NFC playoff race - Cowboys-Eagles clash looms large, 49ers watching closely
Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab looks ahead to Sunday night’s showdown between Philadelphia and Dallas - which not only will have huge implications on the NFC East race, but the race for the top seed in the conference - and explains why the San Francisco 49ers will be rooting for one team in particular.
Video Transcript
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FRANK SCHWAB: The NFL playoff race makes for some strange alliances. And this week, we have the San Francisco 49ers rooting for the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, we'll get to that in a second with the 49ers, but we all know the big game of the week, as far as the NFL playoff picture is concerned, the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Philadelphia Eagles.
The first obvious discussion here is the NFC East. If the Cowboys want to win the East, they need to win this game. If the Eagles win, they're in great shape. They'd have a two-game lead over the Cowboys with the head-to-head tiebreaker.
That race would basically be over. The Eagles would look good for the number one seed in the NFC as well. That's where we'll get to the 49ers in a second. Where things really get interesting is if the Cowboys win at home, which they obviously can do against an Eagles team coming off a big loss to the 49ers. That would tie up the NFC East.
Now, if the Eagles lose, they're still in decent shape. They'd probably have to win out to win the NFC East, but tiebreakers are in their favor in that scenario. Due to similar records, and division games, common games, and then a third loss for the Cowboys and conference record, that would matter. That's all for down the road. What the Cowboys need to worry about right now is just winning and that would help the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers are going to need the Eagles to lose at some point. The Eagles do have some tough games coming up, but so do the 49ers. The 49ers need to get that third Eagles loss so then they would control whether they get the number one seed. Now, the 49ers have tough games coming up, one against the Ravens in particular.
But if the Eagles come back to them with that third loss, the 49ers tiebreaker situation, obviously, great against the Eagles, they got the head-to-head win. It's actually pretty good against the Lions too, who are still in that mix for the number one seed. Either way, the Cowboys winning on Sunday against the Eagles would throw the NFC playoff race into complete chaos.