Cowboys 1st & 10: Is a 7-9 Playoff Team A 'Winner' Or A 'Loser'?

An NFC East division title for the Dallas Cowboys this season would be unprecedented in Cowboys history, but not in NFL history.

Four times in NFL history teams have reached the playoffs with a losing record. If that happens to the Dallas Cowboys today ... will they be a "winner''? Or (at 7-9) a "loser''?

1) History Says ...

Two of those times came in the strike-shortened season of 1982. Both the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions made the playoffs with a 4-5 record. Both lost their first-round playoff games. It should be noted that eight teams made the playoffs from each conference that year, but both Cleveland and Detroit made the playoffs as Wild Card teams.

The other two are of recent vintage and both won their division. The 2010 Seattle Seahawks went 7-9 and won the NFC North, hosting the New Orleans Saints in a Wild-Card game. Seattle actually won that game, 41-36. You remember that game? Trust me, you do.

It's Saints vs. @Seahawks going down this Sunday...

So you know we had to bring this @MoneyLynch run back 💰😤Best run in NFL history?

(via @nflthrowback) pic.twitter.com/vGXbCsjXuc
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 20, 2019

Then, in 2016, Carolina won the NFC South with a 7-8-1 record and hosted the Arizona Cardinals. And, guess what the Panthers did? Yep, they won, 27-16.

So, you’re saying there’s a chance, right?

Yes, I guess we are. The Cowboys could win the NFC East on Sunday with a 7-9 record, assuming that the Cowboys beat the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Football Team on Sunday night. The Eagles are sure trying to screw that up, too.

Eagles’ injury report for Sunday night’s game vs WFT. pic.twitter.com/JZjtcl7Ltd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2021

But it did make me a bit nostalgic for the one season that came closest to what Cowboys fans have experienced this season — 1999.

That was Chan Gailey’s second season at the helm. It was also his last season at the helm. I covered a couple of games that year for the Tyler Morning-Telegraph. The Cowboys went 8-8 that year and reached the playoffs. The Cowboys needed a win the final week of the season, at home, against the New York Giants, just to get to 8-8. The Cowboys won, 26-18, claiming a playoff berth in the Wild Card round against Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings. You know how that went, right? Minnesota won, 27-10.

The date of that win over the Giants? January 2, 2000.

Yep, 20 years and one day later this Cowboys team could do the 1999 edition one better by becoming the first Cowboys team to reach the playoffs with a losing record.

And that would be an interesting bookend to this most unusual season.

#Cowboys Closers: Can McCarthy Be The 'Anti-Garrett'? https://t.co/1CikTWAFny pic.twitter.com/YsOqnJVQxP
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 1, 2021

2) Cowboys 'Awesome'?

Tank says it is so.

➡️ Tank Lawrence: Cowboys 'Playing Awesome Football'

In the last three weeks, I guess it's sorta true.

3) Demanding More Randy

Our Mike Fisher asked the owner a big question.

➡️ EXCLUSIVE: Cowboys' Jerry Jones Issues A Randy Gregory Demand

Jerry gave him a big answer.

See more above.

4) Cowboys the Best?

This wasn't Troy Aikman's view a month ago ...

➡️ Aikman EXCLUSIVE: ‘Cowboys Are Best In NFC East’

But things change.

5) Troy has ‘sleeping advice’ for Cowboys

You must know by now that Dak Prescott has a sponsorship agreement with SleepNumber beds. Not to be outdone, former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman had sleeping advice this week, and it involves Dak Prescott (as he exclusively told our Mike Fisher).

“I would sleep real good if I had Dak Prescott locked up with a big contract,” Aikman told us in an exclusive visit, “and not be worrying about his commitment to the team and commitment to winning.”

Click here to read more about Troy’s formula for a good night’s sleep. It’ll cost the Cowboys, but he thinks it’s worth it.

And see more with Fish and Troy above.

6) Get ready for Sunday vs. the Giants

Need to prep for Sunday’s game with the Giants? Check out our info below with injury updates ...

➡️ Cowboys 'Good Guy' Zeke On His Health & 1,000 Yards

➡️ Cowboys Reveal Status On 3 Defensive Starters For Giants Game

➡️ EXCLUSIVE: Jerry Jones Says Injured Martin 'Can Be A Dramatic Upgrade' In Cowboys Playoffs

Oh, and Dallas has itself a COVID issue, too. See above.

7) An ‘Organic Tanking’ Update

Each week we will update you on the Cowboys’ 2021 NFL Draft situation, mainly to see if they can improve their stock in any way as the regular season ends on Sunday.

Cowboys record entering this weekend’s action: 6-9.

Current selection (if season ended today): No. 11.

Who is ahead of Dallas?: No. 1 Jacksonville (1-14), No. 2 New York Jets (2-13), Houston (4-11), Atlanta (4-11), Cincinnati (4-10-1), Philadelphia (4-10-1), Detroit (5-10), New York Giants (5-10), Carolina (5-10) and Denver (5-10). Jacksonville and the Jets are locked in at No. 1 and No. 2.

Can Dallas catch any of these teams? This actually isn’t that complicated a question. If the Cowboys lose on Sunday, they’ll zoom past any current 5-10 team that wins on Sunday because the Cowboys’ strength of schedule (.465) is far worse than any team on that tier (and that’s the first tie-breaker). If all four were to win (and one of those teams is the Cowboys’ opponent, the Giants), the Cowboys could slide all the way up to No. 7 with a loss. That’s as far up the ladder as the Cowboys can climb.

Who is chasing Dallas? Four teams all have the same record as Dallas — the Los Angeles Chargers (6-9), Minnesota (6-9), New England (6-9) and San Francisco (6-9). Should the Cowboys tie with any of them, they will get the higher pick, though the Chargers (.490) have the closest strength of schedule to the Cowboys on that tier (but it’s unlikely the Chargers’ SOS will fall enough to pass Dallas). Since none of these teams are playing each other, the Cowboys could, with a win, conceivably move anywhere from No. 11 to No. 15, depending upon what the other teams do. But No. 15 is as far as the Cowboys can move down the board.

Games to watch this week?: Watch all of them, right up until the Sunday night game between Washington and Philadelphia.

If you’re a ‘tanker’… Hope the Cowboys lose, hope the other 5-10 teams win and the Cowboys move up to No. 7.

8) Kellen Moore’s Big ‘Boise’ Hope

I think, one day, we all knew that Kellen Moore would be a head coach. Regardless of what you think of his play-calling ability in Dallas, he just has that ‘feel’ of being a future head coach.

Well, that day may be fast approaching.

Moore told reporters on Monday that “I want to be a head coach.” Our Mike Fisher tracked down a couple of sources that indicated that Moore is Boise State’s first choice to replace Bryan Harsin, who just left for Auburn. It makes sense for the Broncos. Harsin was a former Boise State quarterback. So was Moore. Both are highly regarded in those parts.

Fish walked us through what’s already happened this week, and what could happen in the weeks to come, in this piece that’s worth a read.

9) Whitt’s End: Cowboys' Dak Is 9th Best QB — But 9 Times Better Than Dalton?

From our Richie Whitt:

In the NFL this season, 73 quarterbacks have thrown a pass. Since absence makes the heart grow fonder, my knee-jerk reaction is that Dak Prescott is better than all except about eight of those.

But, is the now-injured-for-the-year Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback the guy who through four games was at a record-setting passing pace? Or merely the guy whose team was 1-3 and leading the Giants by only one point when he was injured?

I think Dak – when you consider the slop that teams have turned to in 2020 (Chase Daniel, Jake Luton, Ben DiNucci, etc.) – has increased his contract bargaining leverage.