An NFC East team is going to the Super Bowl. It sucks.
It’s hard to be a Dallas Cowboys fan lately. The Cowboys handling of their head coach vacancy has been anything but smooth. The winning name, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, has not been received well by Cowboys fans. What also hasn’t been received well is that with the Washington Commanders beating the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys are the only team in the NFC to have not reached NFC title game since 1995.
This Sunday is like waking up to a nightmare. No matter who wins Sunday, one of the Cowboys’ rivals are going to the Super Bowl. On one side, the Philadelphia Eagles’ star-studded offense led by Saquon Barkley. On the other side, the Washington Commanders have rookie phenom Jayden Daniels, who is having arguably the greatest season by a rookie quarterback ever.
It’s painful to watch teams in the NFC East be this good, especially the Commanders with a rookie quarterback. Fans, you’re welcome to join along in the comments section, but today some of the writers at Blogging The Boys play a sad game of would you rather: Do you prefer the Commanders to win the NFC title or the Eagles?
LP Cruz
This is like asking would you rather step on a Lego barefoot or cut yourself shaving. Neither is going have you in a good mood afterwards but if I had to choose, I’d say I’d prefer the Washington Commanders win. As a native of the Washington DC area, I can tell you I have never experienced Washington with this level of success in all my years. The rivalry with Washington has been hardly that from my perspective. In short, their success is too new for the disdain that comes with the loathing of a division rival that is consistently good.
Therefore, I could never root for the Philadelphia Eagles. My hate for them is on the same tether of respect. I respect their recent pedigree of winning, Super Bowl appearances and winning a Super Bowl against Tom Brady, their first in their team’s history. Can you imagine the smug pouring out Philadelphia if they win a Super Bowl? I’ll keep it genuine, I’m hoping the worst team wins so that whoever wins the NFC title gets steamrolled by Buffalo or Kansas City in the Super Bowl. Plus, my dad is a Commanders fan. It would be nice to see his team get close, before having it snatched away like Cowboys fans have had to ensure for the last 30 years.
Mike Poland
There’s no bigger rivalry in the NFL than the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. Many years ago the classic rivalry used to be Dallas versus Washington but since their fall that has been less of a hatred to each other and more of a big brother versus little brother mentality. With that there cannot be anything worse for a Cowboys fan than to have to put up with another extra week of Eagles fans being their usual obnoxious selves and letting us know how they’ve made it to another Super Bowl. For that reason give me a Commanders victory.
Jess Haynie
I’m sure I’m in the vast majority with those rooting for the Commanders. For one, I’ll be happy for all of those former Cowboys who might get to enjoy something special. Also, our rivalry with the Eagles is on a much higher level now than Dallas-Washington. I’m old enough to remember when Cowboys-Redskins meant something beyond history and tradition, but that’s about all it’s had going for it recently. In fact, I’ve even felt sorry for them at times during Dan Snyder’s reign of terror. But the Eagles are pure villains and deserve nothing good to ever happen to them. So yeah, it makes the rooting decision pretty easy for this Sunday.
Sean Martin
It simply is not in me, anywhere, to root for the Philadelphia Eagles. My choice between division rivals in the NFC Championship Game is the Washington Commanders. Their dramatic turnaround under Dan Quinn is much easier to root for. The Quinn defense remains fun to watch, put on full display against the Lions by generating four turnovers and scoring 14 points off of them – the winning margin. Jayden Daniels is a star and seeing him fully embraced by a fanbase so desperate for that level of QB play has been a league-wide hit. This team has an identity on an off the field that’s completely new and fresh, yet the most important thing driving it all is on-field success. This is the biggest lesson the Cowboys can learn while watching the two teams that finished ahead of them play for a trip to the Super Bowl.