By beating Philadelphia 33-13 on Sunday night, the Cowboys elevated themselves into a tie at the top of the NFC East standings. Since Dallas has a better divisional record (4-1) compared to Philadelphia (3-1), they hold the tie-breaker and have overtaken the Eagles. They however do not control their own destiny. If both teams win out, Philadelphia would clinch the East. Think of the Cowboys as someone who’s in the driver’s seat of a Tesla, but the car is on auto-pilot. In this scenario, both teams would have the same overall record as well as identical tiebreakers, to a point.
With both teams having the same division record and winning percentage in common games, the next tie-breaker would compare the best win percentages in the NFC. That is where the Eagles would have the edge, kicking the Cowboys to the five-seed. This is where the Dallas loss to Arizona in week three rears its ugly head.
As confusing as that may be, playoff-clinching scenarios are just as complicated. While Cowboys fans want to win the East and the top seed in the NFC, Dallas must first accomplish their first goal, which is getting into the playoffs. While the easiest way to do that is to win your division, that answer may not come until the final week of the regular season. No matter, the Cowboys have a chance to clinch a playoff spot this weekend in Buffalo.