Dallas Cowboys to make playoffs: only if these teams do them a huge favor
Dallas still have a path to January football, but it depends on outside help almost as much as their own performance.
The Dallas Cowboys are not mathematically eliminated heading into Week 15, but their margin for error has effectively disappeared. Sunday night’s showdown with the Minnesota Vikings is non negotiable. A loss would close the door entirely.
Even if Dallas takes care of business, the afternoon slate will matter just as much. Before the Cowboys even kick off, they will be scoreboard watching across the league, hoping for a sequence of results that keeps their season alive.
What is the Cowboys’ best hope for playoffs?
The clearest route runs through the NFC East. Philadelphia enters the week at 8-5, while Dallas sits at 6-6-1. That gap means the Cowboys cannot afford another Eagles win if they want to stay in realistic contention. Cowboys have no problem cheering against the Eagles!
Dallas’ first and most important favor would be an upset by Las Vegas over Philadelphia. Without that result, the division chase is essentially over, regardless of what the Cowboys do the rest of the way. Even with help, Dallas would still need to finish strong and hope the Eagles stumble more than once down the stretch.
Can the Cowboys go the Wild Card route?
The wild card path is somewhat messier than the praying for Eagles to crumble one. Yes, it’s really that bad, if you haven’t been following. Dallas would need to win out, of course, but would also need consistent help from others. This includes Detroit, Chicago and San Francisco dropping nearly all their remaining games.
There’s another problem with this... the Bears and Lions still have to play each other, and unless I’ve missed a new league rule (always possible) they can’t both lose.
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