Cowboys Playoff Tracker: How win over Lions changed Cowboys’ postseason odds

Here at Blogging The Boys Womens Antwaun Woods Jersey , we’ve been tracking the Cowboys’ playoff chances since Week 1, even though there were some questions about why we would be talking about the playoffs after losing the season opener. The Cowboys are now 2-2, and we continue with our weekly look at the Cowboys’ playoff odds, even as folks continue to think posting Jim Mora’s “Playoffs?” rant is still somehow original 12 years after it happened.We’ll start off today’s look at the playoff odds with this convenient reference chart which shows the historic playoff odds since realignment in 2002 for every relevant W/L record.At 2-2, the historic playoff odds for the Cowboys stand at just 36%. Which looks a little strange considering that 0-0 teams and 1-1 teams have better odds than 2-2 teams. But this has a lot to do with the number of games remaining. If we consider that 11 wins gets you a sure playoff berth (in most years), then 0-0 teams need an 11-5 record - or a .688 winning percentage - to make the playoffs. But a team already at 2-2 needs to finish the season with a 9-3 record (.750 winning percentage) to get to 11-5, and that higher required winning percentage is why the odds of making the playoffs are lower for a 2-2 team than a 1-1 or 0-0 team. But the historic odds are just one way of looking at playoff odds. Here are four more:Fivethirtyeight.comIn an Elo-based calculation that takes into account scoring differential, last season’s record (to an extent), the unexpected nature of their wins and more, the site gives the Cowboys a 38% chance of making the playoffs, pretty much in line with the historic odds.Football OutsidersAnother source for playoff odds comes from our good friends at Football Outsiders. Here’s how FO see the playoff odds for winning the division, getting a bye week, or gaining a wild card berth: With a 34% chance at the playoffs for the Cowboys Womens Jaylon Smith Jersey , FO is pretty much in line with the historic odds. VegasOddshark shows that the Cowboys have improved their odds of winning the NFC East to +275 after opening the season with +333. Current Odds to win NFC East:Philadelphia Eagles -118 (opening: -180)Dallas Cowboys +275 (+333)Washington Redskins +350 (+700)New York Giants +1200 (+700)Pythagorean Win ProjectionsWe looked in detail at the Pythagorean Formula in last week’s playoff tracker and saw that it would have taken a big win against the Lions to move the projection noticeably.The Cowboys did win against the Lions, but only by two points, so the Pythagorean win projection for the Cowboys after four weeks is at a lowly 7.0 wins, and that’s certainly not enough for a playoff berth.But all of this is just a snapshot. So here’s the question the next few weeks need to answer: Are the 2018 Cowboys a playoff contender whose offense was simply off to a slow start to the season and is now finding its groove? Or are the four games so far indicative of what the 2018 Cowboys are - a middling team with an eight-win ceiling?Cowboys vs. Giants: Five bold predictions for the game Sunday night It’s pretty intense how gigantic a Week 2 game feels. The Dallas Cowboys will host the New York Giants on Sunday night, and when they do both teams will be fighting for a win, and more important, for the right to not start the season 0-2.Everyone knows the story about how the 1993 Dallas Cowboys started 0-2 with Emmitt Smith holding out, hampering the team’s chances early on. People are also very aware of the New York Giants also started off 0-2 in 2007 before they’d break Cowboys fans hearts in the divisional round of the playoffs months later. As you know, both of these teams won the Super Bowl. Those are exceptions to the rule, 0-2 is a huge hole.A Cowboys and Giants showdown on Sunday Night Football is a staple in today’s NFL so it’s a bit poetic that it would be these teams, these rivals, looking to outlast the other in what feels like a game of survival this week. Either franchise will look to their past should they be the one to lose, but neither wants that to be an option. 1-1 is the goal.This game is epic Womens Deonte Thompson Jersey , there’s no way to deny that. Let’s hope it’s a lot of fun with the kind of result that we like. Here are this week’s bold predictions.Anthony Brown will pick off Eli Manning The forgotten man in the secondary a year ago, Anthony Brown made us all remember him in the 2017 season opener when he picked off Eli Manning. It was the second interception of Brown’s career and the second off of Eli. Funny how that works out. What’s the old saying? If you do something twice in a row it’s a tradition? Well Anthony has picked off Eli two years in a row so literally 100% of data supports that he’ll intercept him this year, right? Right?Obviously there are two instances where Brown will be eligible to pick off Eli, but let’s go ahead and cash this out right now please and thanks.The Giants won’t cross midfield in the first halfIf there’s one thing on the Cowboys that we’re all universally confident in, it’s the defense. Dallas has a bevy of playmakers at every level on that side of the ball and they get to feature DeMarcus Lawrence against Ereck Flowers, which is a very good thing.The New York Giants put together over 300 total yards of offense in their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars which is a little shocking when you say it out loud given the caliber of that defense. It’s not like the G-Men had a great day against the Jags, and it’s not like Eli Manning stopped being himself since then.Dallas is going to try and put together long and methodical drives when they’re on offense early on and when you couple that with who their defense is against who the Giants are, it doesn’t seem like they’ll have success early on.No Cowboys receiver will catch a touchdownThis game has the feel of a lot of field goals and very few touchdowns overall, but I do think that we’re going to see Dak Prescott throw one or two; however, they won’t be to wide receivers.Remember when Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs went something 148 games in a row without throwing a touchdown to a wide receiver? That’s what it feels like we’re on the verge of. Troy Aikman questioned the creativity (the lack of it, obviously) within the Cowboys offense last week, and that’s hardly something that gets fixed in seven days.We’re going to see some tight end, fullback http://www.dallascowboysteamonline.com/anthony-brown-jersey , and/or running back-caught touchdowns against the Giants. Reminds me of Deon Anderson 10 years ago. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesJason Garrett will go for at least one fourth downThe Cowboys are 0 for 1 on fourth down conversions this season, and you never want that to be the case. People like to accuse Jason Garrett of being a conservative head coach (a topic for another day), but going for it on fourth down isn’t something he’s afraid of. You can see this materializing. The Cowboys will have the ball about 10 yards past midfield, be facing a 4th and 1, and Jason Garrett will leave the offense out there. What will happen when he goes for it? Will they hand the ball to Zeke, utilize some play action, or let Dak Prescott run some sort of RPO? We’ll have to wait and see.The Cowboys will hold the lead after every quarterAs this does feel like a low-scoring game it doesn’t feel like we’re going to have a whole lot of change. You can just sense that points are going to be hard to come by and something each team is really going to have to work for. The Cowboys won both of their meetings against the Giants last season, and they really exploded on offense in the second one. Obviously these two teams know each other very well, but the Cowboys seem to be the more desperate team and sometimes that’s enough to win out.Let’s hope that’s the case.