Dallas Cowboys: Week 15 Outcomes Give Cowboys Hope for a Playoff Run

The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants were going in different directions coming into Week 15.

Dallas lost its previous two games in heartbreaking fashion, with the latest one being against these very Giants at home. While this was happening, the Giants made an improbable comeback against the Cowboys and were trying to build momentum going into the last three games of the season. This week, the Cowboys faced a weak Buccaneers team, while the Giants faced the Redskins in a tough divisional matchup.

During the week, the Cowboys preached that they control their own destiny and that their playoffs would officially begin in Tampa. The entire team came to play against Tampa Bay and left with a great team victory. Romo continued his dominant play while the defense showed some signs of life going into the stretch run.

The Giants were in seventh heaven after their huge comeback victory in Dallas last week. Manning talked all week about building momentum, while the defensive stalwarts were confident of their team’s chances down the stretch.

Come Sunday afternoon in New York, however, these Giants sang a different tune. Neither the offense nor the defense showed up to play, and the Redskins did Dallas a huge favor by knocking the Giants out this week.

It all sets up an intriguing final two weeks of the season that have the NFC East teams battling each other both weeks. Although only the Cowboys and Giants have legitimate shots at making the playoffs, the Eagles and Redskins would like nothing more than to knock one of these teams out of the playoff race. For at least one week though, Dallas came out strong while the Giants found themselves squandering a big opportunity to make another statement in the NFC East race.

With the Falcons and Lions basically locking up Wild Card berths, these two NFC East teams must win the division in order to make the playoffs. Expect a Cowboys victory over New York in Week 17 to be the difference-maker and send Dallas to a division title and subsequent playoff berth.