Cowboys playoff picture: Vikings loss on Sunday moves Cowboys closer to number one seed in NFC

The Dallas Cowboys flew fairly close to the sun on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Texans, but at the end of the day the performance went into the win column as opposed to the loss and that is the ultimate objective. There are undoubtedly things for the Cowboys to work on this week, but doing so coming off of a win is always the preferable option.

We discussed everything from Sunday’s victory on the latest episode of The Postgame on the Blogging The Boys podcast network. Make sure to subscribe to our network so you don’t miss any of our shows! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.

Sunday may have felt disappointing with how the Cowboys played but at the end of the day it was statistically a positive one. The Cowboys are closer to the number one seed in the NFC going to sleep on Sunday night than they were when they woke up on Sunday morning thanks to finally getting some help across the conference.

While the Arizona Cardinals have yet to play in Week 14, they are the only NFC squad left to take the field at the time of this writing and they aren’t in the mix as far as the NFC playoff picture right now anyway.

So in the grand scheme of things, Week 14 has come and gone it was a good one for the Dallas Cowboys.

The list of things that the Dallas Cowboys need to control their own destiny in the NFC East and for the number one seed is down to one

The Dallas Cowboys only need one more thing in order to control their own destiny within the division as well as for the number one seed in the NFC.

Prior to Sunday the Cowboys, needed a loss from the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles (aside from the one we are hoping Dallas gives them on Christmas Eve) to set them up to control their own destiny. This has been the case ever since the Cowboys beat the Vikings on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day and Minnesota finally lost. Thank you very much, Detroit Lions!

The Cowboys and Vikings are now both tied at 10-3 but with Dallas having beaten them they hold the tiebreaker should it come down to that. Unfortunately, the Eagles are still well ahead of the Cowboys in the NFC East and therefore Dallas is relegated to the top Wild Card spot at the moment.

Just to be clear, any Eagles loss outside of the one we need the Cowboys to give them works. Philadelphia visits the Chicago Bears (who will be coming off of their bye) next week and then hosts the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants after their game at AT&T Stadium to round out the regular season. Should they lose any of those non-Cowboys games, as well as to the Cowboys themselves, then assuming Dallas does not lose any other games Dallas would win the division and take the one seed as a result of having a better divisional record.

For now, though, the Eagles are sitting in control of their own destiny with regards to the playoffs and on Sunday actually officially clinched a playoff berth. Elsewhere in the conference other things that are a matter of preference worked out for the Cowboys, although there is some debate as to what you would rather have for the Cowboys down the road.

On Sunday the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost and the Carolina Panthers won which closed the gap in the NFC South (both the aforementioned Saints as well as the Atlanta Falcons are still in the mix). That division winner is very likely going to be the lowest-seeded division winner and therefore the Wild Card opponent for the Cowboys if they are unable to pass the Eagles within the East.

Philly had no issue with the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon and the Giants are actually winless in their last four outings although they did tie the Washington Commanders last week, and the two will meet next Sunday with the latter coming off of their bye.

Washington has the edge over New York as far as tiebreakers are concerned so the Giants have fallen all the way down to last place within the division; however the Seattle Seahawks were the team that lost to the Carolina Panthers so they kept the Giants in the playoff picture as of now. Interestingly, the tie between the Giants and Commanders is what’s keeping New York in over Seattle at the moment (assuming the Giants had lost as opposed to tying).

Through Week 14 the entire NFC East is all once again in the playoff field.