The Dallas Cowboys are miraculously still in the mix for a playoff spot. After beating the lowly Carolina Panthers in Week 15, Mike McCarthy’s team increased their chances of playing football past January—albeit by 0.2%.

The Cowboys only have themselves to blame for placing themselves in this precarious position as they need help from other teams to get them over the line. Following the win over the Panthers, the Cowboys improved to 6-8 and at the third spot in the NFC East behind the 9-5 Washington Commanders and 12-2 Philadelphia Eagles.

Winning another divisional title is out of the Cowboys’ hands, but playing postseason football four years in a row might still happen if some of the results go in their favor. Three games can decide whether they should turn their attention to the 2025 draft and sort out contracts or dream of a Super Bowl after three decades.

The situation doesn’t appear favorable for now. If the teams around Jerry Jones’ beloved Cowboys suffered a few defeats, then perhaps they could have taken a moment’s breather.

However, the Commanders defeated NFC South’s New Orleans Saints by just one point, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped forty points against the league’s best defense, the Los Angeles Chargers, in week 15.

NFC teams that will give Cowboys a close contest for playoffs

The Cowboys fans always cling to whatever hope they can find, and honestly, they need all the hope, luck, and favors from football gods to see the star play in the wild card, let alone post-January ball. If the Commanders and Buccaneers lost their fixtures, then the Cowboys would have been in a better spot.

Besides them, there are still two other teams that are ahead of the Cowboys. The Los Angeles Rams are on a three-game winning streak after defeating divisional rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. On the other hand, the Seattle Seahawks lost against the Green Bay Packers, but they have the same record as the Rams, 8-6.

The easiest way for the Cowboys to qualify for the playoffs is if they win their remaining games and the teams around them two or more with a wider points differential. Three teams can be eliminated from the discussion: the Detroit Lions (12-2), the Eagles, and the Minnesota Vikings (12-2). These three occupy the first, second, and third seeds. Just outside of the automatic spots, the Buccaneers are at fifth, followed by the Rams, Packers, and Commanders.

The Cowboys have to play three of them: the Buccaneers, the Eagles, and, on the final day, the Commanders. On paper, none of them look easy. As a matter of fact, the Buccaneers are early 4.5-point favorites to secure a ninth win of the campaign. Jones’ Cowboys need to win by at least two scores against the Bucs.

Even if the Cowboys win all of their games, they will finish with 9-8, which can prove to be their Achilles heel down the line. Unless the Seahawks, Rams, and Buccaneers lose two games, the Cowboys’ three wins will matter little.

Now McCarthy and Jones have to decide what they want to do. They have two choices: either win all of their games and fight for the playoffs as Micah Parsons wants or tank and improve their draft stock, which fell from 12^th to 14^th after their win against the Panthers.