all the sudden. That's why Dallas fans are so hated.

 

[Verdict]

We need 10 wins to make the playoffs, barring something weird happening.

10 games left so everybody do the math. We have to win 7 games, so we can only afford 3 loses. Now if we lose to Washington, we still need 7 wins but there is now only 9 games left. Thus we would need a 7-2 record down the stretch. Lose to the Chiefs or Atlanta and we still need 7 wins but only 8 games left. Anybody got us pulling off a 7-1 finish?

This is not really that complicated, with each loss the odds of making the playoffs decrease significantly, it’s just simple math.

True although 9 and 7 will also often get you in. I'm not sure why people think that the Eagles will go 15 and 1 or 14 and 2. They are just not THAT good.

 

[MSCowboyFan]

This game is absolutely a must win. 2-0 in the Division, a winning record, and keeps us viable for a WC spot.

A 3-3 start makes this must win. It is what it is.

Heck yes...not even an argument. But the more I look at the Skins situation, it's dire too. So they'll play their ***** off on Sunday. We better be ready.

 

[Melonfeud]

Broncos
D
Bears
Seahawks
Rams
Giants
Raiders
D

2 games against us, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams, Raiders. I could see them finishing 10-6, and that's if they get out of the Niners game with no significant injures. The Peters loss is big, and Hicks is *the man* in the middle of their defense, which runs a lot of nickel where he's the #1 LB. He was the "headset guy" that got the plebs lined up. Along with his talent, that's a significant loss in itself.

That's a lot of pass defense and teams that can get after the passer on that schedule. Raiders have been pretty bad on defense, but they did just beat the Chiefs. Eagles secondary is also not great and Oakland can throw the ball. I expect the Giants to at least play them tough, even the Bears have a pretty good defense.

I expect the Eagles DL will pick up the slack here, but Wentz and the offense is going to be tested. A lot of tough teams, if another key player goes down I don't like their chances. If they go cold, or just have a streak of bad mojo, they could easily drop 5 games. I think the Bears and Giants are the closest thing to gimmes, but they could lose any of the other games.

I will say if Wentz plays extremely well in that stretch I'd be happy to give him some props.

I'll say we're both 10-5 heading into the final game, winner secures division and loser gets wildcard.

That's a pretty good piece of work,G-money!
Tactically breaking it down in comprehensive terms.
They square off against the NFC wests top two( who are fighting it out for the #1 spot)
And facing the bears the following week after playing us?(cuz' they sure gonna know they tangled with Dallas),, that could easily begin the tailspin deathdive on their season right there as I see 'trap' written all over that Chicago game

 

[bsbellomy]

I don't think this game is a "must-win" game at all. It's a very important game and winning would definitely help, but it won't be a dagger in the heart if they lose.

First, if they lose, they will be 3 games out of first, not 4. They play the Eagles twice so if they win both of those games, they would be only one game behind them while holding the first tie-breaker over them.

Second, if they lose, they would be 3-4 and which means the possibility (not saying it would happen) of being 12-4 would still be there for them and there's no way a 12-4 team is not making the playoffs at least as a wild card.

Third, this game is at Washington. If it was at Dallas, I would consider it closer to, though still not, a must-win game. However, since it is in Washington, this is an away game that even if they were 6-0 right now would be a potential loss given how well NFC East teams play each other.

Fourth, the Cowboys are 1-0 in the division, so losing this game would mean they are 1-1, which would still give them the tie-breaker advantage, at least for now, over the Commanders and Giants for the division (and wildcard) tie-breaker, as with a loss, the Commanders would be 1-2 and the Giants are 0-2.

It is if Elliott begins serving his suspension after Sunday.

 

[Beast_from_East]

It is if Elliott begins serving his suspension after Sunday.

Good point.......if this is Zeke’s last game till December, it’s a must win

 

[DandyDon52]

The division (and probably the season) will be on the line every week for the rest of the year. Do they have to win out? No, but we won't know which games are truly must wins until the end of the year, so we have to treat each game like the season hinges on it.

I think they may all be must-win games I mean how many games do you guys think the Eagles will lose out of their last nine games I think at most they will lose five and probably more like 4 which puts them at 10 - 6 or 11 - 5 show that tells you how many games the Cowboys can afford to lose

 

[DandyDon52]

Cowboys need to win a bunch of games just just to get the wild card 10 games left they need to win at least six of those and preferably 7

 

[Diehardblues]

The losing team Sunday is, for all practical purposes, out of the race for the NFC East.

The Cowboys can't afford to be four games behind the Eagles in the win column. Philadelphia has home games against two struggling teams, the 49ers and Broncos, in the next two weeks before their bye.

Meanwhile, Dallas has two road games at Washington and Atlanta sandwiched around a home game against Kansas City.

Then, Dallas plays Philly on Nov. 19th at home with the Eagles coming off a bye. The Cowboys can not afford to be more than two games back when that game arrives.

Or kiss the East good bye.

Totally agree. 3 games back in week 8 most certainly drastically reduces our chances of winning the East barring an Eagle collapse even if we were to sweep them which also seems very unlikely.

Basically we’re playing playing for a Wild Card at this point . Anyone who sees a scenario of us going 8-2 or 9-1 to finish the season has a much fuller glass than anyone I’ve heard from that I’d respect an analysis from based on what we’ve seen thus far .

7-3 at this point is all I can realistically hope for which would include winning today. And if we don’t have Elliott down this stretch that number lessens. Going 6-4 appears much more realistic. And With our schedule based on how we’ve been playing I feel that’s somewhat optimistic.

 

[Diehardblues]

If Philly beats San Fran and Dallas loses.....

Eagles 7-1
Cowboys 3-4

That's four games back in the win column.

Actually that would be 3 1/2 games back Erod. While it is 4 games back in the win column it’s only 3 back in the loss column.

Generally speaking like in following baseball there’s more emphasis on how many your back in the loss column than win column when you haven’t played the same amount of games.

The thinking is while you can make up the wins you can’t get back the losses.