The Cowboys are 1.5-point favorites over the Eagles in Week 16, if you can believe that

The Dallas Cowboys will be hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Eve. Cowboys fans had previously hoped that a win in that game would help get them back in the NFC East race. With the 40-34 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime, that ship has basically sailed. Sure they Cowboys could sweep their last three games, and the Eagles could drop theirs, but there’s not much hope in that.

The game still has a lot of meaning. The Cowboys need a confidence boost; they need a spark of momentum to carry them into the playoffs. Nothing would do that more than beating the best team in the NFL at the moment, not to mention their bitter rival. As grim as things seem right now, coming off a win over the Eagles for Christmas would definitely make for a happy holiday.

So what are the odds the Cowboys can pull it off? Surprisingly, the betting houses think the odds are better than you might guess. DraftKings Sportsbook opened the odds with the Cowboys as 1-point favorites, and that has already increased to 1.5. By the time you read this, they might have shifted again, but that’s how it sits when this was published.

The Cowboys will be at home, so that is worth something. They also show the capability to execute well in spurts. But the constant mistakes, and the fact the injury-riddled defense is starting to lose its dominance, creates plenty of Cowboys questions. Dallas is struggling to put away average to bad teams. They will have to have a dramatic turnaround to put away the 13-1 Eagles.

But every week in the NFL can be a new week, so we’ll see what the Cowboys can muster.