The goal of almost every NFL team is to win the Super Bowl each year. Sure, there are a handful of teams that enter a season on a rebuild trajectory, but by and large every team wants to end of representing their conference in The Big Game. For years, the easiest path to the Super Bowl is to host the NFC Championship Game, and the easiest way to do that is to finish the regular season with your respective conference’s best record.
Things have gone woefully awry for the 2024 Dallas Cowboys as they sit with a 3-7 record through 11 weeks. And with the Washington Commanders sitting at 7-4 entering their Week 12 battle, Dallas is in danger of being eliminated from that top regular season objective. Everyone knows they aren’t going anywhere this year, but an officially elimination scenario is now on the table.
There are five scenarios where the Cowboys can be eliminated from contention for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
- Dallas loses to Washington
- Dallas and Washington tie, while the Detroit Lions win
- Dallas and Washington tie, Detroit and Indianapolis tie, Minnesota wins
- DAL/WAS tie, Minnesota wins, Green Bay wins
- DAL/WAS tie, Minnesota wins, Green Bay ties
Any of the above five scenarios means that Dallas starts losing paths to the playoffs as early as Week 12.