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There's good news and bad news for Eagles fans. Let's start with the bad.
Bad news: Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers has not been cleared for Sunday's Cowboys-Packers game in Dallas. Instead, he's officially been ruled out of this contest. It goes without saying the Packers just aren't the same team without Rodgers at the helm. The Packers were 5-2 this year when he was healthy and starting. Since Rodgers suffered a shoulder injury in the Packers game in early November, the team is 1-4-1 without him. Rodgers' absence means Matt Flynn will start against the Cowboys defense.
Good news: And that's where the good news comes in. The Cowboys defense is horrible. They're allowing yards at a historic rate. Middle linebacker Sean Lee, an important fixture on the Dallas defense, has been ruled out for the game. The Cowboys were slaughtered on defense in Chicago earlier in the week on Monday Night Football. The Bears put up 45 points on that severely struggling unit. Monte Kiffin's defense is being steamrolled. So while the Packers don't stand as much of a chance as they do without Rodgers, perhaps the Cowboys' defense is just not good enough to stop anything right now. Flynn has completed 61.25% of his passes (55/88) for 2 TD and 2 INT with a 81.4 passer rating in the three games he's started for the Packers this season. If Flynn can avoid making mistakes, perhaps Green Bay can lean on running back Eddie Lacy's contributions in the ground game to carry the Packers to a victory.
A Cowboys loss to the Packers would bode very well for the Eagles moving forward. The Eagles are currently in charge of the NFC East lead and stand one game ahead of the Cowboys. In order to make the playoffs, it's vital Philadelphia stays one game ahead of their NFC East rivals. The Cowboys own a tiebreaker which gives them the edge over the Eagles if the two teams' overall records are the same.
If the Cowboys lose one of their next two games (Packers, @Redskins), and the Eagles beat the Vikings this week, then the Eagles have the opportunity to clinch the NFC East with a win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football in Week 16.
Eagles fans certainly shouldn't be expecting a Packers win over the Cowboys this week, but perhaps there's a chance, and if it happens, that would be very beneficial to the Eagles' NFL playoff aspirations.
