ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The postgame locker room was as quiet as you’d expect after the Philadelphia Eagles’ stunning loss to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. The defending Super Bowl champions knew they let a win slip through their fingertips.
The Eagles also had to know, in the back of their minds at least, that Sunday’s 24-21 defeat could matter quite a bit in their pursuit of another championship.
The Eagles’ collapse against Dallas means Philadelphia is no longer in control of its own path to the NFC’s No. 1 seed — and the first-round bye and home-field advantage that come with it.
The Eagles are 8-3 and still firmly atop the NFC East. But they fell to No. 2 in the conference-wide standings behind the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams, now 9-2 after dismantling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, are the betting (-140, per FanDuel) and statistical favorites to land the No. 1 seed.
According to The Athletic’s projection model, the Rams have a 53% chance to get the No. 1 seed and have the NFC’s path to Super Bowl LX through SoFi Stadium.
The Eagles are the next-closest team at 29%, followed by the Seattle Seahawks (8%), San Francisco 49ers (3%) and Packers (2%).
So it basically comes down to the Rams and Eagles. And Philadelphia does hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rams after beating Matthew Stafford and Co., 33-26, in Week 3.
The Eagles staged a 19-point comeback in that September win over the Rams. Now, that head-to-head advantage might be a moot point after blowing a 21-point lead against the Cowboys.
At least the loss to Dallas doesn’t change much for the Eagles’ NFC East outlook. Philadelphia still has a commanding lead over the Cowboys (5-5-1) in the division. The Athletic’s projection model gives Nick Sirianni’s team a 99% chance to win the NFC East.
Unless the Eagles totally collapse, it’s a matter of when, not if, they’ll wrap up the division, becoming the NFC East’s first back-to-back winner since 2004.
But the prospect of that likely won’t bring much comfort to Eagles fans on Monday morning. Losing to Dallas — and losing in that fashion — stings for all parties involved.
The Eagles will have to quickly move on with the Chicago Bears (8-3) coming to Lincoln Financial Field for a Black Friday matchup in Week 13.
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