Eagles-Cowboys: Playoff scenarios, Cris Collinsworth’s surprising Philly connection, and more

The Eagles (8-2) can’t quite clinch the NFC East yet, but will get a lot closer with a win against the Dallas Cowboys (4-5-1) Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

Philly’s magic number remains four to clinch the NFC East. That will drop to two if the Birds defeat the Cowboys Sunday, meaning the Eagles have a chance to lock up the division on Black Friday against the Chicago Bears.

That should make HBO’s in-season Hard Knocks about the NFC East, which debuts on Dec. 2, really compelling.

No team has won the NFC East in back-to-back years since 2004, when Donovan McNabb and the Eagles claimed their fourth-straight division title on the way to Super Bowl XXXIX.

On the other side of the coin are the New York Giants, who could become the first team officially eliminated from the playoffs. A Giants loss paired with a win by either the Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, or Seattle Seahawks would officially snuff out the Giants’ playoff hopes.

If that were to happen, it would be the earliest playoff exit for the Giants since 1976 and the soonest a team has been eliminated since the New York Jets in 2020, according to NFL playoffs analyst Joe Ferreira. The Giants would also become the 11th team since 1990 to be eliminated from playoff contention before their bye week.

While the Cowboys can’t be eliminated yet, they need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Entering Week 12, they are three back in the hunt for the NFC’s final wild card spot, and their odds of sneaking into the playoffs drop to just 4% with a loss to the Birds on Sunday, according to the New York Times playoff simulator.

Tonight’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams is a milestone for veteran color analyst Cris Collinsworth, who will be calling his 500th NFL game.

Collinsworth, who spent eight seasons as a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, debuted way back in 1990 on NBC alongside the late Jim Donovan. During his 36-year broadcasting career, Collinsworth has called games alongside many all-time greats, including Troy Aikman, Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Philadelphia native Dick Stockton.

What may surprise Eagles fans is Collinsworth has called 32 games at Lincoln Financial Field, the most of any stadium in his long broadcasting career. And he’s called Eagles-Cowboys 17 times, including this season’s NFL kickoff game alongside Mike Tirico.

Despite all that, some Eagles fans still hold a grudge against Collinsworth for his call of Super Bowl LII because he thought two touchdown catches — one by running back Corey Clement and one by tight end Zach Ertz — should have been overturned by officials. He later said Ertz’s game-winning touchdown grab late in the fourth quarter was the correct call, telling The Inquirer, “I wish I’d never said that.”

“I’ve listened to talk radio in Philadelphia,” Collinsworth, a former sports talker himself, told The Inquirer back in January. “It’s OK for them to criticize their team, but don’t come in and criticize my family from outside.”

While the Eagles have no more Sunday Night Football games on their schedule, and a flex is highly unlikely, Collinsworth and NBC could end up with a Birds game in the playoffs — the Super Bowl, which the network is broadcasting.

The Eagles remain in first place in the NFC entering Week 12, thanks to their win against the Los Angeles Rams back in Week 3.

The Birds hold tiebreakers against four of the top teams in the NFC — the Rams, Buccaneers, Packers, and Detroit Lions. They can add a fifth next week if they defeat the Bears on Black Friday.

While the Eagles could clinch the NFC East as soon as next week, their magic number to land the top playoff seen (and a first round bye) is seven.

Staff writers Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, and Jeff Neiburg will be covering the action live on Inquirer.com.

Notes and observations about the game can be found at Inquirer.com/Eagles. Don’t forget to subscribe to our free Sports Daily newsletter.

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