Who will Dallas play next? Cowboys playoff schedule explained

The NFC Wild Card round finished with the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing each other. Each was vying for the final spot in the NFC Divisional round next weekend.

The equation for this game was very simple. Whoever won the game would have made it to the Divisional Round. Their opponents were also decided beforehand because of the way the chips fell in the other games. The San Francisco 49ers awaited the winners of this game.

As it turned out, the first half was a blowout and a shutout. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were held scoreless as the Dallas Cowboys scored three touchdowns. That gave them a 18-0 lead as they missed all their single-point conversions.

The second half saw the tide move the same way. Another touchdown by Dallas brought the score to 24-0, with the conversion missed again. The Buccaneers went up-tempo towards the end of the third quarter and scored a touchdown of their own to reduce the arrears to 24-6, after a two-point conversion failed.

But Dallas came straight back to throw another touchdown on a fourth-and-four to go ahead 30-6. The conversion was also finally nailed to give them a 31-6 lead in the fourth quarter. The Bucs later brought it down to 31-14, but Dallas was too far ahead to catch.

How did the other teams join the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round?

The NFC was won by the Philadelphia Eagles. Their first seed ensured that they had a bye for the Wild Card round and went straight to the Divisional Round.

The San Francisco 49ers, who were the second seed, defeated the Seattle Seahawks. As Seattle were the lowest seed, their elimination left the New York Giants as the lowest seed in the draw. After the Giants defeated the Minnesota Vikings, who were the third seed, they made it to the Divisional Round as the lowest seed. That automatically confirmed their matchup away to the Philadelphia Eagles.

That left the winners of this match to face the San Francisco 49ers on the road, since both Tampa and Dallas were ranked below them as the fourth and fifth seed respectively. Ultimately, the Cowboys took the opportunity, and this is how the NFC Divisional Round will line up.

• Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants @ Philadelphia
• San Francisco 49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco

It sees a mouthwatering clash between NFC East divisional rivals as the Giants and the Eagles go head-to-head. Then, the 49ers and the Cowboys will resume their rivalry in a throwback to the heydays of the 1990s. At the end of it all, only two will be left standing.