This ones for all the marbles. Unless its for none of the marbles.
The Eagles face the Cowboys Saturday in a game that may mean everything and may mean nothing.
You know the scenario: If the Jets beat the Giants in a 1 p.m. game in East Rutherford, the Eagles remain alive. If the Giants win, the Eagles are done.
The Eagles kickoff against the Cowboys at 4:15 p.m. in Dallas, so by the time they get under way, theyll know their fate.
Whether or not the Giants win and our playoff picture opens up or it doesnt, we want to finish out this season, and if we do get into the playoffs were going to continue to ride this wave, safety Kurt Coleman said. But we want to take care of Dallas and thats the only thing were focused on.
Its going to be a physical battle no matter what. We want to win. They want to win. Its going to be a big game regardless of what the scenario is before it. Its a rivalry game, a divisional game, and we want to win every single game weve got left.
The Eagles, 6-8, will be alive on the final weekend of the season if they beat the Cowboys and the Jets beat the Giants. That would set up a scenario where if on Jan. 1 the Eagles beat the Redskins and the Giants beat the Cowboys, the Eagles would win the NFC East on a three-way tiebreaker and host a wild-card game at the Linc as a No. 4 seed the weekend of Jan. 7-8.
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But the big challenge will be how the Eagles react if the Jets lose Saturday. Will they still fight with nothing to play for?
Its Cowboys week, thats all youve got to say, tight end Brent Celek said. Its a rivalry game, and anytime you go out there against the Cowboys, Redskins or Giants its going to be a good game, a physical game, two teams that dont like each other. No matter what the situation is, were going to go out there and be ready to play.
We cant worry about that (Jets-Giants) game. We cant worry about what they do. Weve got to line up our 11 against their 11 and we dont want to be embarrassed. We want to beat them every single time.
Well probably know (who won the Jets-Giants game), but you cant focus on that. If we focus on that, well go out there and get whooped.
Whether or not the Eagles are still alive in the playoffs, theyll still have a few things to play for.
A win would give the Eagles their first sweep over Dallas since 2006 and would keep alive their chance of a sixth straight non-losing season. A win would also give the Eagles a final 5-3 road record.
But realistically, if the Jets win, the importance of the Eagles-Cowboys game will increase exponentially.
Honestly? Itll definitely give you a boost, Jenkins said. But youve still got to have that pride, still have to have that desire to play for the team and for the organization, regardless of whatever the outcome of any other game is.
A win would also give the Eagles their first three-game winning streak in over a year, since they won three straight to get to 10-4 last December. Since then, theyre 6-11 in 17 games.
The Eagles beat the Dolphins in Miami and Jets at the Linc the last two Sundays -- both by at least 16 points -- to give themselves at least a shot at the postseason these last couple weeks.
On Saturday, theyll face a Cowboys team thats 5-2 since a 34-7 loss in Philadelphia in late October and also 5-2 at home.
I think were ready, linebacker Jamar Chaney said. Got to make sure we forget about those last two games. We played pretty good, but thats the past. Were still a team under .500. Its still a disappointing season, and I know everybodys saying were playing good, this and that, but we have to go out there and keep playing with a chip on our shoulder and go out there like we still have something to prove.
Were going to see who really wants to play football right now. It doesnt matter what the situation is, no matter whats going on with the playoffs. We want those bragging rights. We want to beat Dallas twice this year. Theres a lot of stuff (to play for). If youre a competitor, anything you want to do, you want to win, and thats our mindset going into the game.
This will be the 10th time since 2002 the Eagles and Cowboys will meet in mid-December or later. Many of those games had huge postseason implications.
The Eagles got into the playoffs and knocked Dallas out with a 44-6 win over Dallas in 2009, but the Cowboys took a first-round bye from the Eagles with that 24-0 win in Dallas in 2010.
If the Jets win and then Dallas wins, the Cowboys will clinch the NFC East title
Its all about Cowboys-Eagles this week, linebacker Brian Rolle said. Not worried about Jets-Giants, anybody else. Because if we dont take care of our business, nothing else matters. We dont sit there and hope for something because its out of our control. We dont have any sway on who wins the Jets-Giants game. All we can control is the Cowboys.
Regardless of the situation, the result of the last time we played them is going to give them a lot of hype and a lot of incentive to beat us. Two teams with nothing to lose, fight to the death, and I feel like thats what its going to be like Saturday.
If the Jets played today, youd see nothing different. Were going to play, play fast, play physical. Its not about what the Jets do, because if we go out and stub our toe, its all for naught. Weve still got to go out there and beat the Cowboys.
The Eagles are 37-15 in December under Andy Reid, a .712 winning percentage and the second-best December mark in the NFL since 1999.
If they do pull off this miracle over the next two weekends, they will become one of only two teams (Ravens) to reach the playoffs in each of the last four seasons.
I believe in our team, and I believe if they let us in, well do a lot of damage, Celek said. But we cant think of that, because weve got Dallas this week, and weve got to worry about the task at hand.
If you worry about other games and that stuff, then youre not focused on what youre doing, and youre going to get beat.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com.