By Jerry Trotta
So, embracing the tank didn’t last very long.
Just two weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys seemed primed to land a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Then, they dominated Dan Quinn’s Commanders and followed that with a convincing victory on Thanksgiving over the Giants.
The Cowboys will continue sliding in the draft order so long as they keep winning games. It is obvious that Dallas will give maximum effort every week. That is only half the battle, but it says a lot they are still playing for Mike McCarthy in the face of immense adversity.
Micah Parsons is adamant that the team can make a run and has backed up his talk by being the best defensive player in the NFL since returning from injury. If Parsons dominates, Dallas will always have a chance.
Even the great Jimmy Johnson thinks his former team has what it takes to finish the season strong. That doesn’t mean Johnson has fully bought in to the turnaround, however.
Jimmy Johnson says quiet part out loud about Cowboys’ two-game winning streak
“I’m just saying they’re gonna get on a run,” Johnson said on FOX’s Thanksgiving pregame show. “They’re gonna win today (versus the Giants), they’re gonna win next week, they’re gonna win the week after that, they’re gonna get on a run and they’re gonna have a little bit of false hope.”
Johnson is unfortunately dead-on with his prediction.
Even if the Cowboys win their next two games – Monday night vs. the Bengals and at the Panthers in Week 15 – that would bring them to 7-7. Their remaining three games after that are no walk in the park. They have the surging Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, followed by the Eagles on the road and they finish with the Commanders at home.
It is more likely than not that Philadelphia and Washington will need those games. The former is in contention for the No. 1 seed, while the latter has a wavering grip on the third Wild Card spot in the NFC.
In fairness, the Cowboys’ defense has started to find a groove and is getting healthier. Rico Dowdle has breathed new life into the running game and Cooper Rush has looked more comfortable the last two weeks. He’s even started pushing the ball downfield.
If Dallas follows that formula, they can beat the Bengals and they most certainly can dispose of Carolina.
But as Johnson implied, the Cowboys have serious ground to make up and need teams such as the Commanders, Falcons, Buccaneers, Seahawks, Cardinals Rams and 49ers to flounder down the stretch. That’s seven teams, folks. It’s why the latest predictions give them a 3% chance to make the playoffs.
Let’s not forget they nearly had a historic choke against Washington and defeated Drew Lock and the Giants by one score.
That isn’t to say fans should give up hope. Be hopeful and thankful that the final five games have some juice. Just don’t give yourself false hope.
When the Dallas Cowboys dropped to 3-7 with a loss on Monday Night Football to the Houston Texans to close out Week 11, which marked their fifth straight defeat, the chances of America’s Team making the NFL Playoffs for a fourth consecutive year were less than one percent.
But after improving to 4-7 with a Week 12 win over Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders and then to 5-7 with a victory over the New York Giants on Thanksgiving Day, the Cowboys saw their postseason odds improve.
Sure, it wasn’t by much, but Dallas is still technically in the mix heading into another Monday-nighter in Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
There’s no shot of the Cowboys winning the NFC East, as that would involve a monumental collapse from the Philadelphia Eagles, who improved to 10-2 on Sunday with a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
So, Dallas would need to win out and have Philly lose every game the rest of the way, which just isn’t happening. It’s not impossible, of course, but the likelihood is low. Plus, the Cowboys would also need several losses from the Commanders, who upped their record to 8-5 with a Week 13 win over the Tennessee Titans.
But they’ll need some losses from Washington as it pertains to the wild-card race as well, which is where our focus will be as we take a look at where the Cowboys stand in the NFL playoff picture.
While the Cowboys and Niners hold the same 5-7 record, San Francisco wins the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head win over Dallas in Week 8.
Is a playoff berth likely? Probably not. But if the Cowboys can beat Cincy on Monday to get within two games of Washington, whom they’ve already beaten, things get a lot more interesting. They’ve got a Week 16 date with the Bucs in Dallas, which could now end up meaning something, and all these NFC West teams ahead of them have plenty of upcoming games with one another, all of which could go either way.
Again, it’s a long shot, but the Cowboys aren’t out of this thing just yet, and their Week 18 contest with the Commanders has an outside shot at being a win-and-in ballgame.
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Jimmy Johnson says quiet part out loud about Cowboys’ winning streak Jimmy Johnson always calls it like it is.
So, embracing the tank didn’t last very long.
Just two weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys seemed primed to land a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Then, they dominated Dan Quinn’s Commanders and followed that with a convincing victory on Thanksgiving over the Giants.
The Cowboys will continue sliding in the draft order so long as they keep winning games. It is obvious that Dallas will give maximum effort every week. That is only half the battle, but it says a lot they are still playing for Mike McCarthy in the face of immense adversity.
Micah Parsons is adamant that the team can make a run and has backed up his talk by being the best defensive player in the NFL since returning from injury. If Parsons dominates, Dallas will always have a chance.
Even the great Jimmy Johnson thinks his former team has what it takes to finish the season strong. That doesn’t mean Johnson has fully bought in to the turnaround, however.
Jimmy Johnson says quiet part out loud about Cowboys’ two-game winning streak
“I’m just saying they’re gonna get on a run,” Johnson said on FOX’s Thanksgiving pregame show. “They’re gonna win today (versus the Giants), they’re gonna win next week, they’re gonna win the week after that, they’re gonna get on a run and they’re gonna have a little bit of false hope.”
Johnson is unfortunately dead-on with his prediction.
Even if the Cowboys win their next two games – Monday night vs. the Bengals and at the Panthers in Week 15 – that would bring them to 7-7. Their remaining three games after that are no walk in the park. They have the surging Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, followed by the Eagles on the road and they finish with the Commanders at home.
It is more likely than not that Philadelphia and Washington will need those games. The former is in contention for the No. 1 seed, while the latter has a wavering grip on the third Wild Card spot in the NFC.
In fairness, the Cowboys’ defense has started to find a groove and is getting healthier. Rico Dowdle has breathed new life into the running game and Cooper Rush has looked more comfortable the last two weeks. He’s even started pushing the ball downfield.
If Dallas follows that formula, they can beat the Bengals and they most certainly can dispose of Carolina.
But as Johnson implied, the Cowboys have serious ground to make up and need teams such as the Commanders, Falcons, Buccaneers, Seahawks, Cardinals Rams and 49ers to flounder down the stretch. That’s seven teams, folks. It’s why the latest predictions give them a 3% chance to make the playoffs.
Let’s not forget they nearly had a historic choke against Washington and defeated Drew Lock and the Giants by one score.
That isn’t to say fans should give up hope. Be hopeful and thankful that the final five games have some juice. Just don’t give yourself false hope.
When the Dallas Cowboys dropped to 3-7 with a loss on Monday Night Football to the Houston Texans to close out Week 11, which marked their fifth straight defeat, the chances of America’s Team making the NFL Playoffs for a fourth consecutive year were less than one percent.
But after improving to 4-7 with a Week 12 win over Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders and then to 5-7 with a victory over the New York Giants on Thanksgiving Day, the Cowboys saw their postseason odds improve.
Sure, it wasn’t by much, but Dallas is still technically in the mix heading into another Monday-nighter in Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
There’s no shot of the Cowboys winning the NFC East, as that would involve a monumental collapse from the Philadelphia Eagles, who improved to 10-2 on Sunday with a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
So, Dallas would need to win out and have Philly lose every game the rest of the way, which just isn’t happening. It’s not impossible, of course, but the likelihood is low. Plus, the Cowboys would also need several losses from the Commanders, who upped their record to 8-5 with a Week 13 win over the Tennessee Titans.
But they’ll need some losses from Washington as it pertains to the wild-card race as well, which is where our focus will be as we take a look at where the Cowboys stand in the NFL playoff picture.
While the Cowboys and Niners hold the same 5-7 record, San Francisco wins the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head win over Dallas in Week 8.
Is a playoff berth likely? Probably not. But if the Cowboys can beat Cincy on Monday to get within two games of Washington, whom they’ve already beaten, things get a lot more interesting. They’ve got a Week 16 date with the Bucs in Dallas, which could now end up meaning something, and all these NFC West teams ahead of them have plenty of upcoming games with one another, all of which could go either way.
Again, it’s a long shot, but the Cowboys aren’t out of this thing just yet, and their Week 18 contest with the Commanders has an outside shot at being a win-and-in ballgame.
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