The Cowboys will not simply walk into Hard Rock Stadium with nothing to gain. In week 15 before they got slaughtered by the Bills in Orchard Park, the Cowboys were handed a ticket to the postseason. This week, after the loss by the Eagles on Monday Night Football, the Cowboys find themselves at the top of the division in a tie with the Eagles.

Seattle opened the door for the Cowboys and they will want to hold on to it. Miami is trying to keep its hold on its own division. It all adds up to a physical fight that could have season-long ramifications for both teams.

Normally, beating out-of-conference teams isn’t the big game in the final weeks of the season when races are tight. Those are normally pegged as the games a team can afford to lose because they have no impact on the tie-breaking scenarios until you get deeper into those procedures.

This week, that isn’t the case. The loser of this game will not be knocked out of the playoffs but they will see their grip on their divisions slide. This week, both teams are playing for something.

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The Cowboys will not simply walk into Hard Rock Stadium with nothing to gain. In week 15 before they got slaughtered by the Bills in Orchard Park, the Cowboys were handed a ticket to the postseason. This week, after the loss by the Eagles on Monday Night Football, the Cowboys find themselves at the top of the division in a tie with the Eagles.

Seattle opened the door for the Cowboys and they will want to hold on to it. Miami is trying to keep its hold on its own division. It all adds up to a physical fight that could have season-long ramifications for both teams.

Normally, beating out-of-conference teams isn’t the big game in the final weeks of the season when races are tight. Those are normally pegged as the games a team can afford to lose because they have no impact on the tie-breaking scenarios until you get deeper into those procedures.

This week, that isn’t the case. The loser of this game will not be knocked out of the playoffs but they will see their grip on their divisions slide. This week, both teams are playing for something.

The Baltimore Ravens kept rolling Sunday night with their victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was about their running game and Jacksonville leaving points on the field all night, but it came at a cost.

Rookie running back Keaton Mitchell, who brought a speed element to the backfield and has a lot of De’Von Achane in him, was lost for the season with a knee injury that clearly was serious from the start (and ugly to watch).

Mitchell left the Jacksonville game after rushing for 73 yards on only nine carries for an 8.1 average (Achane-like stats) and his loss leaves the Ravens with two physical backs (Gus Edwards and Justice Hill) but not much of a speed element — not counting Lamar Jackson, of course.

Jackson rushed for 97 yards against Jacksonville, his second-highest total of the season, and he may be forced to run more down the stretch with Mitchell out, something to keep in mind ahead of the Miami Dolphins’ Week 17 showdown at Baltimore.

NEW-LOOK BILLS

One of the best quotes of the weekend came from Bills QB Josh Allen after their 31-10 victory against Dallas when he said, “I feel like the kid who didn’t anything in the class project and still got an A.”

Allen was referring to Buffalo’s dominant victory where he threw for only 94 yards and attempted only 15 passes. Allen did contribute to the offensive production with his running, converting three third-down situations and scoring a 1-yard touchdown that gave the Bills a 21-3 lead in the second quarter.

But this game was more about running back James Cook and the Bills defense, which held the highest-scoring team (at the time) to 195 total yards. It was the second consecutive strong effort by the defense after it held Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to 17 points.

And what the Bills did to the Cowboys is why a popular theme Monday morning was that Buffalo is that team that nobody wants to face in the playoffs.