Happy #VictoryPoloMonday, Inside The Star Family!
This feels weird because the Dallas Cowboys didn’t play a game on the Sunday of Week 13, but they were nevertheless victorious. In case you haven’t heard – the Dallas Cowboys clinched a playoff berth on Sunday!
It’s a ridiculously awesome life when the calendar reads December 5th, but your ticket to the dance has already been purchased. What about our suit, though? We need to go get measured. We also need to look into getting that limo to get us to this dance… we need to discuss all the other potential perks that come with being a playoff team!
When November began I wrote here at Inside The Star that the Dallas Cowboys would be in an NFC East win-and-clinch situation entering the New York Giants game on December 11th. Here we are, a playoff berth in hand, and we want more.
Last week we detailed all the playoff-clinching scenarios for you, and that’s why we’re here today… It’s time for an update! The most relevant non-Cowboys team as far as the NFC East goes is the New York Giants, and the most-watched teams across the conference for our sakes are the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions.
The Cowboys have opportunities to clinch both a First-Round Bye AND Home-Field Advantage this season, it’s a wonderful world. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee (I like mine with two sugars and one cream, please), and start planning.
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How The Cowboys Can Clinch The NFC East
This is pretty simple at this point, but it’s fun to talk about how dominating we are so we’ll do it briefly. The Cowboys have a 3-win lead on the next closest division rival, the New York Giants. In order to win the NFC East the Cowboys need:
- A Win In New York On Sunday: A win on Sunday would give the Cowboys 12 victories and hold the Giants at 8. There are only three left afterwards. Yay math.
- IF The Giants Win On Sunday: The Cowboys have more room for error concerning Sunday’s game in New York thanks to the Steelers beating the Giants this past Sunday. If the G-Men managed to sweep Dallas, the Cowboys could still clinch the NFC East fairly easily. They’d simply need to win one game, any game, and have the Giants lose one.
At this point the Giants need a miracle to win the NFC East. The only way they could is if the Cowboys only win one game from here on out, that game not being the one in New York, and the Giants would have to win out. Buh-bye.
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How The Cowboys Can Clinch A First-Round Bye
It’s Christmas time so I hear those sleigh bells jingling and ring-ting-ting-a-ling, but I want to enjoy Christmas with the peace of mind that my Cowboys are going to get a week of rest at the culmination of the regular season. Here are the ways the Cowboys can secure a First-Round Bye:
- Win In New York On Sunday + Detroit OR Seattle Loss (Any Loss): It goes without saying that the Cowboys have to win the division in order to get a bye, but in case you didn’t know there you are. A NYG win would net the division and take care of that, and a loss by Detroit or Seattle would mean that whoever lost stayed at 8 wins while the Cowboys coasted to 12 with only three to go. If the Detroit or Seattle loss we need came a week later, that’d be fine. It would mean that whoever did lose that game (Detroit or Seattle) would not mathematically be able to hit 12 wins, and since the Cowboys would already have 12 all would be taken care of.
- Win The Next Two Games AKA The Magic 13: The Cowboys are sitting on 11 wins as we speak, two more would give them The Magic 13. This number is magical because no other team in the NFC can achieve it. Should the Cowboys win their next two games they’ll have secured the NFC East and a mark that is literally impossible for anyone else to reach.
Technically speaking the Cowboys could still miss out on a First-Round Bye if they lost out and both Seattle and Detroit won out. Obviously this is very unlikely for a squad that’s won 11 games in a row, so it seems like those two teams will have to fight each other for the other bye.
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How The Cowboys Can Clinch Home-Field Advantage
Last week someone told me that we were getting ahead of ourselves talking about something like Home-Field Advantage so early.
When you have a playoff spot locked and loaded on December 5th, you can look wherever you want. The Cowboys have earned the right to look past some teams because we’re amazing and they’re not (those are the spark notes, sorry). Seriously though, it is not just possible but likely that the road to Super Bowl LI in Houston will also run in the state of Texas. Here’s how the Cowboys can lock up Home-Field Advantage:
- Win In New York On Sunday + Detroit AND Seattle Loss (Any Loss): This logic is easy to understand. A NYG win gives us the NFC East and 12 on the season, and losses by both the Lions and Seahawks keeps them at 8 with three to go. We’d be the top dog. Say the Lions (host Chicago) and Seahawks (visit Packers) both win on Sunday… no biggie. Both of those teams would have to win out in order to reach 12, if they both stumble even just once apiece then it’s over.
- Win In New York On Sunday + 1 More Win AKA The Magic 13: By now you’ve read me say a win in New York gives us the division, yay, but one more win might be necessary. Say the Lions and Seahawks actually did each win out (that would mean the Lions beat the Cowboys on Monday Night Football in Week 16, by the way). Then Dallas would have to beat either the Buccaneers (this game has been flexed to Sunday Night Football, by the way) or Eagles to give them 13 wins – no one else can reach 13.
It’s pretty unlikely, but it is possible that when the Cowboys kick off in New York that they will be playing for: The NFC East, a First-Round Bye, and Home-Field Advantage. This is the scenario that sees Detroit and Seattle both losing in Week 14, but again it is unlikely. Either way the Cowboys are in a position where they have some serious control.
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What To Root For In Week 14 For The Cowboys Sake
By now you’re a pro when it comes to what the Cowboys need to clinch this, that, and the other… but what about something else? There’s always something else!
If you’re looking really far down the road then you’re already trying to organize who you want the Cowboys to be in the playoffs with. I’ve said many a time on OchoLive that I’m afraid of the Redskins (even though they lost to the Cardinals), but who are you afraid of? The current NFC Playoff Landscape has Dallas, Seattle, Detroit, and Atlanta as the division winners plus the Giants and Bucs as the wildcard teams. I like that mix of teams.
The Packers and Vikings technically still have life, but I’ve already mentally disregarded them. The only team that’s on the outside-looking-in that is still relevant to me is in fact Washington. This can get spicy in the NFC South if Atlanta decides to drop a few and we could see Tampa Bay actually win it, Washington take the Wild Card back, and Atlanta drop out altogether. That trifecta is going to be fun to watch, but if you like the way things are right now here’s what you need to root for in Week 14:
#Cowboys Week 14 Guide:
▪️ Dallas beat NYG ⬜️
▪️ Chicago beat DET ⬜️
▪️ Green Bay beat SEA ⬜️
▪️ Philly beat WASH ⬜️
▪️ Tampa Bay beat NO ⬜️— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) December 5, 2016
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It was just over a month ago that we all got together here at Inside The Star and agreed that the Dallas Cowboys would be in division-clinching position on Sunday, December 11th.
Let’s keep this party going. Huzzah.
How likely do you think any of these are? Let us know! Comment below, Email me at RJ.Ochoa@SlantSports.com, or Tweet to me at @RJOchoa!
