Image courtesy USA Today

JUST four games left. Seems like only a week ago we were all screaming for the season to start. Everybody was knee deep in hope, ready to fight, holding two fistfuls of “I wish your fucking team would!” Today, already buried under the hope are the bodies of New York and Washington. It’s all but decided now. It’s ours for the taking. If we can just do one thing. Just two words: Finish strong.

As I type this while listening to Freeway’s verse in “Two Words”, I realize how close his native city is to being the last team standing in the NFC East. In one hand we hold the collar of the Dallas Cowboys. Their eyes rolled back in their head, mouth open, barely conscious. Our other hand raised in a fist, ready to be brought down strong to finish the job.

With the Cowboys being 8-4 to our 9-3 and one more meeting between us; a loss to our EAGLES leaves Dallas 11-5 at best if they win their other 3 games. Let me say that again. If we beat them, they can’t do any better than 11-5 this season.

For the EAGLES any win coupled with a win over the Cowboys and we sew up the division with an 11-5 record at worst. Again, that’s any win, plus beating Dallas. The numbers suggest that any 2 wins should do it; but if we go 2-2 while Dallas runs the table over their last 4, when the smoke settles on Week 17 we’d be 11-5 to their 12-4. With Detroit and Seattle out there, 11-5 may not guarantee a Wildcard. So we need to be all about following these two words: Finish strong.