What are the chances the Cowboys will make the 2021 playoffs?

The Dallas Cowboys have gone through their ups and downs this season, but despite the peaks and valleys they lead the NFC East, and look like a shoe-in for the playoffs.

Dallas came into this season with cautious optimism after Dak Prescott missed nearly the entire 2020/21 season with a serious ankle injury. Over the offseason Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, took a leap of faith on his franchise quarterback by signing him to a blockbuster deal while he was still in the midst of rehabilitating his injured ankle.

There were not guarantees that Prescott would ever return to the level that we were used to seeing from the Cowboys signal caller but Dak exceeded expectations from the very first week of the regular season. Dallas went to Tampa Bay to take on the defending champions to open the season on Kickoff Thursday. Dak was locked in dual with Super Bowl MVP and greatest quarterback of all time Tom Brady.

Cowboys with a hot start after opening week loss

The Cowboys were in prime position for an opening week victory over the Bucs, leading by one with under 90 seconds to go. Brady would eventually lead Tampa down the field for a game winning field goal in the final second, but the headline coming out of that night was Dak Prescott.

In his first action in 11 months, Prescott went 42/58 for 403 yards and three touchdowns, announcing to Dallas fans that he was back and just as good as ever.

Dallas would win their next five games as Dak continued to be rained with praise for his incredible comeback. The defense was a major driving factor in the Cowboys success. They were lead by Trevon Diggs who had seven interceptions in the first six games of the season.

The Cowboys had one of the earliest bye weeks in the league, getting their day off after Week 6. Prescott came out of the bye week with an injury and missed the Cowboys narrow win over the Vikings in Minnesota.

Mid-season slump

Dak came back the next week, but that would be where the biggest bump in Dallas’ road this season came. They Cowboys went on to lose three of their next four to throw all the progress of the first month and a half into the flames. The only win came against the reeling Atlanta Falcons, but that came sandwiched between a beatdown by the Denver Broncos and consecutive losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving.

Since then the Cowboys took down the New Orleans Saints and Washington Football Team over the weekend. With four games to play the Cowboys sit at 9-4 on the year looking like the favorites to win the division, and are just a game behind the three conference leaders who are locked at 10-3.

Playoff chances

Dallas have three divisional games remaining and a game against the Arizona Cardinals in the penultimate week of the regular season. The Cowboys have a three game lead over the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles who sit at 6-7 on the year. Washington and Philly play each other this week, which means the only way America’s team can clinch the division next weekend is if the Eagles and the Football Team tie and Dallas beats the New York Giants.

While a tie seems unlikely, what does seem a virtual certainty is that the Cowboys will be making the playoffs this year. If they have home field remains to be determined, but you can bet there will be a whole lot of interested eyes watching that Cowboys vs. Cardinals game in Week 17.