The Cowboys aim to play their starters against Washington in the

The Week 18 game against the Commanders poses a dilemma for the Cowboys: rest their starters or play with them. Although a playoff spot is assured, Dallas can improve its NFC seed this week. And this would imply playing at least part of the postseason at home.

Let’s remember that, going into week 18, the Cowboys still have options to achieve the NFC East division title. If they achieve this, they could even reach the # 1 seed in the NFC and the long-awaited bye week in the wild card round. However, Dallas needs a combination of results this Sunday to achieve that goal.

While the Cowboys could rest their players, it looks like they won’t as long as the divisional crown and the NFC #1 spot remain on the line. This is how Jerry Jones, owner and general manager of the Cowboys, revealed it during a radio interview on Tuesday.

“There are many things at stake”said Jones on 105.3 The Fan. “I would like to have the best advantage going into the playoffs, so I would like to have a home game. And I would love to get the bye week (for the team).”

Jerry Jones said the Cowboys will not rest players against the Commanders: “There’s too much to play for.”
He wants the division title and first round bye
“I like to have the best advantage going into playoffs, so I’d like to have a home game. I’d certainly love to get a bye.”

— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) January 3, 2023

On the other hand, Mike McCarthy agrees to play with the starters this week to get a significant boost to the playoffs. This is how the Dallas head coach revealed it during a press conference at the beginning of the week.

“This is about winning”McCarthy told the media. “It’s a divisional game, and these are very similar to playoff games. So this is going to be a big challenge to make sure we’re ready for the postseason.”

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said about two-thirds of today’s work was spent on self-scout, taking a closer look at three games in 12-day period. Focus now on Washington. Ball security, second-level blocking among the points of emphasis. pic.twitter.com/4mzTw1Dq63

— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) January 2, 2023

A divisional fight with important variables

For Dallas to achieve the NFC East divisional title, the math is very simple. The cowboy team must beat the Commanders, and hope the Giants do the same to the Eagles.

Meanwhile, for the #1 seed in the NFC, these results must be added to a loss by the 49ers to the Cardinals. If this does not happen and the first results are given, Dallas would have the #2 position in the National Conference. This would lead him to play at home against the #7 seed, which is still up for grabs between the Seahawks, Lions and Packers.

A look at how things currently stand in the NFC playoff picture. ???? pic.twitter.com/j3Pwz8bXQb

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 2, 2023

In this way, Dallas is depending on other results … and the approaches of other coaches.

In fact, the biggest question mark revolves around the Eagles vs. Giants. On paper, Philadelphia would come out with its starters, even hastening the return from injury to quarterback Jalen Hurts. Meanwhile, the Giants have nothing to play for as their #6 spot in the NFC is already secured.

However, the New Yorkers may come out with their starters against the Eagles. In part, there are those who think that the Giants need to gain pace ahead of the playoffs, or even “revenge” on Philadelphia for what happened in week 17 of 2020. However, head coach Brian Daboll showed last Sunday that he could walk out with their headlines that weekend, even if nothing is at stake.

“No.” pic.twitter.com/nBoc5F6Is8

— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) January 2, 2023

If the necessary results do not occur, Dallas would qualify as the first wild card (#5). This would involve playing on the road against the champion of the NFC South: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Tom Brady.

Seeing all this, the Cowboys’ outlook for the wild card round is summarized in three possible positions:

• #1: Rest
• #2: I play at home against the Packers, Lions or Seahawks.
• #5: Road game against the Buccaneers.

As we can see, the Cowboys may repeat the formula for week 18 of 2021 this Sunday: come out with the headlines, win the game and see what happens. Last season, this helped Dallas improve its seeding position after what happened in other games. However, the Cowboys have to be quite cautious in taking this approach, especially after key players were injured in recent games.