Not only can the Cowboys not afford another loss at this stage in the season, they would be faced with a near-impossible task of making the playoffs since the Eagles cruised to a blowout win earlier Sunday and reached the 9-5 mark.

So, what is the Cowboys’ current playoff picture? Here’s where things stand, as of Sunday afternoon:

How can the Cowboys make the playoffs?

It’s really NFC East or bust. After the loss to the Lions, the Cowboys are in a tough position when it comes to making the postseason via the Wild Card. With the top seven teams in the NFC making the playoffs (four division winners, three Wild Cards), the Cowboys currently sit in 10th place.

The Seattle Seahawks (10-3), Chicago Bears (10-4), San Francisco 49ers (9-4), Detroit Lions (8-5) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7) are all in front of Dallas at the moment. The Bucs currently hold a tiebreaker over the Cowboys thanks to a better win percentage in conference games.

The Cowboys could very well jump the slumping Bucs down the stretch, and maybe overtake the Lions (though they’d lose a tiebreaker there as well). But getting in front of a 9-4 San Francisco team would be tough, and the 49ers are playing the lowly Titans at home on Sunday.

Can the Cowboys win the NFC East?

The Cowboys can still chase down the Eagles, and even though Philly has struggled in recent weeks (losing three straight entering this week), it was pretty easy to predict they’d win Sunday against a bad Raiders team. So the Eagles are 9-5, and the Cowboys are 6-6-1 heading into Sunday night.

If the Cowboys finish the season 4-0, they’d be 10-6-1 and need the Eagles to finish 1-2 down the stretch. We’ll address the Cowboys’ chances of a perfect finish in a second. But 1-2 for the Eagles isn’t that crazy … they play at Washington next week, then travel to Buffalo before finishing with Washington at home. Buffalo should be favored over Philadelphia, while the Eagles will be favorites against Washington. But even a banged up, beleaguered Washington team *might* be able to sneak out a win against the Eagles. We’ll see.

For the Cowboys, the path is clear — win out. And they’ll be favorites in at least three of their four final games, which include Sunday night against the Vikings, next Sunday against the Chargers at home and on the road at Washington and the Giants. The Chargers will be the Cowboys’ toughest test, but also, it’s a home game. Which means it should be winnable, given this team’s track record at AT&T Stadium.