The Detroit Lions are hosting the Dallas Cowboys in a Week 14 "Thursday Night Football" matchup that will be critical for the NFC playoff picture.
The Lions and Cowboys are both currently on the outside looking in of the playoff field. Detroit (7-5) would be the first team out if the postseason began today, while Dallas (6-5-1) is just a half-game back of the Lions in the overall NFC standings.
As such, the winner of Thursday's game will establish itself as the biggest threat to play spoiler in the NFC wild-card race. The victorious squad will also have an opportunity to make up ground in what are shaping up to be tight divisional races.
That said, the loser of the "TNF" battle will see its playoff chances drop dramatically. For example, the Lions enter Week 14 with an estimated 41% chance of making the playoffs, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Their chances improve to 55% with a win but drop to 19% with a loss.
The Cowboys are in a similar boat, sporting a 20% chance to make it entering Week 14, which rises to 39% with a win and drops to 9% with a loss.
