WFT GAMEDAY: Last Stand For Playoffs vs. Cowboys?
The Washington Football Team travels to face their NFC East division foe Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football with major playoffs implications on the line. If the Cowboys win, they clinch the division and stay undefeated against NFC East. Washington must beat Dallas to keep its minuscule slight chances (6 percent) of making the playoffs alive.
The Week 16 divisional matchup is a rematch of Week 14 when these teams met at the nation’s capital and the Cowboys came away with a 27-20 win. The Cowboys are fresh off a 21-6 win over the New York Giants on Sunday, and are within striking distance of the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
After playing on Tuesday due a massive COVID-19 outbreak on Washington’s squad, the Football Team will be faced with a short week on top of its COVID issues. Washington, who at one point had 23 players on the COVID list, is fighting for a chance to stay alive in the Wild Card conversation. Last time the WFT played in Arlington they handed Dallas (which was without quarterback Dak Prescott) a 41-16 whipping on Thanksgiving Day 2020.
Washington was in a postseason spot just two weeks ago before suffering back-to-back losses. With a 6-8 record, the football team would have to win each of its remaining three games to have any shot at the postseason.
“We’ve got to win out,” coach Ron Rivera said. “We’ve got to take them one at a time. Focus in on them one at a time and move to the next one. We have an opportunity. We’ve got to take it. It’s in front of us.”
While Rivera is not giving up on playoffs, the WFT can throw a wrench in the Cowboys’ hopes to capture the NFC’s top playoff seed.
RECORDS: Washington Football Team (6-8) at Dallas Cowboys (10-4)
IMPORTANT INJURY UPDATE: Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke has cleared COVID protocols and returned to practice on Thursday.
ODDS: The Cowboys are currently 10.5-point favorites over the WFT. The over/under is 47 total points.
BETTING TRENDS: In Washington's 14 games this year, it has five wins against the spread.
PREDICTION: Cowboys win, 31-14.
GAME TIME: Sunday, December 26 at 7:20 p.m. CT
LOCATION: AT&T Stadium - Arlington, Texas
TV/RADIO: NBC, 105.3 The Fan
THE FINAL WORD: Jonathan Allen’s honest take after WFT dropped to 6-8 while allowing the Eagles to jump to 7-7 - enough to stay alive in the NFL playoff chase.
“In the NFL, you get paid to handle adversity. It is what it is. We can bitch and moan about COVID. Nobody cares. It really doesn’t matter. If we do our job, we win the game today. We didn’t do our job and we got embarrassed.”
