As far as how the 2022 regular season unfolded, it went to the wire and the Dallas Cowboys

gave a valiant effort toward potentially improving their playoff seeding heading into their Week 18 matchup

  against the Washington Commanders but, in the end, they end the week where they started it in the bracket.

The Cowboys will enter the tournament as owners of the No. 5 seed in the NFC, set to face off against the winners of the NFC South: Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The game is set for Monday, Jan. 16 at 8:25 p.m. EDT — capping off NFL Super Wild Card Weekend.

The outcome of Week 18 had more than one possible scenario for the Cowboys

the team having applied pressure to the Philadelphia Eagles by virtue of defeating them on Christmas Eve before then downing the Tennessee Titans.

That put Dallas on a two-game win streak and initiated a two-game losing streak by Philadelphia that prevented them from clinching the NFC East or the top seat in the NFC.

To steal away the top seat in the division, the Cowboys needed a victory against the Commanders and a loss by the Eagles

To take the top seed in the conference, the Cowboys needed a victory, a loss by the Eagles against the New York Giants and a loss by the San Francisco 49ers against the Arizona Cardinals.

In the end, it was not to be, particularly with the 49ers and Eagles both cruising to victory.