The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles will try to secure playoff berths with road triumphs while Baltimore and Detroit hope to seal NFL post-season spots with weekend help from rivals.
Week 15 of the NFL campaign also sees the only team to have clinched a playoff position, the San Francisco 49ers (10-3), try to claim the NFC West division title by winning Sunday at Arizona (3-10).
Detroit (9-4) entertain Denver (7-6) as part of three Saturday games featuring teams desperate for wins to stay in the playoff chase. Minnesota travels to Cincinnati and Indianapolis will host Pittsburgh with all four at 7-6.
Other crucial contests Sunday will find Dallas at Buffalo and the Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville with Seattle playing host to Philadelphia on Monday night.
The Cowboys ripped the Eagles 33-10 last Sunday to grab a share of the NFC East lead and stretch their win streak to five games.
“It was big. We needed that,” Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Huge chunk of confidence moving forward.
“We’ve got to turn the page quick. Can’t sit and celebrate.”
Prescott admits he thinks daily about getting Dallas into the Super Bowl next February in Las Vegas.
“I’ve got different reminders throughout my daily routine, things that I wear perhaps, alarms that I’ve set,” he said. “It allows me to keep the goal in front of my mind.
“It allows me to be disciplined, to sacrifice, do something you might not want to do at the time but do it like you love it. When you have those little reminders it helps. Just locked in. Great focus.”
The Eagles can also book a playoff date with only a victory but back-to-back defeats have Philadelphia just trying to stop the slide after a 10-1 start.
“We’re not coaching well enough. We’re not playing well enough,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.
“We’ll find every different way we can to improve. We’re not hitting a panic button as far as we’ve got to do everything different.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts sees the setbacks as an opportunity to overcome adversity.
“You don’t get anywhere without any challenges. You don’t grow,” Hurts said. “It’s not natural to grow and develop the right type of character, develop into a team truly, if you don’t go through anything together.
“It’s a great opportunity for us. Eager to go out there and get better and learn from our mistakes — just continue to push that envelope.”
Ravens, Lions need help
Ravens coach John Harbaugh has his club one game ahead of Miami for the AFC top playoff seed but says his players know the job is unfinished.
“Our guys understand that we’ve got to go earn everything we get. If we earn it, we’ll get it,” he said. “We’ll try to win as many games as we can, climb as high as we can, but really, play it one play at a time as well as we can, compete as hard as we can.
“That’s our focus and that’s really all we’re thinking about.”
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is happy to be back in talk about the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, but his eyes are firmly set on a Super Bowl crown.
“It’s an honor just to be acknowledged, to be in that MVP conversation with great guys nominated,” Jackson said. “But I’m just locked in trying to win because I want another championship and another trophy.”
The Ravens seal a playoff spot with a triumph and a combination of losses by two from among Buffalo, Denver, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Houston.
Detroit has a similar scenario, the Lions needing a victory and losses by Seattle and either Minnesota, Green Bay or the Los Angeles Rams.
Green Bay will play host to Tampa Bay on Sunday while the Rams will entertain Washington.
