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NFL Playoff Picture: Falcons Now A Bears Loss Away From Clinching Spot

The Cowboys currently trail the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 20-0 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter in Dallas. Why do you care? Here's why: with a Cowboys loss, the Falcons could clinch a playoffs spot with a Bears loss on Sunday night regardless of what happens in their Monday Night Football game against the Saints in New Orleans.

The Falcons needed either the Giants or the Cowboys to lose, the Cardinals to lose and still need to the Bears to lose to pull this off. The Giants beat the Jets in the battle of New York and the Cardinals fell to the Bengals in Cincinnati. While the Cowboys game is not technically over, since Tony Romo is out with a hand injury, they don't have much chance of coming back from a 20-point deficit.

The Bears are still without Jay Cutler and have handed the reins over to Josh McCown after Caleb Hanie's struggles. The Bears are playing in Green Bay against the Packers, their high-powered offense and their defense which leads the league in interceptions on Sunday night.

It looks like all the stars are aligning for the Falcons in Week 16.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.