Philadelphia Eagles: All Roads To NFC East Title Likely Lead To Dallas
By Kevin McGuire
The race for the NFC East Division championship is now officially on. The Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants Sunday to move in to a tie with the Philadelphia Eagles for the top spot in the NFC East. With a head-to-head victory against the Eagles earlier this season, the Cowboys have the edge as owners of the tiebreaker. With five games to play, the Eagles and Cowboys will now be in a heated race to the top spot in the division that will see a finish line in Arlington, Texas in the regular season finale. Let the fun begin.
So which team has the schedule in their favor?
The Eagles and Cowboys each get three home games in the final five weeks, but Dallas gets to play host to Philadelphia in the final game of the year. Both teams will play the Chicago Bears, although the Eagles get the NFC North contenders at home while Dallas must travel to the Windy City in December.
Philadelphia will play at home the next two weeks, against the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions. Until their most recent game, Lincoln Financial Field has been a house of horrors for the Eagles. A win against the Washington Redskins snapped a home losing streak that dated back to late September 2012, and even when things looked to be on cruise control the Eagles had to hang on for dear life to ensure the losing streak came to an end. Has the curse been broken or will the Eagles fall back in to their losing ways at home against a 7-4 Arizona team hoping for a playoff spot? What about a Detroit Lions team currently tied for the lead in the wide-open NFC North?
After two games at home the Eagles play a road game at woeful Minnesota, which should result in a win the way the Eagles have played on the road this season and considering how much the Vikings have struggled this year. No game should be taken for granted of course, but this one appears to be one win you can pencil inright now. The Eagles continue their NFC North portion of the schedule back at home against the Chicago Bears, who are tied with the Lions for the NFC North lead.
The Cowboys will play host to Matt McGloin and the Oakland Raiders this week. The Raiders are sitting on the bottom of the AFC West with just four wins and are the team that was on the wrong end of a record performance by Eagles starting quarterback Nick Foles a few weeks back. The match-up appears favorable for the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. That also gives Dallas a couple of extra days to prepare for their road game at Chicago, a Monday night game.
The Cowboys also host the Green Bay Packers and visit the Washington Redskins before the fate of the NFC East is possibly determined on a Sunday afternoon in Arlington on the final day of the season. If the Eagles can take advantage of their newly discovered home cooking, then they could have the upper hand in the schedule breakdown, but a win against the Cowboys is likely going to be a requirement regardless of what else happens.
For more Eagles news and updates, visit Eagles Central.
Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
