The Dallas Cowboys won in Week 10 and did so with authority. More often than not this season they have controlled what they can control as evidenced by their 7-2 record.
When it comes to playoffs in the NFL you obviously have to take care of your own responsibilities, but oftentimes you need help around you. The Cowboys should win the NFC East, but the goals have grown well beyond that.
The Cowboys need to have the highest possible seed in the playoffs and more than anything, as we have been saying for months now, they need to avoid the four seed so that they do not play whichever team does not win the NFC West (who will be the likely five seed and therefore opponent for the four in the Wildcard Round).
This is why Dallas losing last week against the Broncos was so frustrating. Contending teams in the NFC (Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams) both lost in Week 9 so picking up ground on them would have been ideal. Fortunately for the Cowboys the weirdness of the NFL continued to unfold just one week later as both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals lost on Sunday.
It could be argued that the more valuable loss for Dallas’ competitors was the one by Tampa Bay on Sunday. The Buccaneers lost - shockingly - to the Washington Football Team of all units, but what is valuable about this is that they are now one full loss behind the Cowboys.
Arizona fell at the hands of the Carolina Panthers which was perhaps a little bit more understandable. They are huge losses that give the Cowboys better odds to be one of the top three seeds in the NFC come playoff time.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys could not pick up help from the Seattle Seahawks on the afternoon. It would have been nice for the Green Bay Packers to also drop another loss, but the Packers did not exactly look great which would suggest that they are not as formidable of a foe as national narratives would suggest.
As a cherry on top of things, Dallas also saw wins from Miami and Indianapolis this week which will impact the draft position of the Philadelphia Eagles come 2022. Given that Philly won over the Denver Broncos, all of their top draft stock for next year suffered in Week 10.
NFC Playoff Picture through Sunday of Week 10:
- Green Bay Packers (8-2)
- Arizona Cardinals (8-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (7-2)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3)
- Los Angeles Rams (7-2)
- New Orleans Saints (5-4)
- Carolina Panthers (5-5)
If the playoffs started today (they don’t), the Cowboys would host the New Orleans Saints in the Wildcard Round, successfully avoiding the Los Angeles Rams who would have to play the reigning world champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LA beat TB earlier this season).
Speaking of the Rams, they are the last team that we are rooting to see a loss from and play on Monday night. Hopefully the San Francisco 49ers can get it done.
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