The National Football League playoff picture was shook up last week like San Francisco in 1906. Teams that were looking to further secure their top seed position lost, and squads that most fans wouldn’t know were even alive in the postseason picture improved their chances of joining the 12 team tournament that starts next month.
In a pair of primetime games on Sunday and Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars allowed their conference number one seeds to slip away. The Chiefs came into the weekend owning the tie-breaker over the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens before they got upset by the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Their loss opened the door for Jacksonville to move into the number one postseason slot in the American Football Conference which they coughed up while losing at home as a double-digit favorite to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs and Jaguars defeats leave them both with eight wins, while the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens each have nine.
Home field in the playoffs could be huge for a Miami Dolphins team and they have a head-to-head contest on New Years Eve against the Ravens in Baltimore that may well determine the number one AFC seed. The Dolphins playing at home in the postseason could be important for a squad not looking forward to playing in their snow white uniforms on the road in the cold.
In the National Football Conference, the Philadelphia Eagles had a chance to put a near lock on the top seed with a win on Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers. They came into the contest with two more wins than their Lincoln Financial Field visitors, 10 to 8, and a triumph over the 49ers would have pushed that advantage to three games with five left to play.
Didn’t happen.
Purdy and company ran the Eagles out of their home stadium as if it was a mismatch, 42-19.
The 49ers victory does two things for Kyle Shanahan’s squad, it pulls them within one game of the Eagles and offers San Francisco the first tie-breaker advantage over Philadelphia based on the head-to-head win. It also allows the Dallas Cowboys, winners of four straight games since their narrow loss in Philadelphia on November 5th, a shot at catching their NFC East rivals.
The Cowboys come into tonight’s showdown in Dallas one game behind Philadelphia, and the Eagles are looking to avoid a second straight loss against two of the best teams in the NFC.
If the Eagles win tonight at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys drop two back with four games to play and Philadelphia would also own the tie-breaker advantage with a pair of wins over Mike McCarthy’s team.
If the Cowboys get the victory on Sunday, well then the 49ers could move to the number one seed with a victory over the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas would remain in the hunt for both a division title with an outside chance at securing the NFC top seed. Dallas would have to finish the season with more wins than San Francisco given the 49ers beat them in a head-to-head contest earlier this season.
What is more likely?
The Eagles putting a gap between themselves and the rest of the NFC, or Dallas pulling even and further shaking up the race to the playoffs?
When comparable teams are playing each other, it is much more likely for the two teams to get closer in the standings than have one side pull away.
Qoxhi Picks: Dallas Cowboys (-3½) over Philadelphia Eagles