A win tonight over the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins will clinch the NFC East division. Doing so and then beating the Dallas Cowboys next week would have the Skins finish the season 9-7, winners of four straight and provider of respectability for one of this season's much maligned conferences.
A loss in tonight's matchup - Washington At Philadelphia (-3; 49) - will have the NFC East division winner finish at 8-8 or 7-9, but let's hold off on that.
The Skins have been inconsistent all year and have only won two games in a row once, during this current stretch. If they make the playoffs, they would have done so while not beating a team that qualified for this year's playoffs.
The Skins defeated the Eagles earlier this season in a game of two disparate halves, which saw Redskins Quarterback Kirk Cousins make the early case that he's the better of the two quarterbacks.
Cousins bests Eagles Quarterback Sam Bradford in most top statistical categories, including TD/INT ratio, which might prove to be the difference in tonight's game.
At the same time, Bradford has shown the ability to power the Eagles offense, while the Eagles defense continues to struggle against teams with potent passing games.
The Eagles are 6-1 when they score 23+ points and 0-7 when they score less than 23 points.
The Redskins are 6-0 when they score 23+ points and 1-7 when they score less than 23 points.
Tonight's question is simple: Can Kirk Cousins and the Skins offense maintain the consistency of these past two weeks and score 24+ points?
Both teams' defenses give up over 23 points a game, with the Skins having the statistical advantage by 2.2 points.
The numbers are unanimous for the Skins, especially with the 3 points being given. Still, I do think the Eagles can pull off a win while not covering the spread.
So, I take Skins (OVER) because I think both teams will take more offensive risks. Pick wisely, come back for Sunday's picks and until then let's see if Skins clinch.