How the Cowboys can still win the NFC East

There is still a path for the Cowboys to win the NFC East.

The Dallas Cowboys kept their season alive today with a convincing 30-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. One win over a bad team ordinarily wouldn’t be enough to make a dent in the playoff race for a now 4-9 team, but the 2020 NFC East is not your typical NFL division.

The Cowboys are now one game behind the New York Giants after they fell to Arizona while the Washington Football Team and the Philadelphia Eagles are still in play. Let’s take a look at what has to happen for the Cowboys to walk away as NFC East champions.

The Cowboys have to win out

This is fairly obvious, but the Cowboys need to find a way to win out, especially since they would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker to Washington. Going 3-0 against San Francisco, the Eagles and the Giants is doable for Dallas, which would bring them to 7-9.

The Giants have to lose at least two games

If Dallas loses to the Giants they would be eliminated. If the two teams finish with identical 7-9 records Dallas loses the tiebreaker on common games (5-9 against a 7-7 mark for the Giants). This makes it a must for the Cowboys to finish ahead of the Giants in the division.

Washington has to lose at least three of its final four games

The Football Team swept Dallas head-to-head so they would break any tie with the Cowboys. Dallas would have to hope that Washington loses at least three times against San Francisco, Seattle, Carolina and Philadelphia in order to pass them in the standings.

Philadelphia isn’t a big factor except for helping beat Washington

The Cowboys can’t fall behind the Eagles if they win out since one of their wins would come over Philadelphia. The problem that Philadelphia can cause is by losing to Washington in Week 17, which would be a huge issue for the Cowboys since they lose that head-to-head tiebreaker.

The bottom line

Dallas simply has to get to 7-9 and hope no one is up there with them. The Giants have a good chance to fall out of it due to a tough schedule but Washington is the bigger concern due to their easier schedule and head-to-head sweep over the Cowboys. Oddsmakers would likely make Washington the NFC East favorites at the moment but there is still a path for Dallas to get to the postseason and host a playoff game, potentially against the NFC West’s runner-up.