Cowboys' Rooting Guide for NFL Playoff Implications of Week 11
The Dallas Cowboys need favors from a handful of teams in the AFC and NFC West to improve their playoff standing after Week 11.
The assumption is the Cowboys will pick up their seventh win of the 2023 campaign over the Carolina Panthers.
Dallas could finish the weekend as high as fifth in the NFC and potentially one game out of first place in the NFC East.
For that to happen, the Cowboys need the Philadelphia Eagles to lose on Monday night and for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle to stumble on the road on Sunday.
Chiefs over Eagles
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Dallas needs Philadelphia to struggle throughout the toughest part of its schedule.
Philadelphia's Monday night clash with Kansas City kicks off a five-game stretch in which it faces the Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Cowboys and Seahawks.
The Eagles enter Week 11 with a two-game edge on the Cowboys, but that can be cut in half with a Dallas win in Carolina and an Eagles loss in Kansas City.
The reigning NFC champion has been vulnerable on the road. It suffered its lone loss at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets. The New England Patriots and Washington Commanders stayed within one score of the Eagles.
Dallas has a far easier schedule over the next few weeks against Carolina, Washington and Seattle. The Cowboys have a mini-bye ahead of the Week 14 clash with the Eagles since they play the Seahawks on Thursday night in Week 13.
They can't overtake the Eagles this week, but Week 11 could present a strong step in the right direction in the divisional title race.
Rams over Seahawks
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Dallas can finish the weekend in the No. 5 seed if it wins and the Seahawks fall on the road to the Los Angeles Rams.
Seattle is currently ahead of Dallas on the conference record tiebreaker. The Seahawks are 5-1 in the NFC, while the Cowboys are 3-3 inside the NFC.
Dallas can erase all of Seattle's advantages before the end of November.
A win over Carolina combined with an in-division defeat from the Seahawks would flip the teams in the wild-card race and give Dallas an advantage ahead of their Week 13 battle.
Seattle lost its season opener to the Rams by a 30-13 score and it could be hurt again by Matthew Stafford, who is cleared to play after missing the Week 9 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
If the Week 11 results play in Dallas' favor, it could have the opportunity to bury Seattle in its head-to-head competition for a wild-card spot in Week 13.
Broncos over Vikings
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The Minnesota Vikings are the only other team the Cowboys should see as a threat in the wild-card race entering Week 11.
Minnesota is only a half-game back of the Cowboys going into its Sunday night clash with the Denver Broncos.
The Vikings are not at full strength yet with Justin Jefferson listed as questionable for the second straight week. Jefferson did not play last week with the same injury designation.
Even with Jefferson, the Vikings could be in trouble against a Broncos team that defeated the Chiefs and Bills in the last month.
A loss would drop the Vikings to 6-5, which means they could leave the weekend 1.5 games back of the Cowboys.
That would be an incredible cushion for the Cowboys to have between themselves and the No. 7 seed going into Week 12.
No team beneath the Vikings can leap into the wild-card positions after Week 11 because the Vikings hold a 1.5-game lead on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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