It’s not a bye week, it’s just been forever since they last played a game. The Dallas Cowboys haven’t hit the field since Thanksgiving, and in all honesty the week they experienced then was more than enough to deserve an extended break. Following an enthralling victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, the club had their short week of preparation for the Washington Football Team disrupted by the tragic loss of strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul. Paul collapsed at team facilities and passed away the following evening, less than 24 hours before the club’s next game.
Dallas lost that contest to drop to 3-8, and was supposed to turn around and face the Baltimore Ravens this past Thursday, but a COVID outbreak pushed their Turkey Day game back to Wednesday, shifting the Cowboys-Ravens tilt to this coming Tuesday. It will be 12 days in between games for Dallas and again, they likely needed the mental break to start to process their loss. Other teams will have played two games by time Dallas hits the field and as such, there’s a lot of draft positioning that will have happened in the meantime.
Dallas isn’t out of the playoff race. They sit just a game behind New York and Washington for first place. In fact, it’s conceivable the club could lose out until Week 16 and still win the division.
Let me further explain (make it worse)…
I just feasibly playoff machined Dallas to an NFCE championship at 5-11 with them LOSING THE NEXT THREE WEEKS.
— KD Drummond (@KDDrummondNFL) November 29, 2020
If you’re interested in the Cowboys making the playoffs, your rooting interests are easy to discern in Week 13.
Root for the Green Bay Packers to continue the Eagles’ slide towards 3-10-1 with a home-field defense. Root for the Seattle Seahawks to continue their quest for the No. 1 NFC seed by taking down the traveling Giants. Root for the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers to continue their streak with a Monday afternoon home win over Washington.
Three likely outcomes. Again, read the tweet above.
For those who are more interested in Dallas’ draft plans improving, here’s the Week 13 Rooting Guide of who can help them the most.