Dallas Cowboys Struggle Again, Playoff Picture Looks Bleak

There is plenty of time for the Dallas Cowboys to think about running out of time this week.

Dropping to 3-5-1 puts the Cowboys 11th in the NFC playoff standings — well outside the bracket — with only five teams beneath them. When the Cowboys woke up Tuesday mourning the Monday night loss to the Arizona Cardinals (3-5), they were closer to a top-10 draft pick than a postseason spot.

Spending the bye week with a self scout is normal and expected, but head coach Brian Schottenheimer won't likely appreciate what he finds out about the men in the mirror.

At the moment, the Detroit Lions (5-3) are the last team in the NFC playoffs, a No. 7 seed that shows just how loaded the conference could be in a January conference tournament.

The Bears (4-4) are the first team out and already have a tiebreaker win over the Cowboys. Same goes for the Minnesota Vikings (4-4). Arizona (3-5) beat Dallas on Monday, expects starter Kyler Murray to be ready to play next week and has the NFL's easiest remaining schedule even in the loaded NFC West.

At 2-4 in the conference, the Cowboys strength of victory — an official tabulation by the league — is the lowest in the NFC (.231) outside of the Saints (1-8), who are at .222.

While the Cowboys rest this week and return to play the Raiders on "Monday Night Football" in Week 11, they also have matchups left with the Vikings, Lions, Eagles, Chiefs and Chargers.

Schottenheimer did more harm than good Monday with head-scratching play-calling in the red zone that gave off the appearance he was more concerned with fooling counterpart Jonathan Gannon than pulling the right play. He might've been better off pulling play calls out of a hat.

Sacks — five allowed — and turnovers (three) doomed Dallas on Monday.

Their inability to get to quarterback Jacoby Brissett meant the Cardinals had all the time they needed to spread the ball around and function offensively even with a QB2 at the helm and a band of third-team running backs (James Conner and Trey Benson are on IR) sharing the load in the backfield.

Even if the Cowboys beat the Raiders, an 11-day run playing the Eagles (Nov. 23), Chiefs (Nov. 27) and Lions (Dec. 4) might as well be auditions for the Fat Lady, because it'll pretty much be all over in Dallas by then.

A Christmas Day game against the Commanders? The regular-season finale against the Giants? Both are of interest only for draft position.