A Dallas Cowboys fans’ guide for who to root for in December
By Tyrone Starr
After a Thursday night win, the Dallas Cowboys kept their faint playoff hopes alive. Here’s a guide to how fans should root everyone else in December.
With the 2017 season on the line, the Dallas Cowboys found a way to survive.
A loss would have put the proverbial fork in them. Instead, the defense played inspired football while the offense looked a little more Cowboy-esque. As a result, Dallas swept a division rival and lives to play for something for another week.
Currently, the Cowboys sit at ninth in the NFC with only six spots available for postseason play. With the possibility of winning the division all but dead, the focus is solely on a wild card berth.
Heading into today, Carolina has the first wild card spot at 8-3. They are tied with fellow NFC South mates in the New Orleans Saints who lead the division on tiebreakers. The final wild card spot is held by yet another NFC South team in the Atlanta Falcons at 7-4.
Also ahead of the Cowboys are the Seattle Seahawks at 7-4 and the Detroit Lions at 6-5.
As you can see, the Dallas Cowboys have some work to do in order to get a chance at January football. While it’s not impossible, one particular entity does not believe in the Cowboys long odds to make this happen.
Recently, Bill Barnwell wrote an article on ESPN predicting the odds for all eleven teams in the hunt for a playoff spot. The Cowboys, according to him, have just a 1.6% chance of getting one of the two wild card spots.
His reasoning is largely based on who is not available to this team currently. With Ezekiel Elliott missing on offense and Sean Lee‘s availability in question, the task becomes incredibly difficult. The good news for Dallas is that Lee is supposedly ready to return next week. Two games later, Elliott returns as well.
Will these returns be enough? Let’s take a look at what the Dallas Cowboys have to do as well as how you should be cheering for others in December.