So you're saying there's still a chance (barely): What it'll take for the Cowboys to make the playoffs

We’re getting into the home stretch of the 2024 NFL season and it has been a rough one for the Dallas Cowboys to say the least. After starting the year 1-0 pretty much nothing has gone Dallas’ way winning just two of the nine games that followed. Currently, the Cowboys occupy third place in the NFC East with a record of 3-7. Yet there is still a way for them to make a miraculous run to qualify for the playoffs.

Is it really possible?

Yes, unbelievably, there is still a slim chance the Cowboys will be on the field after Week 18. Slim is not an exaggeration. Dallas has about a one percent chance of making the postseason for a fourth consecutive year. With seven losses before Thanksgiving and seven games left on the schedule, the Cowboys will pretty much need to run the table to make it happen.

A game against the Washington Commanders this week and one more in Week 18 won’t make that an easy task. The Cowboys also have a game against the Eagles in Week 17 winning out will not be a walk in the park, especially with Dak Prescott out for the remainder of the season.

There isn’t even any guarantee the Cowboys will beat the Carolina Panthers who also hold the same record. We entered the season expecting the Panthers to be bad and surely Dallas had their Week 15 matchup checked off as a win. That’s now another game the Cowboys could lose during this debacle of a season.

Fall out if (when) it doesn’t

This is likely to happen sooner rather than later, especially with a visit to Washington on the horizon. At most, the Cowboys could potentially lose one more game and still make the playoffs, but they just have not shown a ton of fight this season, so it’s hard to imagine this team reeling off six or seven wins in a row.

It’s also hard to imagine head coach Mike McCarthy holding onto that title past January after such an abysmal campaign. If the Cowboys don’t win another game and finish 3-14, there’s no way Jerry Jones can run it back with the same exact crew. That goes for the coaching staff and players.

Obviously, Dallas’ key players like Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and some others will be back next season. But at positions like running back and the offensive line, there is plenty of room for upgrades. The same goes for the wide receiver position since no one besides Lamb has solidified their spot. Everyone at that position is expendable.

Lamb and Diggs’ questionable judgment in filming a music video immediately following Monday’s embarrassing loss to Houston is cringeworthy, but they are All-Pro talents so they aren’t going anywhere.

Jerry Jones

It feels like just about any and everything that could be said about Jones has already been put out into the universe. Yes, he’s stubborn, but he hasn’t been horrible at his jobs, which are the general manager and owner of the most valuable franchise in sports. You cannot say enough about what Jones has done on the business side and as the team’s GM he’s done well over the years, bringing in talent, especially via the NFL draft.

Where he’s failed over the last 29 years, has been bringing in the right coaches other than Bill Parcells who Jones ran off just when that team was coming into its own. Parcells left Dallas following the 2006 season and the next year Wade Phillips came in leading the Cowboys to a 13-3 record behind Tony Romo and Terrell Owens. If Parcells sticks around for that ’07 campaign Dallas may have gone on a much deeper playoff run.

What a shame how things have turned out since Jimmy Johnson for Jones. All because of ego and pride. Jones wants to prove so badly that he’s the brains behind the operation in Big D that he often allows it to cloud his judgment. It’s nothing new as we’re coming up on 29 years and counting since the Cowboys have even reached the NFC championship game. Seriously, after the way this season has gone, it’s time for Jerry to sit down with his “Braintrust” and reevaluate the way they do things in Dallas.