IRVING – On the day after their 42-17 loss to New Orleans, the Cowboys still found themselves atop the NFC East.
"The situation right now forces me to try to kind of get rid of the doom and gloom that has set in here after this loss," coach Bill Parcells said. "There are a lot of people who would like to be in our position right this minute."
Maybe so, but the Cowboys (8-5) have lost their cushion with three games to play. A win Saturday at Atlanta would keep them on top of the division and give them the tiebreaker edge on the Falcons, but it would not eliminate Philadelphia, which visits Texas Stadium on Christmas, from the race.
If the Eagles beat the New York Giants on Sunday, the Christmas game would essentially be for the division title. Having lost at Philadelphia already, the Cowboys could not afford another loss in that scenario.
The Cowboys' chances for a first-round bye took a major hit with the loss Sunday to the Saints.
The Cowboys, provided they win out, would need the Saints to lose two of their final three games to overtake them for the No. 2 seed, having lost head-to-head. Currently, the Cowboys are the fourth seed behind Seattle (8-5) because of their 5-4 conference record.
If the Seahawks and Cowboys finish with the same record, Dallas could jump to No. 3 on a strength of victory tiebreaker.
"Now we have a difficult task in front of us because we have a couple of contenders back-to-back." Parcells said. "We do have pressure on us to play well, but we're still in good position if we take advantage of it."
E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com
