A little more than an hour ago, the Minnesota Vikings claimed the NFC North title by defeating the defending Super Bowl champions on a last-second, 50-yard field goal from Ryan Longwell, and the Houston Texans pulled off the upset to eliminate the Chicago Bears from the playoff picture.

The biggest upset of a contender so far today took place in Florida, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coughed up a 24-14 fourth-quarter lead at home and were bumped from a wild-card berth by the 5-11 Oakland Raiders.

The losses by the Bears and Buccaneers, both of whom fell to 9-7, left two NFC clubs in line for the final playoff spot in the conference. They are the 9-6 Dallas Cowboys and the 8-6-1 Philadelphia Eagles, who happen to be squaring off in a late game Sunday, which Philadelphia leads, 17-3, late in the second quarter.

In essence, the game is an early playoff encounter, with the winner moving on and the loser going home -- a week before the postseason kicks off.

What could be more fitting, as having at least one of the two NFC East powerhouses in the playoffs has been the norm for years? In 24 of 39 seasons since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 -- including this year -- either the Cowboys or Eagles have reached the playoffs. In nine other seasons, both clubs made it, leaving only six postseasons in 39 years that neither team participated.

The Cowboys lead the all-time series between the two clubs, going 53-42 against Philadelphia since joining the NFL in 1960, and they have won two of the three playoff matchups between them. The Eagles have won 12 of the last 17 contests in the series, though, including the last five December games they've played against Dallas, and they have the two-touchdown edge with a little more than 30 minutes to play.