After the Dallas Cowboys dropped to 3-5-1 for the season with a pair of losses to the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals in the two games ahead of their much-needed Week 10 bye, the thought process among NFL oddsmakers (and pundits, fans, and, well, pretty much everybody) was that there was basically no chance for Brian Schottenheimer's squad to make the playoffs.
The Cowboys came out of their bye week, during which they actually got a little help, and kept themselves in the mix with a dominant 33-16 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11.