Dallas Cowboys: Winning the NFC East Would be Costly

It’s pretty clear the Dallas Cowboys could lose big by winning the NFC East

The Dallas Cowboys have had a really rough season, and that right there may be an understatement. What started as a hopeful season where the Cowboys could push for the NFC Championship game, has turned into a season of nightmares. Injuries, poor play, bad free agent acquisitions, and a new coaching staff without a full offseason has wreaked havoc and turned what could have been into something else.

However, that is until you look at the rest of the NFC East. The East has been historically bad, literally and figuratively. The Eagles have had injuries, but Carson Wentz has played awful. The Giants lost their most talented player and have been bad everywhere. The Redskins can’t figure out who their quarterback is, and it may not even matter.

So through ten weeks, the division is up for grabs and no one looks like they actually want to win.

If the Cowboys come back and win the division with six games, they would fall all the way to nineteenth or worse

Currently, the Cowboys are sitting third in the draft with Washington right behind them. The Giants are sitting in ninth. And only due to leading the division, the Eagles are the only NFCE team outside the top 10. Winning the division could be costly in the long run for all four teams. The Cowboys still have a chance at the NFCE, but while the Joneses are talking like they want it, maybe, they shouldn’t.

This isn’t advocating for intentionally losing games, but rather understanding what happens if you walk into the playoffs playing as this team has. It is conceivable the division winner could wind up with six wins (five is actually still possible if the Eagles go 5-10-1 with some other things happening) and enter the playoffs. Huge Yikes.

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Last season, teams that won six or fewer games were all in the top ten picks of the NFL draft. If the Cowboys come back and win the division with six games, they would fall all the way to nineteenth or worse. All because they make the playoffs, they fall behind all of the teams that did not make the playoffs, record doesn’t matter.

Think of it this way. The top eighteen teams in the draft are all the teams that do not make it playoffs at all. Nineteen through thirty-two go in order to what round they lose in and record for tiebreakers. So a twelve win team that loses in the Wildcard round would pick before a seven-win team that won their WIldcard game.

So while the Dallas Cowboys continue to talk about making the playoffs, it is important to understand what the cost could be if they make it and lose in the first round. To make it worthwhile the Cowboys would have to get a lot better, quickly. We have seen stranger things happen, but right now, winning the East could cost a lot more than it is worth.

• Published on 11/17/2020 at 13:30 PM
• Last updated at 11/17/2020 at 17:36 PM