It was maybe a silly hope to begin with. After all, this Cowboys team had started out as a frustratingly inconsistent bunch even when playing the soft part of the schedule, highlighted by a rough loss to the Cardinals–playing their backup quarterback–at home on Monday night, a loss that dropped them to 3-5-1. Even with the remarkable changes the team made at the trade deadline, adding star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson, the Cowboys were always going to swim upstream when it came to making the postseason.
A gauntlet of a schedule that included a run of the defending Super Bowl champs, the Eagles, followed by the AFC champs, the Chiefs, and the playoff contender Lions–in a span of 11 days–made that swim all the more difficult.
But wins over Philadelphia and Kansas City appeared to make the Cowboys’ path much brighter. Going into their game against Detroit, at Ford Field, their playoff chances stood at 24%. A win would vault them to 41%. A loss would, well …
Cowboys Down to a Very Slim Playoff Chance
The playoff predictor now is not kind to the 6-6-1 Cowboys after the 44-30 loss to Detroit, a loss that appeared to undo all the defensive progress the team had made during its previous three-game win streak. The Cowboys chances, per The Athletic: 9%.
The PlayoffStatus.com site is not much kinder. It’s at 10%.
The Athletic’s site uses a forecaster to project what a team’s odds look like if they win out. And the Cowboys have three very winnable games against the 4-8 Vikings, the 3-9 Commanders and the 2-11 Giants ahead, with a tough one against the 8-4 Chargers (at home, though) mixed in. Even if the Cowboys win out and go to 10-6-1, by the site’s projection, the team has a less than even chance of earning a playoff place, at 41%.
‘Special Group of Guys’
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer was asked about the team’s now-fading playoff chances after the loss and deflected the question.
“I don’t know,” Schottenheimer said. “We’re just going to keep playing. We don’t control who wins and loses, we just control what we can do. Really proud of the group. I told them that. Four games in 17 days, they battled their asses off.”
The fear now has to be a certain level of deflation heading into the final four games, now that the incentive of a playoff spot is all but gone. Perhaps the Cowboys will mail things in from here. Schottenheimer pushed back on that notion, though.
“Special group of guys, not gonna let that happen,” he said. “Special group of guys who are disappointed. They’re disappointed because we let an opportunity to win a game on the road against a good team. But we’ll pick ourselves up. We’ll pick ourselves up, we’ll go back to work and we’re guaranteed another championship opportunity next week against Minnesota.”
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