Week 17 Rooting Interests
Obviously, we want the Cowboys to do well this year, as the only way you can win the Super Bowl is to make the playoffs. But barring the Cowboys winning in the Meadowlands, I was interested to see where the Cowboys could potentially pick if they didn't make the second round of the NFL season. So, I calculated things out and came up with the various scenarios you should root for assuming you only wanted the best for the Cowboys in terms of draft position (assuming they didn't make it to the playoffs). Feel free to vary up your rooting interests based on your own personal likes and dislikes (Tebowmania, anti-Tebowmania, Texans second lover, wanting the Eagles to lose just because you like to see them lose, etc.)
If the Cowboys lose, they can get a draft pick anywhere from 13th to 18th. There are currently 11 teams which are guaranteed to have a worse record than 8-8. There are also 11 teams which have a possibility of becoming 8-8. However, 2 of the 7-8 teams play each other, so, at least one of them will be worse than 8-8. Meaning that if the Cowboys lose, there are a guaranteed 12 teams who will have worse records. For the Cowboys, their SoS is near the worst of those teams who have a chance of being 8-8, so they will pick near the bottom of their rung whoever is on it.
The fortunate thing is that the Giants have among the highest SoS among teams with an 8-8 record so a lot of things that would affect the Cowboys positively won't really change much for the Giants assuming the Cowboys win. So, for the most part you can root for these teams and not have to worry about the Giants getting a better pick in the draft.
For Week 17, each team is playing a division rival. So, for the vast majority of games, the SoS will not change very much since each game will produce a .500 outcome. However, each team has 2 teams that they played which do NOT play each other this week, and the changes for THOSE teams are the ones that will significantly impact a team's SoS. Those two teams are listed for each team in the 8-8 race.
| Team | Current W-L | Low Bound SoS W assuming 8-8 | High Bound SoS W assuming 8-8 | W17 Opp | 1st Schedule Diff Opp. | 2nd Schedule Diff Opp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 8-7 | 120 | 122 | Houston | Denver | Buffalo |
| Arizona | 7-8 | 120 | 122 | Seattle | Minnesota | Carolina |
| Dallas | 8-7 | 121 | 123 | New York Giants | Detroit | Tampa Bay |
| Philadelphia | 7-8 | 123 | 125 | Washington | Chicago | Atlanta |
| New York Jets | 8-7 | 126 | 128 | Miami | Baltimore | Jacksonville |
| Seattle | 7-8 | 127 | 129 | Arizona | Chicago | Atlanta |
| Oakland | 8-7 | 129 | 131 | San Diego | Houston | Cleveland |
| San Diego | 7-8 | 130 | 132 | Oakland | Baltimore | Jacksonville |
| Denver | 8-7 | 132 | 134 | Kansas City | Cincinnati | Tennessee |
| New York Giants | 8-7 | 133 | 135 | Dallas | New Orleans | Green Bay |
| Chicago | 7-8 | 134 | 136 | Minnesota | Philadelphia | Seattle |
For each strong interest game that goes against the rooting interest, the Cowboys will very likely drop 1 draft spot. The lesser interest games will slightly influence how likely the Cowboys will drop that 1 spot.
Here are the rooting interests:
Strong Interests
Tennessee @ Houston
Rooting Interest: Tennessee
Reason: Tennessee has a comparable SoS to the Cowboys, so it would be best if they left the 8-8 bunch. This is 1 of 2 strong interest games where if the New York Giants lose, they will be helped by the same rooting interest of the Cowboys.
Seattle @ Arizona
Rooting Interest: Seattle
Reason: Arizona has a comparable SoS to the Cowboys, and since the loser of this game is already going to have a higher pick than the Cowboys, it would be best to have the Cardinals be that team.
Washington @ Philadelphia
Rooting Interest: Philadelphia
Reason: Philadelphia is at 7-8 and needs a win to be in the 8-8 bunch. They will have a worse draft pick even assuming the Cowboys SoS improves to 123, because they have a better divisional record than the Cowboys.
San Diego @ Oakland
Rooting Interest: San Diego
Reason: San Diego is at 7-8 and needs a win to be in the 8-8 bunch. Oakland has a higher SoS, so it doesn't matter if they fall to 8-8.
Chicago @ Minnesota
Rooting Interest: Chicago
Reason: Chicago is at 7-8 and needs a win to be in the 8-8 bunch. This is 1 of 2 strong interest games where if the New York Giants lose, they will be helped by the same rooting interest of the Cowboys.
Lesser Interests
Detroit @ Green Bay
Rooting Interest: Green Bay
Reason: Green Bay winning would increase New York Gs SoS and decrease Dallas SoS.
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta
Rooting Interest: Atlanta
Reason: Tampa Bay losing would decrease Dallas SoS.
Denver @ Kansas City
Rooting Interest: Denver
Reason: Denver winning would increase Tennessee SoS.
Buffalo @ New England
Rooting Interest: Buffalo
Reason: Buffalo winning would increase Tennessee SoS.
Carolina @ New Orleans
Rooting Interest: Carolina
Reason: Carolina winning would increase Arizona SoS. Though this WOULD decrease New York Gs SoS.
New York Jets @ Miami
Rooting Interest: New York Jets
Reason: New York Jets winning would push them out of the 8-8 bunch, and would improve the later round picks for the Cowboys.
Obviously, it would be best if the Cowboys win this Sunday and make it to the playoffs, but it's nice to know that there's a decent possibility that even if they don't win, they'll get a pretty good draft pick out of it. And you can cheer for that possibility also!
Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.
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I'll stand and root loudest and proudest for...
… one team to win Sunday.
Beyond that, let the chips fall where they may.
Cry "Havoc!"
by tanstaafl on Dec 27, 2011 8:06 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
My interests if the Boy's lose...
Pittsburgh you are ahead by one trophy…you need to lose. 49’ers you have 5 trophy’s don’t get ahead of us. Green Bay, you have a great team, please lose…don’t reach the famous 5. Brady and the Cheatriots, I can’t stand you. Giants you are a rival lose. Eagles…wait their story is the same every year…nevermind. That’s a wrap. Go Cowboys!
2 part question....
Eli Manning sucks and
go f@#k yourself!
(Tosh.O "crying Giants fan")
SOS is always tiebraker #1 in NFL draft
its at the bottom of this page:
http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures
after that it goes to division record, etc
nevermind, I misread your post
thought you were using wrong tiebraking procedure. My bad!
Nice job! this will be useful for the games sunday. Rec’d
I know many people ripped me last year for rooting for a Dallas loss...
to philly in that last game, but man would Patrick Peterson have looked good on this team right now.
so suck it to everyone that took part in that….lol
I hope we win, but don’t think I want be watching the scoreboard rooting for all of those scenarios…..it is crazy to think that we can go from hosting a playoff game to the thirteenth pick.
by death of the cool on Dec 28, 2011 12:00 AM CST reply actions
peterson was drafted 5th
and AZ wanted him bad, so we would’ve had to jump them.
If we lost that game, we would’ve picked 7th behind Cleveland due to our tough SOS.
Would the Bengals have dropped down and given up Green? We’d have to give up a bunch to get to #3 and the Bills pick.
Peterson was never in play. Although that draft day goldmine Atlanta sent Cleveland may have been.
if we lost the Philly game
in all likelihood, we’d be making the same decision – JJ Watt or Tyron Smith. And given our need for an elite player on either line, I think we would’ve stood pat and taken one.
I think Tyron was the target all along
Just glad it worked the way it did
Hey Washington... D.C. stands for Dallas Cowboys
DeMarcus is EveryWare Man
Twitter: @silva918
Good Post.......
But I rather not think about this till after we win the Super Bowl this year….Let me have some hope
lol
I love how everyone seems to have given up on them beating the Giants.
I’d like to actually see the game, but I guess they should just skip the flight and forfeit.
After all, the NFL is a game that is played for draft picks. Colts are clearly the best team this year… if only the Cowboys would have done more to lose so they could get a better pick in April :(
well so far so good.
Chi wins
Philly wins
Tenn wins
now if Seattle and San Diego win we will look much better if we happen to lose.
by death of the cool on Jan 1, 2012 3:14 PM CST reply actions

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