Sunday Night Football open thread: Buccaneers at Cowboys

End your Sunday night with a huge game between the 11-2 Dallas Cowboys and the 8-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Cowboys are trying to maintain a two game lead over the New York Giants after New York picked up a big win over the Detroit Lions. Dallas lost twice to New York, so if the Giants manage to match their record at the end of the season, New York would win the NFC East.

The Bucs, too, find themselves in the middle of a tight division race. They can’t catch the Atlanta Falcons, who also won today against the 49ers today. However, a win would put Tampa Bay at the same 9-5 record as the Falcons, setting up a huge last two game for both teams.

As for the Lions, there’s little hope for the Detroit to catch the Cowboys at this point, so the smart play is to root for the Buccaneers to lose. If the Buccaneers lose and Washington drops Monday’s game to the Panthers, the Lions could actually clinch a playoff spot next week without winning the division (with another Bucs AND Washington loss in Week 16).

Here’s the info for tonight’s game:

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Location: AT&T Stadium — Arlington, TX

TV: NBC

Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Online Streaming: NBC Sports

Odds: Cowboys by 6.5