The Dallas Cowboys' loss to the Buffalo Bills was just made less painful following the Monday Night Football showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks.

The Drew Lock-led Seahawks gifted the Cowboys an early Christmas present by beating the Eagles as defensive struggles continue for Philly. In an epic moment, the Cowboys' division rival allowed a 92-yard game winning drive from Lock in a two minute drill that will haunt Eagles fans' dreams for a good while.

In the process, the Cowboys' chances of winning the NFC East seemingly came back to life. Heck, if the season ended today, the Cowboys would be the second seed in the NFC and would be playing at home in the Wild Card round. However, that doesn't tell the whole story and it's a bit misleading. Let's dive in.

Eagles (likely) wins the tiebreaker at 13-4

The Eagles essentially control their own destiny. If the Cowboys and the Eagles both win out, the tiebreaker would go all the way down to the fifth criteria: strength of victory (stick around for our tiebreaker cheat sheet at the end of the article). 

These two teams would have a 1-1 record head to head and the same division, common games, and conference record. NFC East football, baby. It's tight!

That means in this scenario, it would come down to strength of victory, which would very likely go to Philly. While there are some wild scenarios that could shift that in the Cowboys' favor, it is highly unlikely.*

The Eagles beating the 8-6 Bills and the 9-5 Kansas City Chiefs is one of the biggest reasons they'd get this tiebreaker. In contrast, the Cowboys beat the 5-9 L.A. Chargers out of the AFC West and got a win against the 5-9 New York Jets but not the Bills with a winning record. 

*I'll give you an example of one of those wild scenarios: In a simulation, I had the Bills and Cardinals going a combined 0-6 while having the Jets and Seahawks going 6-0. That'd shift the strength of victory toward the Cowboys. As you can see, we're better off not even getting into that mess.

So how can the Cowboys steal away the NFC East?

There's a very real chance it happens, especially considering how the Eagles have struggled as of late. With three weeks of NFL football left, there's a whole lot of combinations that could still take place. So allow me to lay out a couple of much more feasible scenarios.

A. Cowboys win out, Eagles lose one: In this scenario, a tiebreaker wouldn't be needed. Dallas would straight up have one more win than the Eagles and that'd be that. The problem is the Cowboys still need to handle the Miami Dolphins (on the very scary road) and Detroit Lions. Meanwhile, the Eagles get the New York Giants twice and the Arizona Cardinals.

B. Cowboys lose to the Dolphins OR Lions, Eagles lose one: The Cowboys have some leeway in Week 16 and 17. If they lose to the Dolphins or Lions, they could still hope for an Eagles loss. If the Cowboys specifically lose to the Lions, the Eagles would need to lose to the Giants in any of their two games as that would mean a lesser divisional record for Philly, giving the edge to Dallas through the second tiebreaking criteria (assuming the Cowboys win their other two). 

Cowboys vs. Eagles tiebreaker breakdown entering Week 16

I know this can be confusing and dizzying. I had to do it all by hand on a legal pad before typing these words to be entirely sure. So here's my tiebreaker cheat sheet from me to you!

1. Head to Head: 1-1
2. Division Record: 
1. DAL: 4-1
2. PHI: 3-1
3. Common Games (only different outcomes listed):
1. Jets: Cowboys W, Eagles L
2. Cardinals: Cowboys L, Eagles (yet to play in Week 17)
3. Bills: Cowboys L, Eagles W
4. Seahawks: Cowboys W, Eagles L
4. Conference record: 
1. DAL: 7-3
2. PHI: 6-3
5. Strength of Victory:
1. PHI: .439
2. DAL: .379

Cowboys: Jayron Kearse directly calls out NFL officiating

Does he have a point?