Cowboys/Lions Saturday Game(s) Notes

Tonight the (10-5) Dallas Cowboys, minimum an ‘offs team and needing 3 of 4 results to be Dallas wins or (11-4) Philly (Eagles) losses, to win their division, host the (11-4) Detroit Lions, who last week, clinched their first “div” crown in 30 years.

Detroit is a likely NFC “3” seed and just might face the currently (8-7) L.A. Rams, whose quarterback Matthew Stafford was at that position for many years, with the Lions, in a wild card round game, 2 weeks or 2 weeks and and one day day hence.

In their very likely wild card round game, (the Lions who are (0-9) in wild card round games have a very slight chance to avoid playing in one, but need 3 of 4 decisions to be their wins and both Philly and (11-4), current top seed, S.F. (49ers) losses), Detroit will be seeking to make just their fourth “slots”/division round appearance.

Their previous such tilts were in ’70 (the first year of such games as the AFC/NFC configuration began), ’83 and ’91.

The Lions won vs Dallas at home in ’91, but lost a Saturday “slots”/div round game, by the highly unusual score of (5-0), at Dallas, in the late afternoon, second ever such game in ’70.

In ’83, the usually reliable excellent kicker, Eddie Murray missed a potential game winning field goal and S.F. prevailed at home, vs Detroit, in that slot 2/later Saturday “div” round game.

Ten years later, Murray’s overtime field goal at the New York Giants in the “reg” finale, gave Dallas the NFC one seed, which they rode to a second straight Super Bowl crown, within a period of 3 titles in 4 seasons.

Dallas has not “titled” or even made a “semi” since, while the Lions have made but one semi in the 65 completed seasons, since they thumped the Cleveland Browns in the 1957 NFL Title Game.