Cowboys bye week NFC East rooting guide: Eagles big favorites, Commanders are underdogs

Cowboys want to gain ground in the NFC East, even on a bye.

The Dallas Cowboys are 6-2 and have finally reached their bye week. Not a moment too soon as they have many injuries of varying degrees popping up recently. Getting some time to get healthy is exactly what they need.

But, the bye week leaves fans without any real action this week. Usually in this space we are examining the odds for the Cowboys in next week’s game. Since they don’t have one, we’ll have to content ourselves with watching our NFC East brethren play. The Giants are also off in Week 9, so we’ll take a look at the chances of the Cowboys bettering their position without even playing.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Philadelphia Eagles are 13-point favorites over the Houston Texans in Week 9. The Eagles won on Sunday versus the Steelers to keep their record undefeated at 7-0. Going up against the 1-5-1 Texans, there is probably little hope the Cowboys will get any help this week. The Eagles are playing superior football, the Texans are not. Chance of help here? Probably 1%. But any given Sunday…

The Commanders have suddenly regenerated their season. They are now 4-4 and trying to climb the charts in the NFC East. Right now, they are not a serious threat, but putting distance between them and the Cowboys is probably a good thing. They get the Vikings, who are a serious threat to the Cowboys playoff positioning toward the top of the NFC. They only have one loss so far. There might be mixed feelings about who Cowboys fans want to win this game. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Vikings as 3-point favorites.

We all want the Eagles to lose, but would you rather have the Commanders win or lose this week considering who they are playing?