Cowboys suffered major blow on Sunday without even playing
The Dallas Cowboys didn't play on Sunday of Week 12 as they gear up to take the field for two consecutive Thursdays when they host the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football a few days from now for Week 13. But even though they didn't step on a gridiron, they suffered a major blow by […]
The Dallas Cowboys didn't play on Sunday of Week 12 as they gear up to take the field for two consecutive Thursdays when they host the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football a few days from now for Week 13.
But even though they didn't step on a gridiron, they suffered a major blow by witnessing the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Buffalo Bills in what will be a Game of the Year candidate.
When an ice-cold Jalen Hurts tucked it in and ran for the walk-off touchdown in overtime, the Eagles improved to 10-1, which significantly raised Philly's chances of winning the NFC East.
The Cowboys, at 8-3, will now have a very tough time finding the help they need to steal the division away in December and January. If we assume Dallas runs the table (a big assumption yet a doable one if they are the team we think they are) and finish 14-3, they'd still need to outwin the Eagles as the tiebreaker is likely not going their way.
Assume the Eagles lose their next two (vs San Francisco 49ers, @ Cowboys), that'd make them a three-loss team, which means they'd still need to lose another game over the last four weeks of the season for the Cowboys to take the NFC East lead. Here are the Eagles' rivals for those final four weeks:
- @ Seattle Seahawks
- vs New York Giants
- vs Arizona Cardinals
- @ New York Giants
After witnessing the Eagles get it done against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Bills in gritty wins, it's tough to envision them losing against any of the four above teams. This is an any-given-Sunday type of league and anything can happen. But the Cowboys sure hoped Philly stumbled against any of their last couple of opponents.
What it means for the Cowboys' playoff picture
The Cowboys have shown they've got what it takes to bring down the Eagles. Although they lost in Week 9 when visiting them, it was a hard-fought game that came down to the wire despite Philly benefitting from multiple lucky bounces.
However, the blow the Cowboys suffer from watching the Eagles take a solid lead for the division is about circumstance. The latter can be more important than just being the better team sometimes.
As a likely Wild Card team, Dallas will have to join an exclusive club of teams if they want to win the Super Bowl as road warriors. I'm talking about the Wild Card champions, which most recently include the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 2010 Green Bay Packers, and the 2007 New York Giants. Can the Cowboys join rarefied air as these clubs did before?
The good news is the Cowboys would likely face the NFC South champion in the Wild Card round, which could again be an easy opponent like the Bucs last year. Right now, the 5-6 Atlanta Falcons lead their division and would be first-up on Dallas' postseason schedule.
Mathematically, the team still has a chance to steal the division away. But let's just say the math isn't too promising. For more on this topic, check out my nightly show A to Z Sports Dallas Primetime below!
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