Cowboys claim NFC East title. They’ll host one of these two teams in the wild card round

The Dallas Cowboys are back in the playoffs. And with a week to spare.

Dallas (9-6) will play the wild card team with the best record at AT&T Stadium on either Jan. 5 or Jan. 6. The Chicago Bears, the NFC Central winner, will play the wild card team with the worst record. At the moment, the Cowboys’ opponent looks to be the Seattle Seahawks (9-6), who beat the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night. If the Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals (3-12) on Sunday, they’ll play the Cowboys.

But if the Seahawks lose and the Minnesota Vikings (8-6-1) beat the NFC Central champ Chicago Bears on Sunday, then the Cowboys would play the Vikings. So the Cowboys can only play the Seahawks or Vikings.

One other scenario is possible, but it won’t change who the Cowboys will play in the wild card. If the Vikings lose to the Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins, the Eagles would earn the second wild card spot and play at the Bears.

The Cowboys’ regular-season finale against the Giants (5-10) in New York at noon Sunday will have no bearing on Dallas’ positioning. The Cowboys will the No. 4 seed in the NFC. The Saints (13-2) have clinched the No. 1 seed and will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Rams (12-3) and Bears (11-4) are currently seeded Nos. 2 and 3. If both finished 12-4, the Bears would earn the No. 2 by virtue of their head-to-head win over the Rams on Dec. 9. That scenario would give the Bears a first round bye and force the Rams to host either the Vikings or Eagles in the wild card round.

The Cowboys are 1-2 in the playoffs under Jason Garrett. The Cowboys were last in the postseason in 2016 when they earned a bye with a 13-3 record but lost to the Packers 34-31 in the divisional round at AT&T Stadium.

This story was originally published December 23, 2018 at 3:05 PM.