The mood in Cowboys Nation is pretty ugly right now. After two bad losses to the Bucs and Packers, Dallas is 2-4 and looks about as lost on both sides of the ball as they have in 20 years. As such, many are already checking out of this season and thinking about next spring.
Still, 2026 is far from over. With 11 games to go and nobody running away with the NFC East, the Cowboys are in about as good a spot to win the division as anybody. For those who would still like to see something positive come of this season, we’ll stay focused on postseason goals until there’s just no reasonable case for it.
As you well know, Dallas has a huge task this Monday night in Philadelphia. Between division standings, tiebreaker potential, avoiding a three-game losing streak, and just general morale, so much is on the line.
In addition to beating the Eagles, what else could help the Cowboys from the Week 7 schedule?
NFC East teams
- Texans d. Giants
After a 0-4 start to the year, Houston has won two straight. Their last win was a solid home-field defense against the previously 4-1 Jaguars. Now they’ll host the Giants, who are coming off a loss to the Saints and, before that, a tie against Washington (that probably should’ve been a loss). Momentum favors the Texans, which is great for Dallas as they try to overtake the Giants for the NFC East lead.
The Commanders are on their bye week.
NFC vs. NFC
- Falcons d. 49ers
- Bucs d. Panthers
- Lions d. Packers
San Francisco is 6-0 and probably out of the Cowboys’ reach at this point, in terms of eventual NFC playoff seeding. We will likely have games soon where we’d prefer them to get the win and help us against teams more likely to threaten us. But Atlanta doesn’t seem like one of those teams.
While Tampa Bay has a head-to-head tiebreaker over Dallas, they’re going to have a tough time coming back to win the NFC South or even get into the wild card at 1-5. Carolina currently leads that division and is more likely to impact the Cowboys in January.
The Packers’ tiebreaker over the Cowboys is far more concerning, especially in a wild card scenario. They’re starting to surge with three straight wins, so it’d be good to see Detroit knock them down a peg.
NFC vs. AFC
- Patriots d. Bears
- Saints d. Steelers
- Colts d. Vikings
- Broncos d. Cardinals
- Raiders d. Rams
- Chiefs d. Seahawks
Lots of cross-conference action this week! We generally root for AFC teams in these games, unless there’s some nuanced reason to go the other way. Most of these games follow the standard logic.
If we were focusing more on the 2027 draft at this point, tonight’s game between the Patriots and Bears would go the other way. Dallas owns New England’s seventh-round pick, so their losses are our gains. But Chicago is 4-2 a very much a potential playoff threat, so the 2026 prospects outweigh that for now.
On the other hand, New Orleans doesn’t look like much of a threat in the NFC. And they play the Steelers, who owe Dallas a fourth-rounder next April. Pittsburgh losses are never hard to root for, especially when they benefit us,
AFC vs. AFC
Nothing to see here this week. The few all-AFC games have no tangible bearing on the Cowboys. Root with your hearts.