That sentiment from the MCU’s biggest villain (at least until fans get to see the new scope of Robert Downey Doom in Phase 6 and 7), Thanos, is probably how the Dallas Cowboys returned to work this week. The team has found their stride, winning three games in a row coming out of their bye week acquisitions and injury returnees. Dallas has surged up the Power Rankings as they have slowly, incrementally, returned to a little bit of relevancy in the playoff hunt.
Thanks to their Week 4 tie against the Packers, the Cowboys will be above any team that they end up with a similar number of victories at the end of the regular season.
The Cowboys were still a long shot to make it after their Thanksgiving win over the Kansas City Chiefs, and they were likely looking forward to sitting back and seeing what help they received. Earlier on Thursday, Green Bay (8-3-1) defeated the Lions. The combined results kept the Cowboys two games behind the Packers, but setup Dallas’ Week 14 game as a chance to move ahead of the 7-5 Lions.
On Friday, they got a huge bit of help when the Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, giving the Super Bowl champs their second straight loss (after losing in Dallas Week 12). That helped tighten up the NFC East race to 1.5 games with five remaining.
Next, Dallas hoped the wild-card field would have a few members slide back closer to the them.
The answer came back a resounding, nope. Nothing the club needed to happen on Sunday helped the cause to get Dallas into the playoffs.
Updated NFC Playoff Standings
All in all, there are many reasons to believe that at least two of the teams currently above the Cowboys in the standings will end up with six losses. Dallas can make the Lions one of those on Thursday night, and then hope for the best, but the Cowboys have to win out to avoid hoping for the miracle of miracles.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Sorry Sunday: Cowboys got zero help, Week 14 playoff picture review of upcoming schedules
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
