The Cowboys would need to pick up two games on the 49ers to earn the top seed, but Parsons says it won’t happen

The Dallas Cowboys are still mathematically alive to earn the No. 1 seed and home field advantage in the NFC playoffs after a 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. But Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons has conceded that his team won’t.

Based on Parsons comments on the latest episode of his podcast “The Edge,” he may not even think his team will win the NFC East.

“We may have clinched a playoff spot but it does not matter because we’re going to have to travel, we’re going to have to be road warriors, we’re not going to get the No. 1 seed,” Parsons said.

At 10-4, even after the blowout loss to Buffalo, the Cowboys can still potentially earn the top seed in the NFC. The San Francisco 49ers currently hold it at 11-3, but with three games left, Dallas would just need to pick up two wins more than San Francisco to finish ahead. However, if the two teams finish with the same record, the 49ers would own the tiebreaker by virtue of a 41-10 win over the Cowboys in Week 5.

If the Cowboys do in fact end up having to travel and be “road warriors” like Parsons says, then it also would probably mean they don’t win the NFC East either. The Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 33-13 on Dec. 10to move into a tie for first place in the division, but the loss to Buffalo sent them back into second place pending the outcome of Philadelphia’s game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday.

Still, even if the Eagles win, the Cowboys would only need to pick up one game on Philadelphia to tie for the division lead, with tiebreakers still to be determined since the two teams split the season series.