The last time we saw the Dallas Cowboys take the field, they got utterly embarrassed on Monday Night Football, taking an ugly 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals to close out Week 9, a defeat that dropped them to 3-5-1 for the year.
And the next time we see America's Team, albeit a bit of a different version of Brian Schottenheimer's squad, as new additions Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson will be donning stars on the side of their helmets for the first time, it will also be on Monday Night Football, with America's Team set to visit the Las Vegas Raiders to close out Week 11.
In between, of course, there was the matter of Week 10, which the Cowboys sat back and watched on their bye with great interest in several outcomes, most of which actually went their way.
Dallas has basically no shot to win the NFC East, as the Philadelphia Eagles improved to 7-2 with a 10-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. But it's not as if the Cowboys really had any chance to win the division anyway, so as weird as it may sound, Dallas fans should actually be thanking the Birds for taking down the Packers.
The Cowboys continue to hang around in the NFC standings
Here's a look at the updated NFC playoff picture heading into Week 11.
Updated NFC playoff picture
Philadelphia Eagles (7-2, 1st NFC East)
Seattle Seahawks (7-2, 1st NFC West)
Detroit Lions (6-3, 1st NFC North)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3, 1st NFC South)
Los Angeles Rams (7-2, 2nd NFC West)
Chicago Bears (6-3, 2nd NFC North)
Green Bay Packers (5-3-1, 3rd NFC North)
San Francisco 49ers (6-4, 3rd NFC West)
Carolina Panthers (5-5, 2nd NFC South)
Minnesota Vikings (4-5, 4th NFC North)
Dallas Cowboys (3-5-1, 2nd NFC East)
Arizona Cardinals (3-6, 4th NFC West)
Atlanta Falcons (3-6, 3rd NFC South)
Washington Commanders (3-7, 3rd NFC East)
New Orleans Saints (2-8, 4th NFC South)
New York Giants (2-8, 4th NFC East)
If Dallas is somehow able to make its way into the postseason, it will likely have to be as the No. 7 seed, as anything above that simply doesn't seem realistic.
As you can see, the Cowboys currently sit in the No. 11 spot in the overall conference standings, which is the same position they held following their loss to the Cardinals. That said, however, things look a little better now, given how Week 10 played out.
Looking at the four teams directly ahead of Dallas in the standings, every single one of them took a defeat this past week. As mentioned, the Packers lost to the Eagles, thus putting the Cowboys within two games of the No. 7 slot.
Now, it needs to be noted that Dallas would currently lose a tiebreaker with Green Bay. Because while the two teams famously tied back in Week 4, the Packers own a better record in conference games, having gone 3-2-1 (.583), while the Cowboys have gone 2-4-1 (.357). Nevertheless, the Eagles still did Dallas a favor.
But to even get to where Green Bay is now, the Cowboys, of course, still need to surpass the three other teams in front of them. But again, every single one of those three took a loss on Sunday, with the San Francisco 49ers dropping to 6-4 with a defeat to the Los Angeles Rams, the Carolina Panthers dropping to 5-5 with a loss to the New Orleans Saints, and the Minnesota Vikings dropping to 4-5 with a defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.
Dallas doesn't have a head-to-head matchup with the Niners this season, so just as it goes with a tiebreaker scenario with Green Bay, more conference wins will be necessary, as San Francisco has gone 6-2 (.750) against NFC opponents.
The Cowboys obviously can't afford a tiebreaker with Carolina, as they lost to the Panthers in Week 6. They can, however, pick up a head-to-head win over Minnesota, as they host the Vikings in Week 15. A lot of things could change between now and then, but every win will obviously be extremely important moving forward. And for the Cowboys to have any chance of getting back to the playoffs, it has to start with a win over the Raiders this Monday.