Chicago Bears vs Dallas Cowboys: It's better to be lucky than good

NFC East

How lucky are the Dallas Cowboys? The other five projected NFC playoff teams have at least 9 wins at the moment. And Dallas is in there with their pathetic 6-6 record, thanks to the state their division is in. NFC West was very competitive and completely open not that long ago. But right now, there are three teams with losing records and nobody with a winning one, which we rarely see in the NFL.

Cowboys had numerous opportunities to run away with the division title already, but they squandered them all. The last one was on Thanksgiving at home vs the Bills, when they were favored by a touchdown. Buffalo is not a bad team by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a spot where Dallas was expected to show some kind of urgency, considering the playoff race situation and that their coach is on the hot seat. But they were completely flat and are now in situation where they need a win on a tough road game at Soldier Field.

Can Chicago win out?

Chicago has exactly the same record as their opponents, but they are not as lucky when it comes to divisional rivals. Green Bay and Minnesota are having great seasons and are most likely out of reach already. Bears probably need to win out to get into the race for one of the wildcard spots, and even that could not be enough. They won two in a row, but are coming off yet another sloppy performance, where they barely overcame the Lions with their 3rd string QB David Blough making his debut. Although Trubisky receives most of the criticism, the defense is just as bad in my opinion. They went from the best defense last year, to a mediocre unit that can't even shut down an undrafted rookie QB.

Both teams are missing some important players. Bears will probably be without Bobby Massie, Danny Trevathan, Taylor Gabriel and Prince Amukamara. On the other side, Dallas is missing Leighton Vander Esch, Jeff Heath, and Antwaun Woods. It means their defense should be weakened right up the middle and that could affect their ability to stop the run in this game.

Bears vs Cowboys best bet

Chicago has nothing to lean on. The offense is a mess. They have no identity. There is nothing that they are really good at. QB play has been underwhelming the entire season and the coaching staff is not helping it out with their confusing play call. Defensively, they were stingy against the run last year, but that is gone now. Chuck Pagano replacing Vic Fangio as a defensive coordinator is part of the problem, while the injury of Akiem Hicks early in the season is probably the main reason why they're struggling.

Losing Danny Trevathan won't help either and they are facing an extremely difficult matchup on the ground with Ezekiel Elliot coming to town. I expect Dallas OL to dominate their front seven the entire game, set the tone, help Cowboys offense control the clock and the course of the game.