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Cowboys must watch as others decide their playoff fate

Originally posted on Inside The Star
By Richard Paolinelli | Last updated Dec 18, 2025 9:05 AM ET

The 16^th week of the 2025 NFL season kicks off tonight in Seattle. The Dallas Cowboys will be watching closely on Saturday to see if they remain alive for a playoff spot.

For the Cowboys, Saturday’s Eagles-Commanders showdown is the one they will be glued to their television screens watching.

Dallas has to hope for an upset as Philadelphia is favored by 6.5 points over a Washington team missing its starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels.

To remain alive for the NFC East title, the only path remaining to the postseason for the Cowboys, Marcus Mariota must lead the Commanders to a win. That can’t be a good feeling down at The Star.

In all probability, by the time Dallas takes the field at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, their fate may already be sealed.

Perfect Scheduling

In addition to the Eagles clinching the NFC East on Saturday, the other three NFC divisions will see head-to-head matchups between teams either in first or second place in their respective divisions.

In fact, each of the winners of those three games will walk off the field in first place in their division. No matter who wins the games.

The man in charge of scheduling the season at the NFL deserves a raise. He couldn’t have done a better job of it in the NFC.

Tonight’s game between the Rams at the Seahawks features two teams deadlocked at 11-3.

The Rams won the first meeting in Los Angeles, giving the tie-breaker.

A Rams’ win and the Seahawks would need to win out. They’d also need to have the Rams lose both of their remaining games to take the NFC West.

A Seattle win puts them in the driver’s seat.

But should they end the year tied after splitting the season series, then you start tumbling down the list of tie-breakers to figure out who wins the division.

Busy Saturday Slate

After a possible Eagles clinching of the NFC East, the 9-4-1 Packers head to Chicago to face the 10–4 Bears.

Green Bay will be without Micah Parsons. But they might have Christian Watson back for the Saturday night contest.

The Packers won the first meeting.

Chicago will face San Francisco and Detroit to close out the year.

Green Bay has a home game against the Ravens. They close out the year on the road in Minnesota against the Vikings.

There might be a little more pressure on the Bears to win this game and take control of the NFC North.

The .500 Bowl

Then there’s the NFC South. The 7–7 Tampa Bay Bucs head north to Carolina to play the 7–7 Panthers.

Carolina is tough at home.

Tampa Bay has lost six of its last eight games.

The two teams will meet again two weeks later in Tampa. One hopes they have generated enough tie-breakers to sort this mess out should both teams finish 9-8, or worse.

This article first appeared on Inside The Star and was syndicated with permission.

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