Falcons win over Saints makes Cowboys' road to playoffs harder

The team sits at 6-6 readying for their coming Week 14 battle with the New York Giants, knowing full well they can't afford a single loss in the month of December if they're to keep their playoff hopes alive. The problem is running the table doesn't guarantee them a seat at it, and the chances they'll be able to hobble their two-legged chair up to the feast were struck a mighty blow when the New Orleans Saints fell to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.

With the Falcons already owning the tiebreaker from dismantling the Cowboys in Week 9, their victory over the Saints gives them an extra edge in the hunt -- with the Cowboys now needing that much more assistance from other teams to land a Wild Card Berth.

And so it goes, they'll now need:

- Atlanta Falcons to lose two of their final three games, plus

- Seattle Seahawks to lose two of their final four (one being to the Cowboys would be helpful for tiebreaker purposes), plus

- Green Bay Packers lose one, plus

- Detroit Lions lose one

The following would also contribute in a big way:

- Minnesota Vikings over Carolina Panthers

- Los Angeles Chargers over Washington Redskins

- Tennessee Titans over Arizona Cardinals

- Los Angeles Rams over Philadelphia Eagles

Even if the planets align, the cosmos dance and Odin grants permission for all of this to happen -- it would all be for naught if the Cowboys don't take care of business going forward. They've already lost six games this season, five of which were winnable when halftime struck. Gifting away those games loom large, especially in the realm of tiebreakers, to which the Cowboys own none at the moment.

Is there still a chance they'll go 10-6 and back their way into the tournament? It's far from a safe bet, but it's most certainly possible. It's also possible there's a 10-6 team in the NFC that'll find themselves left in the cold when January rolls around, and if that should happen -- the Cowboys are left to hope the chips somehow fall in their favor. 

Stranger things have happened, but the lesson for them is simple: Winning games before December makes the holidays stress-free.