Official Week 5 rooting guide for Dallas Cowboys fans

Every Dallas Cowboys fan is rooting for America’s Team on Sunday (and every day). That much is obvious and not up for debate.

Who else should Cowboys fans be rooting for, though? There are obviously other games happening across the National Football League that should be paid attention to, what results are we hoping for?

Welcome to the Week 5 rooting guide for Cowboys fans. Obviously we’re way too early to be talking about potential playoff spots, but we can definitely figure some things out. The Seattle Seahawks already won on Thursday Night Football which could be big come December, but what else is important?

Inter-conference Games: Root for the AFC squads

It goes without saying that in all inter-conference games we should always be rooting for whatever AFC team is playing a particular NFC one. That’s common sense.

Even though we’re only in Week 5 and there is plenty of hope that the Cowboys will win the NFC East, the records of other NFC teams could be a factor in a potential Wildcard race. They could also determine which team gets a first-round bye and home field advantage.

Week 5 Inter-conference Games:

• Arizona Cardinals (0-3-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (0-4)
• Atlanta Falcons (1-3) at Houston Texans (2-2)
• Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2) at Carolina Panthers (2-2)
• Chicago Bears (3-1) vs. Oakland Raiders (1-3) [London]
• New England Patriots (4-0) at Washington Redskins (0-4)
• New York Jets (0-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (2-2)
• Cleveland Browns (2-2) at San Francisco 49ers (3-0) [Monday Night Football]

It goes without saying that the Patriots is the biggest lock of this group while the Jets are the greatest underdogs when it comes to the AFC teams. It seems likely that the Texans will beat the Falcons and the Browns looked good last week, they should test San Francisco.

It’s at least fair to wonder whether rooting for Washington makes sense. If they manage to not lose perhaps they’ll keep Jay Gruden around and we know how beneficial he is to the Dallas Cowboys; however, not only are they likely not going to win simply off of their own merits, they’re playing the New England Patriots of all teams.

Please Jets. Don’t be yourselves.

Intra-conference Games: This is where it gets tricky

When it comes to matchups that feature two NFC teams (whatever happens in a game of two AFC squads hardly impacts the Cowboys), we have to be more calculated with our well wishes and good vibes. Obviously we always want NFC East teams to lose, but both the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins have already been mentioned.

There’s no question that we’re hoping for the Minnesota Vikings to beat the New York Giants, and while that doesn’t sound like it should be so hard Kirk Cousins is capable of making it so.

Week 5 NFC Intra-conference Games

• Minnesota Vikings (2-2) at New York Giants (2-2)
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) at New Orleans Saints (3-1)

As mentioned we’re clearly rooting for the Vikings in New York so there is really only one true game this week past Thursday night’s Rams/Seahawks contest that merits serious thought. Funny how that works out.

The Buccaneers looked good last week, good in that they scored a lot of points against a Rams team that went to the Super Bowl last season. The Saints obviously beat the Cowboys last week and figure to be the better NFC South team, especially when Drew Brees comes back, so this all sort of comes down to how much you believe in the Bucs.

It’s likely that you don’t believe in them all too much or at least that you fear the Saints more. Root for Tampa Bay, they need something good to happen with the Rays down 0-2.

Official teams to root for as Cowboys fans

We’ve got a pretty easy week in the NFL this week as far as the interests of the Dallas Cowboys go so this list really isn’t that controversial. Thank goodness for that.

Make sure to channel all of your good thoughts and energy behind the causes of the following teams in Week 5:

• Dallas Cowboys
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Houston Texans
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Oakland Raiders
• New England Patriots
• New York Jets
• Cleveland Browns
• Minnesota Vikings
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Root for whoever you want in all-AFC games. Also root for your fantasy players. Cheers to a prosperous week!