Remember how depressing 2020 was? Yes, the pandemic made life pretty miserable, but the Cowboys horrible season that year also failed to lend even a faint light to those dreary days. That was the last time the team failed to reach the postseason, and that is notable when looking at the past couple decades of how the ‘Boys have finished their seasons.
In fact, this season marks the first time since the glory days of 1996 that a Cowboys squad has made three consecutive playoff appearances. Tony Romo, Dak Prescott’s beloved QB predecessor, only managed two consecutive playoff appearances one time in his career, and it was the first two years he was the team’s starter in ‘06 and ‘07.
Thanks to last week’s referee-assisted victory against the Detroit Lions and a shocking Philadelphia Eagles loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals, Dallas isn’t just primed for a spot in the playoffs, but should soon host its opening round matchup at AT&T Stadium in Arlington rather than starting out on the road, as it seemed would be the case just a week ago.
As things stand now, the path to a home playoff game as the second seed in the NFC, and to a division championship is as clear and straightforward as it could possibly be. All the Cowboys have to do is defeat the Washington Commanders, one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, and both feats will be accomplished.
It’s been a pretty swell week for the home team outside of the win-loss record, too. Seven players, including first-year kicker Brandon Aubrey, were named to the Pro Bowl on Thursday.
There are more complicated playoff and division-clinching scenarios in other parts of the league, but in its rundown of the NFC East, ESPN put it as simply as is required:
What's at stake: Dallas clinches the NFC East title with:
Dallas win OR
Dallas tie plus Philadelphia tie OR
Philadelphia loss
Ties are extremely unlikely and rare, and in the 2023 NFL season, so too are losses to the Commanders. As of Friday morning, the Cowboys are a 13 point favorite over Washington according to BetMGM. Our guess is that the spread is merely 13 points since there’s a good chance the game will be a blowout early, and stars such as Prescott, Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb could be taken out of the game early for playoff precautions.
A Cowboys win or an Eagles loss on Sunday will also keep one of the more interesting streaks in all of major American pro sports alive. The NFC East has not had a repeat champion since the 2004 Eagles claimed their second consecutive title. Given how the Eagles were a consensus pick amongst national pundits to be the champs this year, it would be yet another impressive feather for the Cowboys to place in their cap for the 2023 season should they take the division crown this weekend.
The importance of finishing out the regular season on a winning note in order to set themselves up as well as they can for the playoffs isn’t lost on MVP candidate Prescott.
"We understand the magnitude of this game and what it means: winning the division, having the home field,” Prescott told reporters earlier this week, according to the team’s official website. “But the last thing you do is focus on that when the whistle blows, or any time after that national anthem, honestly.”
