What's more important to you – the winner of Sunday's game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins OR the winner of next month's election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?
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Because depending on how you feel about the candidates and where your NFC East loyalties lie, you may have to adjust who you root for this weekend, thanks to a little something called "The Redskins Rule."
Since 1940, when the team moved to Washington, D.C., the result of their final home game prior to a presidential election has correctly predicted the winner in 17* of the 19 cases. And since the Redskins' next two games after facing the Birds are on the road, followed by their bye the final week before the election, it all comes down to Sunday.
*Following the 2000 election, in which Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election, the rule was slightly modified for those cases. If you chose to include that, it's actually 18 of 19. Read more, here.
How does it work? Well, the rule states that if the Redskins win, then the party that is currently in control of the White House – currently the Democrats – will remain in power. If they lose, the opposing party will win the election. Essentially, if the Eagles win, history tells us that Trump will be the next President of the United States. But if Washington wins, then you can go ahead and pencil in Hillary as the first female president.
Here's a look at how it's played out over the last 75 years...
| YR | Election | GM | WAS | Party | Upheld? |
| 2016 | Clinton vs. Trump |
PHI ?? WAS ?? |
?? | ?? | ?? |
| 2012 | Obama def. Romney |
CAR 21 WAS 13 |
L | W | N |
| 2008 | Obama def. McCain |
PIT 23 WAS 6 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 2004 | Bush def. Kerry |
GB 28 WAS 14 |
L |
W | N* |
| 2000 | Bush def. Gore |
TEN 27 WAS 21 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 1996 | Clinton def. Dole |
IND 16 WAS 31 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1992 | Clinton def. Bush |
NYG 24 WAS 7 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 1988 | Bush def. Dukakis |
NO 24 WAS 27 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1984 | Reagan def. Mondale |
ATL 14 WAS 27 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1980 | Reagan def. Carter |
MIN 39 WAS 14 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 1976 | Carter def. Ford |
DAL 20 WAS 7 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 1972 | Nixon def. McGovern |
DAL 20 WAS 24 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1968 | Nixon def. Humphrey |
NYG 13 WAS 10 |
L |
L | Y |
| 1964 | Johnson def. Goldwater |
CHI 20 WAS 27 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1960 | Kennedy def. Nixon |
CLE 31 WAS 10 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 1956 | Eisenhower def. Stevenson |
CLE 9 WAS 20 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1952 | Eisenhower def. Stevenson |
PIT 24 WAS 23 |
L |
L |
Y |
| 1948 | Truman def. Dewey |
BOS 21 WAS 59 |
W | W |
Y |
| 1944 | Roosevelt def. Dewey |
CLE 1o WAS 14 |
W |
W |
Y |
| 1940 | Roosevelt def. Willkie |
PIT 10 WAS 37 |
W |
W |
Y |
*According to the rule tweak, this would have been considered a win for the Redskins rule, because Bush lost the popular vote in the prior election. Again, read more on that here.
And that could make things quite interesting for some fans this weekend.
If you're an Eagles fan who also happens to be a Trump supporter, then you're in luck; a win for the Birds is a win for the Donald. But if you're on Team Hillary, you may want to be careful what you wish for -- sure, 4-1 sounds nice, but are you ready for President Trump?
Of course, this election season has been unlike anything we've ever seen before, so it shouldn't really surprise anyone if this one doesn't follow tradition (just like in 2012).
Although, if it doesn't -- and your candidate comes out on the losing end -- you'll know who to blame ... the Eagles.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin