The Dallas Cowboys don't play on Sunday after losing on Thursday night against the Detroit Lions, but that doesn't mean fans should take the day off.
That's because Cowboys fans should be scoreboard watching to see if the teams in front of Dallas in the NFC East and wild-card standings lose to help the Cowboys' postseason chances.
The Cowboys enter Sunday sitting in the No. 10 spot in the NFC and in second place in the NFC East, and it will stay that way through Monday.
According to The Athletic's Playoff Simulator, Dallas has a 9% chance to make the playoffs, and a 4% chance to win the division, so the margin for error is extremely thin.
Here's a look at who Dallas needs to lose on Sunday and Monday in order to keep pace in the NFC East and wild-card races.
Rooting guide for NFC East
Desired result: Eagles lose to Chargers.
It's simple here: the Cowboys need the Philadelphia Eagles to lose to the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night.
The Eagles' magic number to clinch the division is at three currently, but they can knock that down to two with a win over the Chargers.
Also, a win would put the Eagles in position to clinch the division next week with a win and Cowboys loss in Week 15.
If the Eagles lose to Los Angeles, their magic number will remain at three.
Rooting guide for wild card
Desired results: Bears or Packers lose, Rams, Buccaneers, Seahawks all lose.
Again, nothing difficult to navigate here.
The Carolina Panthers (No. 9), Lions (No. 8) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 7) are all ahead of the Cowboys in the wild-card standings, but the Panthers and 49ers are on a bye and the Lions already beat Dallas this week, so nothing to watch there.
The six other teams in front of the Cowboys, from No. 1 to No. 6, are the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. We already went over the Eagles in the previous section.
Of course, the Cowboys would benefit from as many of those teams losing as possible in order to keep pace.
The Packers and Bears actually play each other, so one of those two teams will lose, barring a tie.
The Rams face the Arizona Cardinals, the Buccaneers draw the New Orleans Saints and the Seahawks face the Atlanta Falcons.
Unfortunately, those are favorable matchups for the Bucs, Rams and Seahawks, but any given Sunday, right?
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