The Cowboys (6-6) are going to need a lot of help this week in order to get back into the NFC wildcard playoff mix. Right now, odds makers have our chances of making the playoffs at 5% ... but the law of averages says those numbers change DRAMATICALLY if we just have a couple of games go our way this week.

Here are the games, in order of priority, with the BOLD team the one we need to win:

1.  MINNESOTA 7 Altanta (7-4) 6

*Atlanta is the team we have the best chance of catching.  They have a TOUGH schedule as follows:

Vikings, Saints, Bucs, Saints, Panthers. Going 2-3 is very possible.  Leading to 9-7 final record.  Going 1-4 isn't out of the question either, leading to an 8-8 record.  However, given the fact Atlanta owns the tie-breaker between us, a 9-7 Falcons will force the Cowboys to win out this season.  Possible but we don't want to rely on that.  We need Minnesota to win today.

2. PHILADELPHIA 0 Seattle (7-4) 0 (8:30 PM EST Start)

A]  We're not going to catch Philly AND would prefer they win their next 4 games so they can sit their starters by the time Dallas roles into town for the last game of the season and have a late Christmas gift handed to us.

B]  A Seattle loss would drop them to 7-5 and just 1 game ahead of the Cowboys. This small opening is all the Cowboys need given we play Seattle on Christmas Eve WITH ZEKE back in the line up. As long as we're even or just one game behind, that game will decide who takes the lead seed between us. That isn't a stretch given the Seahawks schedule:

Eagles, Jaguars, Rams, Cowboys, Cardinals (weakest game that may come too late)

3.  BALTIMORE 20 Detroit (6-5) 0  

Detroit could also threaten to make a run and sneak into one of the low hanging playoff spots.  They also have a pretty light schedule and could run the table to 10-6 also. We need Baltimore to hold this lead and beat the Lions today.

4.  TAMPA 7 Green Bay (5-6) 17

Green Bay isn't much of a thread without Rodgers but we don't want them hanging around either and have Lazarus Rodgers come in with half a shoulder to save the day.

5. LA RAMS 0 Arizona (5-6) 0 (4:30 PM EST Start)

We'd like to catch the Rams in front of us but that is not going to happen without some crazy miracle.  Ideal scenario today would be a tie so that neither Arizona gains ground, nor LA pulls further ahead.