Rooting Guide for week 18

[DallasEast]

 

[RodeoJake]

I know this is not popular and I do not care.

For the Bengals to make the playoffs. They must win. Denver must lose.
Also Miami needs to lose. But that does not help Dallas. So that depends on what those other two teams do as well.
Denver has no bearing on us, and a Bengals win helps. If the Bengals are eliminated, then yes, Miami needs to win.

Also, I know it helps Dallas to lose. But it is just not in me to want that. Need to go out beating a rival with a win.
But if we lose, it will not be upsetting.

A Bugles fan? I never woulda thought it of you.

 

[CCBoy]

This leaves the run game as the last aspect of the offense that might actually be worth watching closely against the Commanders. Not only because it will be another featured game for Rico Dowdle, but because Dowdle can expect to receive handoffs from Trey Lance instead of Cooper Rush at some point. It was reported on Friday that the Cowboys’ third string QB is expected to play more than he has all season to close out the year. The Cowboys have once again seen enough from Rush to feel comfortable with him as Prescott’s primary backup, and now seemingly want to get some final looks at Lance - in case he has any future prospects in Dallas. Lance will be a free agent after the season, meaning the Cowboys would have to use this meaningless Commanders game as well as seven other pass attempts from earlier in the year to decide if bringing him back makes any sense.

With the combination of Lance’s mobility and ability to attack defenses on the edge and Dowdle’s quick burst running between the tackles, the Cowboys may find some answers here against an aggressive Dan Quinn lead Washington defense. The Commanders are coming off an overtime win at home against the Falcons where opposing quarterback Michael Penix and running back Bijan Robinson were able to keep the defense off balanced in a similar way. Robinson finished the game with 90 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. In the Cowboys’ previous win at the Commanders, Dowdle carried 19 times for 86 yards.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...rovements-2025-season-week-18-ezekiel-elliott

 

[Ranching]

It’s the final week of the season. If there’s ever a week to root for draft position when many teams are tanking, this is it.

We want to lose to Washington and stay at 7 wins, while rooting for the Colts to defeat the Jags and get to 8 wins.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we are currently sitting at pick 13, and the best we can do is the 12 slot.
The Cardinals are already below us in slot 14 with 7 wins and will stay behind us no matter what they do as long as we lose because they had a harder schedule than us.
The 49ers are in slot 11, and even if they win vs Arizona and get to 7 wins, they will still draft ahead of us as they had the easier schedule in 2024.

The Colts are ahead of us in slot 12 With 7 wins and a weaker schedule. The only way we jump into slot 12 is if the Colts beat Jacksonville on Sunday And we stay at 7 wins.

On the other hand, If we win and get to 8 wins, we could possibly drop all the way to slot 17 if the other teams tank as Miami, Atlanta, and Cinncy all have easier schedules. This would be a terrible week to win our final game. Hopefully Quinn wants to make up for our earlier victory.

You want to lose.....I want to beat the deadskins

 

[Flamma]

They were a different team when they played Dallas.

This is why the first 2 weeks are misleading in almost every season.

 

[Shannon1]

It’s the final week of the season. If there’s ever a week to root for draft position when many teams are tanking, this is it.

We want to lose to Washington and stay at 7 wins, while rooting for the Colts to defeat the Jags and get to 8 wins.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we are currently sitting at pick 13, and the best we can do is the 12 slot.
The Cardinals are already below us in slot 14 with 7 wins and will stay behind us no matter what they do as long as we lose because they had a harder schedule than us.
The 49ers are in slot 11, and even if they win vs Arizona and get to 7 wins, they will still draft ahead of us as they had the easier schedule in 2024.

The Colts are ahead of us in slot 12 With 7 wins and a weaker schedule. The only way we jump into slot 12 is if the Colts beat Jacksonville on Sunday And we stay at 7 wins.

On the other hand, If we win and get to 8 wins, we could possibly drop all the way to slot 17 if the other teams tank as Miami, Atlanta, and Cinncy all have easier schedules. This would be a terrible week to win our final game. Hopefully Quinn wants to make up for our earlier victory.

Will be a head of San Francisco if they win and we lose .

 

[rambo2]

This is why the first 2 weeks are misleading in almost every season.

Injuries pile up quickly.

 

[Chuck 54]

What am I missing with this one .. the 49ers SOS is currently .566 and Cowboys is currently .518.

If the 49ers win and the Cowboys lose, they would be tied, so shouldn't the Cowboys pick ahead of the 49ers in the situation?

Maybe the site I looked at had them ranked wrong. It had SF with the weaker schedule.
https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2024-nfl-strength-of-schedule-ranking-every-teams-slate

 

[rambo2]

You want to lose.....I want to beat the deadskins

I want to beat everybody next year.

 

[Ranching]

I want to beat everybody next year.

So, you wanna lose tomorrow, so we can go undefeated next year? We'll see how that works out

 

[rambo2]

So, you wanna lose tomorrow, so we can go undefeated next year? We'll see how that works out

Lol, of course you want the better players. Why wouldn't you?

 

[Reality]

Maybe the site I looked at had them ranked wrong. It had SF with the weaker schedule.
https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2024-nfl-strength-of-schedule-ranking-every-teams-slate

As I posted in a follow-up post, I think you are using the before-the-2024-season-started SoS standings since that article was last updated in May of 2024.

The draft order is based on the season that just happened right before the draft, which in this case is 2024 season, not the 2023 season.

I included a link to the 2024 draft standings as of January 2, 2025 in a follow-up post previously.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...os-patriots-titans-giants-browns/77359467007/

 

[big dog cowboy]

New Orleans is 5-11 and literally slaughtered us.

That was a way different team. WAY different.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I want to beat everybody next year.

That's what you said last year.

 

[Flamma]

That was a way different team. WAY different.

Things are easier in hindsight. IMO the Saints just played two bad teams to start the season. Then injuries piled up.

 

[john van brocklin]

It’s the final week of the season. If there’s ever a week to root for draft position when many teams are tanking, this is it.

We want to lose to Washington and stay at 7 wins, while rooting for the Colts to defeat the Jags and get to 8 wins.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we are currently sitting at pick 13, and the best we can do is the 12 slot.
The Cardinals are already below us in slot 14 with 7 wins and will stay behind us no matter what they do as long as we lose because they had a harder schedule than us.
The 49ers are in slot 11, and even if they win vs Arizona and get to 7 wins, they will still draft ahead of us as they had the easier schedule in 2024.

The Colts are ahead of us in slot 12 With 7 wins and a weaker schedule. The only way we jump into slot 12 is if the Colts beat Jacksonville on Sunday And we stay at 7 wins.

On the other hand, If we win and get to 8 wins, we could possibly drop all the way to slot 17 if the other teams tank as Miami, Atlanta, and Cinncy all have easier schedules. This would be a terrible week to win our final game. Hopefully Quinn wants to make up for our earlier victory.

We will screw up and beat the deadskins
Which will be a fitting way to end this dumpster fire of a season.

 

[RonWashington]

Look if Denver and Miami lose Sunday the Bengals at 9-8 thanks to Dallas blocked punt fiasco are in .

At the very least that one single play has Dallas playing for nothing Sunday except draft slot . This will be the week the Chiefs lay down or likely the Dolphins drill the horrible Jets and Bengals are out anyway .

I’ve said it all along if MM gets this wreck to 8-9 he’s back probably with a 3 year deal at lesst , the ghost of JG lives.

 

[Flamma]

Look if Denver and Miami lose Sunday the Bengals at 9-8 thanks to Dallas blocked punt fiasco are in .

At the very least that one single play has Dallas playing for nothing Sunday except draft slot . This will be the week the Chiefs lay down or likely the Dolphins drill the horrible Jets and Bengals are out anyway .

I’ve said it all along if MM gets this wreck to 8-9 he’s back probably with a 3 year deal at lesst , the ghost of JG lives.

The Bengals have zero chance at making the playoffs. It's a formality at this point. Denver isn't losing against all backups and practice squad players. That's why they are 10-11 point favorites. The question isn't whether they will win or not, but how much will they win by. Miami knows this. They're not even risking Tua. He's been ruled out of the game. Jets might even win that game.

 

[Creeper]

Just a thought but why use strength of schedule and not the normal tiebreaker rules they use for every other situation? Seems to me head-to-head competition should be the first tie-breaker.

My other thought is this is exactly the kind of game the Cowboys go out and win. If Washington plays their starters and Dallas plays Lance and Grier, and we still win, then I know the football gods are just against us right now.

 

[irishline]

Just a thought but why use strength of schedule and not the normal tiebreaker rules they use for every other situation? Seems to me head-to-head competition should be the first tie-breaker.

My other thought is this is exactly the kind of game the Cowboys go out and win. If Washington plays their starters and Dallas plays Lance and Grier, and we still win, then I know the football gods are just against us right now.

Head-to-head is used as a tie-breaker after strength of schedule (if they are the same SoS). There are times when more than 2 teams are tied, so head-to-head would not work. The NFL just decided to use SoS in all situations first to make it uniform.


https://operations.nfl.com/journey-to-the-nfl/the-nfl-draft/the-rules-of-the-draft/

In situations where teams finished the previous season with identical records, the determination of draft position is decided by strength of schedule — the aggregate winning percentage of a team’s opponents. The team that played the schedule with the lowest winning percentage will be awarded the higher pick.

If the teams have the same strength of schedule, division or conference tiebreakers are applied. If the divisional or conference tiebreakers are not applicable, or ties still exist between teams of different conferences, ties will be broken the following tie-breaking method:

1. Head-to-head, if applicable
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games (minimum of four)
3. Strength of victory in all games
4. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed in all games
5. Best net points in all games
6. Best net touchdowns in all games
7. Coin toss