Before even playing in Week 16, the Dallas Cowboys clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs following the New York Giants’ loss on Thursday.
Despite the Dallas Cowboys’ success in the 2016 NFL season, they still hadn’t locked up anything more for the postseason other than simply a berth entering Week 16. That would be because the New York Giants—the only team to beat Dallas this season, doing so twice—were still lingering. With two games remaining, the Giants trailed the Cowboys by two games as they entered a Thursday Night Football matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
For the Cowboys, their scenario could be quite simple over the final two weeks. With a win in Week 16, the NFC East and the No. 1 seed was there’s. However, they could also clinch both without even playing in the penultimate week. As fate would have it, that’s exactly how things played out.
Boosted by the return of Lane Johnson at right tackle, the Eagles came out and upset the Giants in a fantastic game on Thursday. Eli Manning continued to be turnover-prone at the worst times, throwing three picks on the night. His third came as New York tried to make a last-second comeback, throwing while not being set and leaving it up for grabs down the field.
Now the Cowboys are sitting quite pretty. They’ve been likely to be in this position, but now it’s locked in. On their way to 12-2, they’ve been monsters at home in JerryWorld (aka AT&T Stadium). That’s where they’ll be playing all the way up to the Super Bowl, if they make it that far.
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Perhaps the biggest question for Dallas now is how they finish off the regular season. Owner Jerry Jones has indicated that he won’t sit his starters, specifically Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, after they clinched. That situation has now arrived, so we’ll have to see if he holds true to his word. Either way, the Cowboys’ remarkable turnaround from 4-12 in 2015 has concluded with them being the best regular season team in the NFC this season. Bravo.