Don’t Look Now but the Dallas Cowboys Are in the Driver’s Seat To Win the NFC East
Dallas Cowboys fans haven’t had too much fun watching their team struggle through the 2020 season. Injuries have decimated the roster, Mike McCarthy has been underwhelming in his first year, and the offense hasn’t been the same since Dak Prescott suffered his season-ending injury.
But at 3-7 through 10 games, the Cowboys are somehow in the driver’s seat to win the wretched NFC East this season. How is that even possible? Because it’s 2020, and nothing is impossible anymore.
The Cowboys upset the Vikings to improve to 3-7
Just when all hope seemed to be lost, the Cowboys reeled their fans back in with a 31-28 upset win against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Andy Dalton played hero late in the fourth quarter, as he connected with Dalton Schultz for the go-ahead touchdown with under two minutes left to seal the victory.
With the win, Dallas improved to 3-7 on the season. Somehow, the Cowboys are now only a half-game back of the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East. The Eagles lost to the Cleveland Browns Sunday to drop to 3-6-1, but the tie gives them a slight edge over the Cowboys through 10 games.
Philly seemed to have a stranglehold on the division after Dallas and Washington lost their starting quarterbacks and New York started 0-5, but two straight losses have opened the door for another team to swoop in and steal a playoff spot.
The Eagles are fraudulent favorites to win the division
The Eagles are 3-6-1 through 10 games this season. The Eagles are also in first place in the NFC East. Those two sentences are somehow both true in a year full of surprises.
Philadelphia looks like one of the worst teams in the NFL this year, and Carson Wentz likewise looks like one of the worst quarterbacks. Head coach Doug Pederson has already lost his Super Bowl magic from a few years ago, while Nick Foles is 800 miles away in Chicago.
The Eagles have lost two straight games to loosen their grip on first place in the NFC East, and things don’t get any easier from here. In the next four weeks, the Eagles play the Seahawks, Packers, Saints, and Cardinals. They finish the season with two division games against the Cowboys and Football Team. 5-10-1 might be the best-case scenario by the end of the season.
The Cowboys are in the driver’s seat to win the NFC East
The Cowboys haven’t shown much of a fight since Dak Prescott suffered his season-ending injury in early October, but they’re somehow within striking distance of a playoff spot in 2020.
That’s right. The 3-7 Cowboys are a half-game out of first place in the NFC East, and their remaining schedule gives them a massive leg up in the division. The Eagles could very well lose their next four games, all of which are against playoff teams. Meanwhile, Dallas only has one opponent left on its schedule with a winning record.
The Eagles have the fifth-hardest remaining schedule in the NFL, while the Cowboys have the second-easiest. Dallas also has three division games left on the schedule. If they can go at least 2-1 in those NFC East games and beat either the Ryan Finley-led Cincinnati Bengals or the Nick Mullens-led San Francisco 49ers, that would bring them to 6-10.
This season, 6-10 probably spells a playoff spot for the historically embarrassing NFC East. Even without their starting quarterback, the Cowboys should be the favorites to… *gulp*… host a playoff game in 2020.
