Cowboys are officially out of the playoffs

ARLINGTON, Texas – For the first time since 2020, the Cowboys will not be in the playoffs.

Even before the Cowboys faced the Buccaneers on Sunday night, they were officially eliminated after Washington upset the Eagles with a last-second touchdown. Former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, in his first season with the Commanders, has now led his team to a 10-5 record with two games remaining.

Although the Cowboys beat Washington on the road three weeks ago, their best possible finish would be 9-8 even if they won the final three games of the season against the Bucs, then the Eagles and Commanders.

They haven’t been outside of the playoffs looking in since Mike McCarthy’s first season with the Cowboys in 2020, when they finished 6-10. And the Cowboys haven’t been eliminated from the playoffs with three games to go since the 2010 season.

The Cowboys finished 4-12 that season and landed the fourth overall draft pick in 2016. The Cowboys will officially finish in third place in the NFC East and will play the third-place teams in the NFC West and NFC South on the 2025 schedule.

Because the Cowboys didn’t win the NFC East, they couldn’t claim division champions. This extends a remarkable streak of 20 straight seasons in which the NFC East champions have not repeated. The last time we saw a repeat division winner in the NFC East was the Eagles, who won in 2003 and 2004.

McCarthy’s Cowboys went 12-5 and made the playoffs three straight years, including two NFC East titles in 2021 and 2023.