Christmas Eve didn’t provide the fireworks in the NFL that we all hoped heading into the holiday, yet the league did have some thrilling games and finishes that impacted the playoff race. The Dallas Cowboys kept their slim NFC East hopes alive by beating the Philadelphia Eagles in a thrilling late afternoon game, while the Jacksonville Jaguars took over first place in the AFC South thanks to the Tennessee Titans‘ stunning loss to the Houston Texans.
The race for home-field advantage in the AFC is set up for a Week 17 showdown between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills, while the Kansas City Chiefs are hoping the Bills slip up in one of their final two games. The wild card races in both conferences appear to be going down to the wire as well.
Let’s not get started on the MVP race and the record chasers. As the Saturday afternoon slate of games on Christmas Eve concluded (yes the majority of games were on Saturday this week), let’s overreact on a few topics — or determine if these statements are a reality.
The Cowboys can beat the Eagles in Philadelphia
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
Credit the Cowboys for beating the Eagles at home and keeping their slim NFC East chances alive another week, but Dallas didn’t have a convincing victory against the team with the best record in the NFL. Sure the defense forced four Eagles turnovers — they also gave up 34 points to a Gardner Minshew-led offense and allowed 442 yards.
Dallas’ defense has takeaways in the last two games, yet has allowed 37 points per game and 472.5 yards per game over that same stretch. If it wasn’t for the four takeaways, the defense might have given up 50 points to Minshew and the Eagles offense.
A third matchup in Philadelphia looks likely, but the Cowboys didn’t do enough convincing on the defensive side of the ball to show they can beat a Jalen Hurts-led offense in Philadelphia come January. Will the Eagles commit four turnovers with Hurts at quarterback?
Jalen Hurts is the MVP of the league by not playing Saturday
Overreaction or reality: Reality
The Eagles did put up 27 points on offense and totaled 442 yards without Jalen Hurts on the field. Regardless of the offensive output, Hurts didn’t lose any ground in the MVP race by missing Saturday’s game.
The Eagles had an uncharacteristic four turnovers without Hurts, including two interceptions and a fumble by Minshew. While the…
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