One of the NFL’s most ferocious rivalries is poised for another bruising instalment on Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles in a clash that could determine the No.1 seed in the playoffs.
The Eagles, humbled 42-19 by the San Francisco 49ers last weekend, could effectively lock up the NFC East divisional title with a victory over Dallas that would leave them two games clear of the Cowboys.
The Eagles have the best record in the NFC at 10-2, and a win on Sunday would leave top-seeding in their hands.
But a Dallas victory in Arlington could complicate the Eagles’ chances of landing the No.1 seed, opening the door to the 49ers, amongst others, to claim home field advantage through the playoffs.
The jostling for playoff positions raises the stakes for the latest chapter of a frequently vicious rivalry between the two teams that stretches back decades.
Most famously, the teams contested two clashes in 1989 known as the “Bounty Bowl” games, where the Cowboys accused Eagles coach Buddy Ryan of offering $200 payments to his players if they managed to injure either Dallas kicker Luis Zendejas or quarterback Troy Aikman.
History of enmity
In 1990, the acrimony went up a notch in a game that became known as the “Porkchop Bowl”. Eagles coach Ryan had narrowly avoided choking to death while eating pork chops at a restaurant in the week prior to the Eagles-Cowboys regular season clash.
When the two teams met at Texas Stadium, Dallas fans grimly taunted Ryan by pelting the Eagles bench with pork chops and other meat products.
The history of enmity between the teams, and the stakes for this season, ought to ensure that Sunday’s clash is another game played on the edge.
“It’s always one of the biggest games in football, if not the biggest,” the Cowboys’ star linebacker Micah Parsons said this week. “The intensity is always high, the emotion’s high, everyone wants to win.
“You know it’s a brawl. It’s always one where you got to get the ice bags ready.”
Parsons has been the standout player in a Dallas defense that is ranked third in the league this season, notching 11.5 sacks.
Although the Eagles defeated the Cowboys 28-23 in Philadelphia last month, Parsons is determined to atone for that loss on Sunday.
“It’s about just winning and going out there and dominating,” Parsons said.
“You want to go out there and make a point…no matter who’s in front of you, just beat the hell out of them.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs host the Buffalo Bills in another heavyweight showdown.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Bills counterpart Josh Allen have produced a string of memorable shoot-outs in recent seasons, but Sunday’s game will be a meeting between two teams who have lost some lustre this season.
The Chiefs have been inconsistent while building an 8-4 record, losing three of their last five games, while the Bills are battling to even make the playoffs at 6-6.
“We understand what’s in front of us and what situation we’re in,” Allen said this week of the Bills faltering campaign.
“But we’ve got a lot of guys in this locker room that are very excited to be back. There’s a very good feeling for what we need to do.”
The red-hot San Francisco 49ers (9-3) meanwhile attempt to virtually assure themselves of the NFC West title when they host divisional rivals Seattle (6-6) in Santa Clara.
