Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles 2019: Prediction Against The Spread, Odds For NFC East Game

Neither the Dallas Cowboys nor the Philadelphia Eagles seem particularly deserving of a playoff spot. That won’t stop one of them from getting into the postseason, and the winner of their Week 16 matchup will almost certainly go on to be No.4 seed in the conference.

Dallas would clinch the NFC East title by winning in Philadelphia Sunday afternoon. If the Eagles beat the Cowboys, their magic number for the division title will be one. Dallas hosts the Washington Redskins in the season finale while Philadelphia visits the hapless New York Giants.

Seven of the NFL’s eight division leaders are no worse than four games above .500. The Cowboys and Eagles are tied atop the NFC East without a winning record. Both teams started the 2019 season with Super Bowl aspirations, making a 7-7 mark through 14 games a significant disappointment.

The betting odds suggest that Dallas is considered to be a much better team. The Cowboys are three-point favorites on the road, according to OddsShark. The total is 46.5.

The first meeting between the two rivals wasn’t close. Dallas won 37-10 at AT&T Stadium in Week 7, leading by at least three scores for more than half the game.

Statistically, the Cowboys are the far superior team. Dallas has outscored its opponents by 90 points, giving them a better point differential than each of the NFC’s top three seeds. Philadelphia’s plus-six point differential is ninth in the conference.

With Dak Prescott ranking second in passing yards and Ezekiel Elliott ranking fifth in rushing yards, Dallas boasts the NFL’s No.1 total offense. Philadelphia is 16th overall.

The Cowboys rank seventh in total defense and eighth in opponents’ yards per play. The Eagles are 11th total defense and 18th in yards allowed per play.

But those numbers don’t nearly tell the whole story of Dallas’ season. The Cowboys are as unreliable as they are talented, going 4-7 after a hot start against an extremely easy schedule.

Dallas is 2-7 against teams that enter Week 16 with at least five wins. Their two victories were the Week 7 drubbing of Philadelphia and last week’s 44-21 rout of the Los Angeles Rams.

Philadelphia hasn’t been any better, though they’ve been more impressive than Dallas in matchups with difficult opponents. The Eagles have beaten the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears, all of whom beat the Cowboys with relative ease.

The Eagles narrowly avoided upsets in the last two weeks against the Giants and Redskins. The receiving corps is depleted. Greg Ward. Jr. entered the Week 14 contest in Washington with fewer than 100 receiving yards, and he was the only Philadelphia wide receiver to catch a pass in the 37-27 victory.

Carson Wentz needs more help from his playmakers, but he also hasn’t been accurate enough. He’s 16th in completion percentage and 27th in yards per attempt.

Is Wentz or Prescott the better quarterback? In year No.4 for both players, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer.

The Eagles have a Super Bowl-winning head coach. The Cowboys have a head coach that likely won’t be re-signed after this season.

Based on the way they have played this season, it’s impossible to feel very confident in either team. But this is the kind of game that Philadelphia has found a way to win in the last few years.

Prediction: Philadelphia over Dallas, 26-20