As difficult as it may be to believe, seven weeks of this 2025 regular season are already in the books, and with that in mind, we're figuring that enough games have been played that we can go ahead and start looking toward the NFL playoff picture.
Yes, there's obviously still plenty of football to be played, but let's get real here. Is it really ever too early to start thinking about the postseason? We think not, especially since the Dallas Cowboys taking a loss to the Washington Commanders this past Sunday would have made things very difficult for America's Team to have any real shot of getting back to the NFL Playoffs after missing out a season ago.
Thankfully for Brian Schottenheimer's squad, things didn't go down that way, as the Cowboys cruised to an easy 44-22 victory, thus overtaking their longtime rivals for second place in the NFC East standings at 3-3-1, with Washington dropping into third at 3-4. The New York Giants, who were seemingly on their way to a third win this past week before a massive meltdown against the Denver Broncos, continue to sit in last place at 2-5.
As for the overall NFC standings, the Cowboys certainly still have some work to do, but 3-3-1 undoubtedly looks a lot better than 2-4-1.
Cowboys bumped up three spots to No. 10 in the NFC with their win over Washington
Sitting in the 13th position in the conference heading into Week 7, the Cowboys now sit in the No. 10 slot. Here's a look at the updated NFC standings heading into Week 8. The top seven teams in each conference, of course (four division winners, three wild cards), make it to the postseason.
Updated NFC playoff standings
Green Bay Packers (4-1-1, 1st NFC North)
San Francisco 49ers (5-2, 1st NFC West)
Philadelphia Eagles (5-2, 1st NFC East)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2, 1st NFC South)
Detroit Lions (5-2, 2nd NFC North)
Seattle Seahawks (5-2, 2nd NFC West)
Los Angeles Rams (5-2, 3rd NFC West)
Chicago Bears (4-2, 3rd NFC North)
Carolina Panthers (4-3, 2nd NFC South)
Dallas Cowboys (3-3-1, 2nd NFC East)
Atlanta Falcons (3-3, 3rd NFC South)
Minnesota Vikings (3-3, 4th NFC North)
Washington Commanders (3-4, 3rd NFC East)
Arizona Cardinals (2-5, 4th NFC West)
New York Giants (2-5, 4th NFC East)
New Orleans Saints (1-6, 4th NFC South)
As you can see, a loss would've been devastating, as a defeat would've put Dallas three games behind the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Rams in the win column. That ridiculous tie with the Packers just makes things all sorts of wonky, doesn't it? But I digress.
Bumping up to 10th is obviously a good thing, but the bad news there is that the Cowboys still sit directly behind the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers. Obviously, because they lost to both teams, they would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker to either if that becomes a thing come January.
The Cowboys could easily have more wins right now, as the only game they didn't have a chance to win was that Week 3 matchup with Chicago. They were right there with the Eagles in Week 1, should've beaten the Packers in Week 4, and should've beaten the Panthers in Week 6. But they also could've easily lost in Week 2 to the Giants.
But what's done is done, and the Cowboys now just have to worry about adding more victories, starting with this Sunday against the Broncos.