The Most Likely Playoff Path

[xwalker]

1. At Tampa Bay
2. At Philadelphia
3. At San Francisco

No way we run the gauntlet. 50/50 chance we finally beat Tom Brady. But I don't see us being the Eagles in Philly if Hurts is healthy. The Cowboys will have played 3 straight road games by then and the Eagles would be playing at home with a week's worth of rest.

What do you see happening?

OT Lane Johnson and CB Maddox out indefinitely...

 

[erod]

Both teams look totally different today and headed in different directions.

Tampa has looked like that all year.

 

[Risen Star]

We will avoid the Eagles by losing to the Buccaneers.

 

[Cydios]

I'm not going to chalk up any of these. IMO, we're 7 point underdogs on all 3.

 

[Fmart322]

1. At Tampa Bay
2. At Philadelphia
3. At San Francisco

No way we run the gauntlet. 50/50 chance we finally beat Tom Brady. But I don't see us being the Eagles in Philly if Hurts is healthy. The Cowboys will have played 3 straight road games by then and the Eagles would be playing at home with a week's worth of rest.

What do you see happening?

Fortunately the Cowboys can rest certain players prior to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, from here on out the Cowboys will probably have 5 straight road games if they make it to the NFC championship game. Of course the next 2 road games aren't win or go home games. The next 3 are.
That's a very tall order.
Can it be done? Yes. Will the Cowboys be able to do it? Probably not.
The green bay and Jacksonville games are coming back to haunt us. They had no business losing those games and they are the reason we'll have everything on the road. Winning those 2 games and we're in 1st place right now.

 

[Miller]

I’m not in a position to guess! We are are like a crazy ex-girlfriend I’m enamored with at times and at other times scared to death. We could make a SB run or wet the bed vs TB. Would not be surprised at either

 

[Zman5]

SF is the only team that I might worry about because of their defense but if our defense returns to earlier form, I like our chances against the offense lead by Mr. Irrelevant.

 

[fivetwos]

We all forget SF is starting a rookie QB. Assuming he starts in the playoffs I expect the Brock Purdy magic to end just like Dak’s rookie run ended.

True, but I expect that guy to be some sort of hero going into January. Watch and see.

Also the coaching and rest of the roster is top of the line.

 

[aikemirv]

1. At Tampa Bay
2. At Philadelphia
3. At San Francisco

No way we run the gauntlet. 50/50 chance we finally beat Tom Brady. But I don't see us being the Eagles in Philly if Hurts is healthy. The Cowboys will have played 3 straight road games by then and the Eagles would be playing at home with a week's worth of rest.

What do you see happening?

That’s been the likely path for the last 4 weeks I think. Although I think Carolina is the hot team that may take it from Tampa

 

[Motorola]

What we want to see is a formidable team going to SF in round one.

If either the six or seven can pull an upset, it eliminates SF and we avoid Philly until the CCG.

I would have thought the best bet would have been Detroit, then last week happened.

Probably still the best bet to be able to pull that off. The Giants aren’t any good and Washington can’t get that done. Maybe Green Bay.

Green Bay would have to win their final two games while both Washington and Seattle lose their final two games for them to get the final playoff berth devoid of tiebreakers.
For the 6th postseason seed, Giants would have to lose their last two and Packers win their last two just like the Commanders and Seahawks.

 

[Bobhaze]

Here’s some hopeful situations. Somewhat long shots but it’s the NFL:

• SF has a great D for sure, but they’re playing with a rookie QB in Brock Purdy. He’s certainly played well but it is extremely difficult for a rookie 7th round pick at QB to maintain this level as teams get more tape on him. That’s a problem for the niners IMO.
• Filly is also good, but not great. At this point, if you can slow down their run game they are vulnerable. They have a very good pash rush and run defense. But I don’t think their secondary is that good. The e-girls are probably a tougher out than SF but they are far from daunting.
  
• If we can beat TB- and we should- it’s not out of the question for this Cowboys team to pull an upset in round two. We will see.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Bucs in the first round has been almost certain for a while. Outside of that, things can change. Minnesota is the team that can shake things up. They can win out and potentially jump Philly, or they can lose and drop behind San Fran. How that shakes out will determine the remaining rounds. Not to mention, don’t be surprised to see a 7 seed Green Bay beat a 2 seed Minnesota, which would also shake up the second round. This thread is kinda dumb. Get ready for Tampa, and then wait to see how things turn out.

 

[Creeper]

1. At Tampa Bay
2. At Philadelphia
3. At San Francisco

No way we run the gauntlet. 50/50 chance we finally beat Tom Brady. But I don't see us being the Eagles in Philly if Hurts is healthy. The Cowboys will have played 3 straight road games by then and the Eagles would be playing at home with a week's worth of rest.

What do you see happening?

We'll have to see who is back healthy and if anyone else gets hurt for both teams. But is we get Hankins and LVE back, I like our chances, Hurts or no Hurts.

 

[32BellyOption]

I’m expecting Brady to beat us again but hoping for the best.

 

[Fizziksman]

The first game this season wasn't even competitive, and Brady owns Dallas. There's a mental hurdle to overcome here.

But yes, Dallas should win easily on paper.

Brady played like **** in the opening. The Bucs defense is the problem since they have gone on record saying they know Kellen Moore's offensive tendencies.

 

[erod]

Brady played like **** in the opening. The Bucs defense is the problem since they have gone on record saying they know Kellen Moore's offensive tendencies.

Lol, so they know but nobody else does? Dak was all over the place with the ball, and Tampa ran all over our defense. Brady was Brady when he needed to be, as usual.

 

[fivetwos]

Here’s some hopeful situations. Somewhat long shots but it’s the NFL:

• SF has a great D for sure, but they’re playing with a rookie QB in Brock Purdy. He’s certainly played well but it is extremely difficult for a rookie 7th round pick at QB to maintain this level as teams get more tape on him. That’s a problem for the niners IMO.
• Filly is also good, but not great. At this point, if you can slow down their run game they are vulnerable. They have a very good pash rush and run defense. But I don’t think their secondary is that good. The e-girls are probably a tougher out than SF but they are far from daunting.
  
• If we can beat TB- and we should- it’s not out of the question for this Cowboys team to pull an upset in round two. We will see.

As I said weeks ago, it’s a shame a season like this can’t get us a division title and the home playoff games that go with it, because the conference is as weak as I’ve ever seen it.

If we won the East I’d consider us the NFC favorites, and usually this type of season would easily win our division.

Having to win likely all road games just to get there? Not likely.

 

[Reid1boys]

1. At Tampa Bay
2. At Philadelphia
3. At San Francisco

No way we run the gauntlet. 50/50 chance we finally beat Tom Brady. But I don't see us being the Eagles in Philly if Hurts is healthy. The Cowboys will have played 3 straight road games by then and the Eagles would be playing at home with a week's worth of rest.

What do you see happening?

Agree.....8m just not gonna wach anymore games because even though we can score 40 on the eagles, there is no way we can keep them from scoring 50 plus with that mvp hurts.

 

[john van brocklin]

1. At Tampa Bay
2. At Philadelphia
3. At San Francisco

No way we run the gauntlet. 50/50 chance we finally beat Tom Brady. But I don't see us being the Eagles in Philly if Hurts is healthy. The Cowboys will have played 3 straight road games by then and the Eagles would be playing at home with a week's worth of rest.

What do you see happening?

That's a tough stretch.
The Cowboys have been plagued by Inconsistency all season long.
They will need to play their A game and win the turnover battle to win these games.
Everything would have to line up perfectly for 3 straight games.
Have not seen the level of consistency to see that happening.