The Cowboys’ Week 12 survival guide reveals shocking moves they need beyond just beating the Eagles.QQ
America’s Team obviously needs a win over the Birds, but who else should Cowboys fans be rooting for this week?
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer | Candice Ward/GettyImages
Coming off consecutive double-digit losses ahead of their bye week, during which they actually got some much-needed help with the way certain games played out, the Dallas Cowboys still faced what was essentially a must-win scenario when they returned to action this past Monday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.
And behind some history-making performances on the offensive side of the ball from Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens, as well as a solid defensive effort that included 1.5 sacks from new acquisition Quinnen Williams, America’s Team got the win it desperately needed, taking an easy 33-16 victory to stay alive in the NFC playoff picture. At this point, we’re thinking 11 teams still have at least some sort of shot to earn a postseason berth, a list that currently looks like this.
- Philadelphia Eagles (8-2, 1st NFC East)
- Los Angeles Rams (8-2, 1st NFC West)
- Chicago Bears (7-3, 1st NFC North)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-4, 1st NFC South)
- Seattle Seahawks (7-3, 2nd NFC West)
- Green Bay Packers (6-3-1, 2nd NFC North)
- San Francisco 49ers (7-4, 3rd NFC West)
- Detroit Lions (6-4, 3rd NFC North)
- Carolina Panthers (6-5, 2nd NFC South)
- Dallas Cowboys (4-5-1, 2nd NFC East)
- Minnesota Vikings (4-6, 4th NFC North)
This Sunday, of course, Dallas will face a much tougher test, as the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who’ve won their last four, visit AT&T Stadium for the second matchup of the season between these longtime rivals. Dallas gave the Birds all they could handle to kick off the 2025 campaign back in Week 1, ultimately taking a 24-20 loss, but Brian Schottenheimer’s squad obviously needs things to go differently this time around.
But even if the Cowboys manage to pull off the upset to get back to .500 for the first time in more than a month, they’ll still need several other games on the Week 12 slate to go their way to better their playoff chances. So, let’s have a quick look at the matchups Dallas fans need to keep an eye on as the week plays out.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears
The reason this matchup is included is that while the Bears currently sit atop the NFC North, they could easily fall into the wild-card race, given the overall state of that division. And let’s get real here; Dallas, even with a win over Philly, isn’t winning the NFC East. So, the wild-card race is what the focus has to be.
The way things stand now, the Cowboys should actually hope Chicago wins the North, as they obviously want no part of a head-to-head tiebreaker stemming from that Week 3 loss to the Bears at Soldier Field. Chicago still has two matchups with the Packers and one with the Lions as well, and if Dallas remains in the race, the Bears winning all of those games would be helpful.
So, the Cowboys should continue to root for the Bears each and every week, obviously including this one.
New York Giants at Detroit Lions
As the Lions are one of the teams standing between the Cowboys and the final wild-card slot, Dallas needs to hope the two-win Giants can pull off a miracle here.
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
While the Vikings sit directly behind America’s Team in the standings, Dallas still needs to root for Minnesota in this one, the obvious reason being that the Cowboys have to catch the Packers.
There can be no head-to-head tiebreaker with the Packers due to that wild Week 4 tie, so if a tiebreaker is necessary down the line, it’ll likely be which team has the best record in conference games. So, any loss for Green Bay in that regard is a good thing. The Cowboys face the Vikings in Week 15, so if they end up posing a threat, Dallas can attempt to knock them out then.
Seattle Seahawks at Tennessee Titans
This one’s pretty straightforward. The Cowboys sit behind the Seahawks, so they need to be rooting for the Titans here, however unlikely a Tennessee win may be.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Rams
The Cowboys should probably be looking at the Rams like they should with the Bears. Just go ahead and win out (or close to it) to win the NFC West, as Dallas shouldn’t want to see Los Angeles drop into the wild-card mix.
On the flip side, the Cowboys may not mind the wild-card race including the Buccaneers, who hold a slim half-game lead in the NFC South over Carolina. Dallas can’t lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Tampa Bay, as the two don’t play one another this year. The Cowboys would, of course, lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Panthers, to whom they lost in Week 6.
So, it’s go Rams in this one.
Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers
This Monday night matchup obviously feeds into the scenario above involving the Bucs. Yes, the Cowboys trail the Panthers in the standings right now. But as mentioned, they don’t want a head-to-head tiebreaker to come into play, so they should be hoping for Carolina to take the NFC South.
Furthermore, a Panthers win here obviously means a loss for the 49ers, who currently hold the final wild-card slot at 7-4. The Cowboys can’t afford to fall too far behind, so a San Francisco defeat would be beneficial.
Of course, the biggest thing that needs to happen this week for the Cowboys is to beat the Eagles. Because if that doesn’t happen, the outcome of these other matchups may not end up mattering at all. So, we now just sit back and wait to see how Week 12 plays out in the NFC.
