Cowboys understand playoff implications going into game against Eagles

The Dallas Cowboys are just past the midway point of their season and there are plenty of games left.

But they realize they have dug themselves a hole if they want to make consecutive postseason trips for the first time in more than a decade (2006-07).

The Cowboys are 5-4 going into Sunday’s game against the best team in the NFL, division rival Philadelphia Eagles. At 8-1, the Eagles have a chance to essentially put a stranglehold on the division title with a win.

That would give them a four-game lead with six to play.

“It’s a huge game,” Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said. “Anytime you get in November and you’re playing, they all become bigger and bigger. But certainly with where they’re at and where we’re at going into November, it’s a big game for us.

“We’ve talked about our margin a lot. But certainly we’re at a point now where it’s really tight and we need to play our best football.”

Owner Jerry Jones took it a step further earlier in the week, telling the Star-Telegram’s Clarence E. Hill Jr. that he viewed this game as the “Super Bowl” for the team.

“The Super Bowl is right now,” Jones said.

It’s hard to argue that it isn’t just that for the Cowboys. Not only could they fall out of the division race, a loss would make an already difficult road to a wild-card berth even more treacherous.

The Cowboys are technically one game back of the final wild-card spot that right now would go to the Seattle Seahawks (6-3). But they are the worst of the four 5-4 teams in terms of tiebreakers with the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers ahead of them.

In other words, head-to-head losses to the Falcons and Packers will be difficult to overcome down the stretch.

Most of the players, though, aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves in the playoff standings.

“I don’t really look at that right now,” defensive end Tyrone Crawford said. “We’re a week-to-week team and we’ve just got to go into this week preparing as hard as we’ve ever prepared.”

As far as the Eagles are concerned, they understand the distance they can put between themselves and the rest of the NFC East pack. This is a team that is looking to win its first division title since 2013.

“Anytime you’re playing a division rival, it just seems like there is more riding on it, just because the division title is the No. 1 goal,” Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz said.

“Anytime you’re traveling in the division on the road, it’s tough to win. It’s tough to win on the road in this league, especially within the division,” he said. “At the same time, it’s the next game, so that’s a bigger part of why it’s a big one.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 9:36 PM with the headline "Cowboys understand playoff implications going into game against Eagles."