Dallas Cowboys playoff picture: Losses by Cardinals and Buccaneers vault Cowboys to number two seed

It is often said that the NFL is a week-to-week league. We seem to be reminded of that after every round of games this year. Sunday was a Dallas Cowboys win which we are all grateful for, but it also brought some interesting results across the rest of the league as everyone is now officially back from bye.

While the week will last into Tuesday there were some notable results on Sunday that had nothing to do with the Cowboys that ultimately had everything to do with the Cowboys. As Dallas picked up its 10th win of the season the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both lost, keeping them at 10 wins on the season which has vaulted America’s Team to the second overall seed at present moment.

NFC Division Leaders through Week 15

1. Green Bay Packers (11-3)
2. Dallas Cowboys (10-4)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-4)
4. Arizona Cardinals (10-4)

While the Buccaneers do have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cowboys that only comes into play if there is a tie to break between two teams. As you can see Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Arizona are all tied at 10-4 (so a total of three teams) which means the tiebreaker becomes conference record and the Cowboys have both the Buccaneers and Cardinals beat.

Both the Cowboys and Buccaneers have what look to be winnable games next week as Dallas will host Washington (and they opened as a 10-point favorite) and Tampa Bay will visit Carolina; however, the Packers and Cardinals have some tougher contest ahead as Green Bay will host Cleveland and Arizona will host the surging Indianapolis Colts.

Hopefully the Cowboys have the same fortune next week as they did in Week 15. They still get to play the Cardinals themselves two weeks from now so they can make an impact in that way as well. Although for what it’s worth, if Dallas wins out (which would obviously involve beating the Cardinals) and Tampa Bay does too, then the Cowboys will actually fall to the three seed because Arizona would drop from the three-way tie.

In order for the Cowboys to finish with the two seed they have to finish with a better record than Tampa Bay which means we need at least one more Buccaneers loss. Things also become interesting if the Green Bay Packers lose again or if the Los Angeles Rams can enter the equation and make it a three-way tie. The point is, there is a lot left to happen and the Cowboys are very much in the mix for a top seed.

Enjoy the two seed vibes for now. It is a good week.