The 8 remaining games of the season, ranked by priority of importance

[Red Dragon]

Someone's probably going to say, "The most important game is the next one on the schedule," but that's one of those sayings that sounds good but isn't true. Some games are, objectively speaking, more important than others.


Here are the remaining 8 games on the schedule, ranked by importance:


1. Cowboys vs. Eagles.
Why it's the most important:
Divisional rival + division record + the fact that the Eagles are 3-5, the NFC East rival nearest to the Cowboys right now in win-loss standings.


2. Cowboys vs. Commanders.
Why it's important:
Divisional rival + division record + the fact that the Commanders are 2-5, the next NFC East rival below the Eagles in win-loss standings.



3. Cowboys vs. Giants.
Why it's important:
Divisional rival + division record.


4. Cowboys vs. Packers.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams + the Packers are an NFC team + they have a better win-loss record than the Bears at the moment.


5. Cowboys vs. Bears.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams + the Bears are an NFC team + they have a better win-loss record than the Vikings at the moment.


6. Cowboys vs. Vikings.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams + the Vikings are an NFC team.




7. Cowboys vs. Raiders.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams.




8. Cowboys vs. Saints.
Why it's the least important:

It may seem odd that a game against the Saints (an NFC team) is less important than a game against the Raiders (an AFC team,) but that is because the Raiders are a common opponent of all NFC East teams, while the Cowboys are the only NFC East team that will play the Saints this regular season.

 

[Corso]

Excellent.

Makes sense and puts games into perspective.

Thank you.

 

[honyock]

I'd probably put the Bears and Packers games a little higher, maybe both above the Commanders. Not for the tie-breaker reasons, but because the Cowboys have got to get off the schneid and over the hump against the good teams sometime in the second half. The Packers are a tall order with the state of our D, but it's at home, and the Bears maybe are borderline to call a good team, but its a road game which makes it tougher. I see both those games as really important to the teams confidence and belief that they can break through against tougher competition. I'd love to see it happen against the Saints, but oy, I'm afraid we're headed into a buzz saw down there.

Agree with you about Philly. Even though NY is currently in last place, I'm seeing them as a little more dangerous the second half to make a little noise than the Commanders, and we're coming off the bye in that game, which makes it important to start the last stretch on a positive. if we go W-L in the next two games, losing at NY and dropping below .500 would not be good.

 

[JustAGuy]

Doesn't conference record come before common opponents in tie breakers? I don't remember what the rules are specifically, but if that is the case then I'd switch the Saints and Raiders.

 

[Red Dragon]

Excellent.

Makes sense and puts games into perspective.

Thank you.

Thanks.

 

[KB1122]

I see it differently. I would say that Oakland and Minnesota are the most important. Without those two, I can't see us getting to a winning record. Green Bay is third, because we have to win at least one of the GB-Chic-NO triumvirate and that's the home game. Then the divisional games. Then Chic-NO.

 

[pugilist]

nice post, thanks for compiling all of the data and putting the list together

 

[Red Dragon]

I see it differently. I would say that Oakland and Minnesota are the most important. Without those two, I can't see us getting to a winning record. Green Bay is third, because we have to win at least one of the GB-Chic-NO triumvirate and that's the home game. Then the divisional games. Then Chic-NO.

I see where you are coming from, but what I mean more by "important" is which games carry the most weight. Think of it this way: If the Cowboys were to go 4-4 over the rest of the season, which four games would you want the Cowboys to have won? I think almost all of us would say, "The three remaining NFC East games and one of the NFC North games."

 

[fgoodwin]

By definition, the most important game is the next one. Nothing else matters.

 

[Red Dragon]

By definition, the most important game is the next one. Nothing else matters.

Games against NFC East divisional rivals are always more important than games against AFC opponents.

 

[mitchell2254]

Yeah.. I don't look that deep. A win is a win is a win. All I worry about is having more than the rest of the East.

 

[Red Dragon]

I'd probably put the Bears and Packers games a little higher, maybe both above the Commanders. Not for the tie-breaker reasons, but because the Cowboys have got to get off the schneid and over the hump against the good teams sometime in the second half. The Packers are a tall order with the state of our D, but it's at home, and the Bears maybe are borderline to call a good team, but its a road game which makes it tougher. I see both those games as really important to the teams confidence and belief that they can break through against tougher competition. I'd love to see it happen against the Saints, but oy, I'm afraid we're headed into a buzz saw down there.

Agree with you about Philly. Even though NY is currently in last place, I'm seeing them as a little more dangerous the second half to make a little noise than the Commanders, and we're coming off the bye in that game, which makes it important to start the last stretch on a positive. if we go W-L in the next two games, losing at NY and dropping below .500 would not be good.

From a psychological perspective, you may be absolutely right. My thread only took tiebreakers and win-loss records into account, not psychological "momentum" or anything like that.

 

[Red Dragon]

Yeah.. I don't look that deep. A win is a win is a win. All I worry about is having more than the rest of the East.

Depending on which games the Cowboys win, they might not need to have one more than the rest of the East.

 

[fgoodwin]

Depending on which games the Cowboys win, they might not need to have one more than the rest of the East.

Conversely, if they DO win more games than the rest of the East, it doesn't matter WHICH games they win. Better to go for the sure thing than count on tie breakers.

 

[Red Dragon]

Conversely, if they DO win more games than the rest of the East, it doesn't matter WHICH games they win. Better to go for the sure thing than count on tie breakers.

Well, clearly, yes. Go for both at the same time. But the divisional games are the most important ones to win.

 

[cowboys1981]

I would flip flop Oakland to the bottom. All conference games are important. Other than that, the order the OP has looks good!!!

 

[Red Dragon]

If the Giants start winning many of their remaining games (which would not surprise me in the least,) then the Cowboys vs. Giants and Cowboys vs. Eagles games could suddenly flip in order of importance.

 

[theSHOW]

I bet this fact is true. If the Cowboys win the three division games remaining and lose all five of the additional games on the schedule the Boys will win the division.

 

[visionary]

Someone's probably going to say, "The most important game is the next one on the schedule," but that's one of those sayings that sounds good but isn't true. Some games are, objectively speaking, more important than others.


Here are the remaining 8 games on the schedule, ranked by importance:


1. Cowboys vs. Eagles.
Why it's the most important:
Divisional rival + division record + the fact that the Eagles are 3-5, the NFC East rival nearest to the Cowboys right now in win-loss standings.


2. Cowboys vs. Commanders.
Why it's important:
Divisional rival + division record + the fact that the Commanders are 2-5, the next NFC East rival below the Eagles in win-loss standings.



3. Cowboys vs. Giants.
Why it's important:
Divisional rival + division record.


4. Cowboys vs. Packers.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams + the Packers are an NFC team + they have a better win-loss record than the Bears at the moment.

5. Cowboys vs. Bears.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams + the Bears are an NFC team + they have a better win-loss record than the Vikings at the moment.


6. Cowboys vs. Vikings.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams + the Vikings are an NFC team.




7. Cowboys vs. Raiders.
Why it's important:
Common opponent of all NFC East teams.




8. Cowboys vs. Saints.
Why it's the least important:

It may seem odd that a game against the Saints (an NFC team) is less important than a game against the Raiders (an AFC team,) but that is because the Raiders are a common opponent of all NFC East teams, while the Cowboys are the only NFC East team that will play the Saints this regular season.

Good post
Thanx for the info

 

[Red Dragon]

I bet this fact is true. If the Cowboys win the three division games remaining and lose all five of the additional games on the schedule the Boys will win the division.

I would think that too. Cowboys would be 7-9 but own the head-to-head tiebreaker over every single NFC East rival.

The Eagles would have to go 5-2 over their remaining non-Cowboys games in order to overtake the Cowboys.
.
The Commanders would have to go 6-2 over their remaining non-Cowboys games in order to overtake the Cowboys.

The Giants would have to go 6-1 over their remaining non-Cowboys games in order to overtake the Cowboys.