Road to the Super Bowl goes through Philadelphia if Eagles beat Cowboys to grab No. 1 seed

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Fans sweated it out more than expected but the Eagles beat the Bears on Sunday to clinch their NFL-best 13th win of the season.

Next up: The Birds travel to Dallas to face the rival Cowboys on Christmas Eve with a chance to lock up the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the conference.

The math is simple: Win or tie (come on, nobody wants that) and everything they looked to accomplish in the regular season is a reality.

Even with a loss, the Birds' magic number is down to 1.

So any combination of an Eagles' win or a Cowboys loss in the final 3 games will clinch the division; while any Eagles win or a single loss by the Cowboys and Vikings will clinch the 1 seed.

Why is the 1 seed important?

The Conference's top seed is the only team to get a Bye in the playoffs. So with it, the Eagles will have one less game to win to get to the Super Bowl.

They would play the lowest-remaining seed in the playoffs, which doesn't seem that daunting considering the teams in the mix: NFC South champion (currently, the 6-8 Bucs), Cowboys, Commanders, Giants and Lions.

Also, it would mean the road to the Super Bowl would come through Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles, buoyed by their fans, are really tough to beat.

Beating Dallas is always great. But this year, a win over the Cowboys would yield the perfect Christmas for Eagles fans.