NFL Game Of The Week: Eagles v Cowboys – Stats, Odds, Insights, & Predictions

Our NFL Game of the Week will likely decide the NFC East.  

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (6-6) $2.60 @ DALLAS COWBOYS (7-5) $1.52

Monday, Dec. 10, 8:25am AEDT.

Sunday, Dec. 9, 3:25pm CST. Arlington, TX. AT&T Stadium.

Welcome to the business end of the NFL regular season.

We now have four more games before playoff time, and so naturally, there are a lot of candidates for GOTW, this week.

Many people reading this will be surprised to learn that The Sporting Base chose the Eagles v Cowboys. With so many worthy candidates – Bears v Rams, Seahawks v Vikings, Texans v Colts, and Chiefs v Ravens – it is a tough sell.

While those matches are highly watchable, they don’t wuite have the same importance, and history of Dallas and Philly. It will most likely decide who finishes first in the NFC East and will bestow some serious bragging rights to the winning fanbase – as is always the case between these teams.

The Cowboys are not necessarily playing for their season, even though a loss this week would be demoralising. But the Eagles are playing for their season this week.

It’s easy to forget that the Philadelphia Eagles are the defending champs. They currently sit at 6-6 and look to have a serious Super Bowl hangover. But do you know what else is easy to forget? This time last season, Carson Wentz went down with a season-ending injury, and everyone ruled this team out of the Super Bowl. People probably would’ve ruled them out of making the playoffs if they didn’t hadn’t already clinched their spot.

So now here we are 12 months later, and everyone is ruling out the Eagles. The Cowboys are rightly favoured in this match, but don’t sleep on the Eagles. We learned last year how much they love being the underdog.

For Dallas this is the final hurdle to winning their division and securing a playoff berth. The eye test says this team is superior to their opponent. But they still need to get over that hurdle – and it’s a pesky one.

The Cowboys have proven a lot over the past few weeks, and a month ago, nobody thought they’d be 7-6 in Week 14. Their offence is playing the brand of possession and control that suits their make-up. They’re allowing the defence to be the star of the show, and the defence proved worthy of that mantle against the New Orleans Saints last week.

But how much did that win take out of the team? To re-group after such a testing win, and face perhaps their greatest rival 10 days later, will be tough. Those 10 days will be handy though – it’ll just be a matter of how that extra preparation will manifest come game-day. For some teams it’s too much time, and you lose a bit of the fire that’s been kindling for the past few weeks – especially when you’re hot, like the Cowboys are right now. For others it’s more time to rest and prepare, which can provide a serious tactical and physical edge.

Whatever the outcome of this game – and honestly, there isn’t any outcome that would surprise me knowing the history of these teams – it will be must-see. Expect an inspired Eagles team, with their season on the line, to play like their Super Bowl selves. And expect the Cowboys to come in with a fire, so that they can earn their fans those bragging rights, getting some payback for last year.

Our Tip

An Eagles upset is possible, but the Cowboys defence is one of the best in the league. The Eagles have struggled to run the ball and score points at the best of times, let alone against great defences.

The Cowboys should cover the spread -3.0 @ $1.85

*Betting odds supplied by Neds and is subject to change