The Dallas Cowboys' playoff chances are on life support heading into the final three weeks of the regular season, but they're not completely dead just yet.
Facing their first elimination scenario of the season on Sunday, the Cowboys kept themselves in the fight for at least another week with a 30-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers, a game in which America's Team dominated on both sides of the football.
The Dallas defense stifled Bryce Young, sacking him six times, intercepting him twice, and forcing four total turnovers. Mike Zimmer's unit also held the Panthers to just 60 rushing yards, the second-fewest allowed by the Cowboys all season.
Offensively, the Cowboys had everything working. Cooper Rush completed 18 of 29 passes for 214 yards with a career-high three touchdowns, the first of which went to CeeDee Lamb, who made all sorts of history with a nine-catch, 116-yard performance.
The running game was on point as well, as Rico Dowdle notched his third consecutive 100-yard game, thus achieving a feat not seen in the NFL in a decade, rushing for a career-high 149 yards on 25 carries.
But while the win was impressive, it effectively only delayed the inevitable, as the Cowboys didn't get the kind of help they needed elsewhere as it pertains to the NFL playoff picture.
Updated NFC playoff picture and standings heading into Week 16
If the NFL Playoffs were to start tomorrow, here's what the NFC side of the bracket would look like.
- Detroit Lions (12-2, 1st NFC North)
- Philadelphia Eagles (12-2, 1st NFC East)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6, 1st NFC South)
- Los Angeles Rams (8-6, 1st NFC West)
- Minnesota Vikings (12-2, 2nd NFC North)
- Green Bay Packers (10-4, 3rd NFC North)
- Washington Commanders (9-5, 2nd NFC East)
The top six slots don't apply to the Cowboys. At 6-8, they obviously can't win the NFC East as they're six games back of the Philadelphia Eagles with three weeks to go, so that eliminates the top four.
And as they're six back of the Minnesota Vikings and four back of the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card race, that knocks out the fifth and sixth seeds as well.
The only chance Dallas has is to sneak into the No. 7 slot, which is currently held by the Washington Commanders, who improved to 9-5 on Sunday by surviving a late scare from the New Orleans Saints, ultimately hanging on for a 20-19 victory.
As such, Washington is up three on Dallas with three weeks to go, meaning the Cowboys would have to win out, which would include a Week 18 win over the Commanders, and have Dan Quinn & Co. lose their other two games to have a shot.
But it's not as if the Commanders are the only team the Cowboys have to worry about. Dallas currently sits in the No. 12 position in the NFC and would have to surpass the Seattle Seahawks (No. 8, 8-6), Atlanta Falcons (No. 9, 7-7), Arizona Cardinals (No. 10, 7-7), and San Francisco 49ers (No. 11, 6-8) before they get to Washington.
So, again, the Cowboys only delayed the inevitable with the win over the Panthers and may already be eliminated from contention by the time they suit up for their Sunday Night Football matchup with the Bucs.