With their win last weekend over the Philadelphia Eagles, the ‘Skins are poised to win their first divisional title since 1999 on Sunday, assuming they can beat the Dallas Cowboys in the regular season finale. And while FedEx Field can only handle 85,000 fans, assume nearly the rest of the nation will be there in burgundy-and-gold spirit.
An ESPN.com poll revealed that in every state—save the obvious outlier—NFL fans of all persuasions would like to see the ‘Skins knock off the Cowboys on Sunday night. Out of more than 194,000 votes cast, 73 percent are hoping Robert Griffin III and company finish the job and keep the Cowboys, sometimes known as “America’s Team,” out of the playoffs.
And the state-by-state breakdowns are just as overwhelming, if not more. Seventy-seven percent of respondents from the District and Virginia are pulling for the ‘Skins, while Maryland is one percentage point stronger.
The Washington region isn’t even the most pro-‘Skins part of the nation though. An odd quartet of Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Vermont all give the ‘Skins an 82 percent preference. In New York and New Jersey, where Giants fans might still be smarting from the ‘Skins toppling of the reigning Super Bowl champions on December 3, the ‘Skins are by far the more preferred of two evils, with 76 percent of New Yorkers going for Washington. (That might have something to do with the Giants’ complicated route to the playoffs, of which the ‘Skins beating the Cowboys is one of several necessary—but not sufficient—components.)
Not surprisingly, the one state to prefer the Cowboys is Texas, but even there they’re just not that popular. Texas broke 55 percent to 45 percent for the Cowboys, the closest margin of any state on the map except for Oklahoma, where the ‘Skins nudged past Dallas.