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The Dallas Cowboys have had a really strong 2022 campaign. Despite being without Dak Prescott for a five-game stretch towards the beginning of the season after he suffered an injury to his thumb on his throwing hand, the Cowboys have never wavered as one of the strongest teams in the NFC.
Even then, the Cowboys may end up with one of the lower playoff seeds in their conference. That's because the 11-4 Cowboys have the misfortune of playing in the same division as the Philadelphia Eagles, who just so happen to have the best record in the NFL at 13-2. As a result, Dallas is seemingly entrenched in the number five seed in the NFC playoff bracket.
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The Cowboys still have an outside shot at earning the top seed in the NFC East, which would certainly be nice, but they have likely accepted that they will be the five seed in the playoffs. This could end up actually being a good thing for the Cowboys, or it could end up resulting in their nightmare playoff situation occurring, so let's take a look at why the latter could end up being the case for Dallas.
Cowboys' nightmare playoff scenario
The Cowboys have been a step behind the Eagles in the NFC East for most of the season, and while they could still win the division, it doesn't look very likely to happen. The Cowboys would have to win their final two games, while also having the Eagles lose their final two games. Based on how good the Eagles have been this season, even without Jalen Hurts as Dallas saw firsthand in Week 16, they probably won't go on a three-game losing streak to close their season.
Winning the division would obviously be a best case scenario for the Cowboys, but again, it's not likely to happen. But it may not be the worst thing to happen to Dallas, as they may end up with a very favorable matchup on their hands when the wild card round of the playoffs kicks off after Week 18.
If the season ended today, the Cowboys would have a first round matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are the leaders of the NFC South despite holding a 7-8 record. That would be arguably the best possible matchup for the Cowboys to open their playoff campaign, despite the fact the Bucs are a dangerous team, even with their subpar record.
Playing the Buccaneers, or any team in the NFC South, would be a victory for Dallas. Yes, they lost to Tampa in Week 1 this season, but remember, Prescott was forced out of this game early with a thumb injury. The Cowboys would have certainly had a chance to win this game had Prescott managed to play the entire game.
The problem is that if the Cowboys win this game, they would almost certainly find themselves matched up against the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round, which isn't ideal. The Cowboys would have to hope that one of the two wild card teams below them in the standings could pull off an upset victory, but it's not worth betting on that to happen.
Now make no mistake about this; the Eagles aren't going to want to run into the Cowboys in the divisional round either. Assuming they finish with the top seed, they would get a bye week in the wild card round, meaning they would have to play potentially the second best team in the NFC in their first playoff game. That's not how the playoffs are designed to work, but sometimes that's just how the cookie crumbles.
This would be a tough matchup for both sides, but it likely wouldn't be one that the Cowboys would be favored in. The Eagles are the team that no one in the NFC wants to run into, but Dallas may have the misfortune of bumping into them earlier than they would have liked to. And that's a scary proposition for a team that has hopes of making a deep playoff run this season.
The best case scenario for the Cowboys would obviously see them win the division, but it would be truly miraculous for that to happen. Even then, there's a decent chance that they would bump into the Eagles in the divisional round, although playing at home would be a lot nicer than playing on the road.
Whichever way you look at it, though, the Cowboys and Eagles appear to be on a collision course for a playoff matchup. And if that does end up happening, Dallas could be in some serious trouble. They would obviously love to avoid the Eagles, but with just two games left in the season, there may not be anything the Cowboys can do to avoid this nightmare scenario, and it could end up crushing their playoff hopes.
