This might be one of those very few NFL games where winning might not be in the best interest of the Cowboys. It all depends on who you’d rather face in the playoffs: the Redskins or the Vikings.

The Redskins would seem to be the team you’d want eliminated considering they defeated the Vikings 32-21 last week. They are also a divisional foe who always play the Cowboys tough.

But I think the Vikings are better equipped to do some damage in the playoffs. While they aren’t going to scare anyone passing the ball, and they rank dead last defending the pass, they are the best in the NFL at both running the ball and stopping the run. What this means is they can make the other team one dimensional by shutting down the run, and they can dominate the time of possession with the scariest two-back system since Craig James and Eric Dickerson were playing for the SMU Mustangs.

As for Washington, they are strictly average. They are average at running, average at passing, and a bit above average on defense. If they were still playing the secondary they had when they came into the year, I’d definitely prefer to face someone different, but without Carlos Rogers and Sean Taylor, their secondary would not be able to match up with the Cowboys.

If we didn’t look at the team names, I’d rather face an average Washington team than a Vikings team that can dominate certain aspects of the game. The mere fact that one of those teams is the Washington Redskins certainly makes me want them eliminated from the playoffs, but the logical side of my brain is telling me I’d rather face them than the Vikings should either of those two teams be able to pull off a wildcard upset.

So, going into this game on Sunday, I think the Cowboys might be in better shape should they come up losers. Not so much so that I would give up a 14 win season — that’s a pretty good mark and something I hope these Cowboys can make — but, should a Cowboys team that is likely to rest some of its starters during the second half come up on the losing side of the game, a nice consolation prize is eliminating a better team from the playoffs.