Pragmatic Sports Rooting

This weekend I will have to hold my nose and root for the Dallas Cowboys. Normally, I would root for anyone against the hated Cowboys. I often tell people that my two favorite NFL teams are the Washington Redskins and whoever is playing Dallas this week. However, this is one weekend in which I feel that I must make an exception. That’s because the Cowboys are playing the New York Giants, a team that I believe to be a greater threat to the playoff hopes of my beloved Redskins.

Currently, Dallas leads the NFC East with a record of 7-1, followed by the Giants at 6-2 and Washington at 5-3. With Dallas ahead of them by two games, I hold out little hope of the Redskins winning the division and I have pretty much given up on that. However, I think they have an excellent shot at capturing one of the two NFC wildcard spots. The Giants (along with the Detroit Lions) are currently one game ahead of them in the wildcard race. The Redskins will to need to catch at least one of those two teams in order to make the playoffs. No other NFC team that is not currently leading its division has a record better than 4-4. 

So I’ll have to be a Dallas fan for about three hours on Sunday afternoon. It’s not going to kill me. It hasn’t before.