2021 Dallas Cowboys season

62nd season in franchise history

The 2021 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 62nd season in the National Football League and the 33rd under the ownership of Jerry Jones.

2021 Dallas Cowboys season
OwnerJerry Jones
Head coachMike McCarthy
General managerJerry Jones
Home fieldAT&T Stadium
Results
Record12–5
Division place1st NFC East
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs (vs. 49ers) 17–23
Pro BowlersP Bryan Anger
CB Trevon Diggs
G Zack Martin
LB Micah Parsons
OT Tyron Smith
AP All-ProsG Zack Martin (1st team)
LB Micah Parsons (1st team)
CB Trevon Diggs (1st team)
P Bryan Anger (2nd team)
Uniform
2020 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 12 Micah Parsons *  LB Penn State
2 44 Kelvin Joseph  CB Kentucky
3 82 Osa Odighizuwa  DT UCLA
3 84 Chauncey Golston  DE Iowa
3 99 Nahshon Wright  CB Oregon State Compensatory Pick
4 123 Jabril Cox  LB LSU
4 138 Josh Ball  OT Marshall Compensatory Pick
5 178 Simi Fehoko  WR Stanford Compensatory Pick
6 192 Quinton Bohanna  DT Kentucky
6 227 Israel Mukuamu  CB South Carolina Compensatory Pick
7 238 Matt Farniok  OG Nebraska
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Regular season

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Schedule

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The Cowboys' 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 9 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 29–31 0–1 Raymond James Stadium Recap
2 September 19 at Los Angeles Chargers W 20–17 1–1 SoFi Stadium Recap
3 September 27 Philadelphia Eagles W 41–21 2–1 AT&T Stadium Recap
4 October 3 Carolina Panthers W 36–28 3–1 AT&T Stadium Recap
5 October 10 New York Giants W 44–20 4–1 AT&T Stadium Recap
6 October 17 at New England Patriots W 35–29 (OT) 5–1 Gillette Stadium Recap
7 Bye
8 October 31 at Minnesota Vikings W 20–16 6–1 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap
9 November 7 Denver Broncos L 16–30 6–2 AT&T Stadium Recap
10 November 14 Atlanta Falcons W 43–3 7–2 AT&T Stadium Recap
11 November 21 at Kansas City Chiefs L 9–19 7–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
12 November 25 Las Vegas Raiders L 33–36 (OT) 7–4 AT&T Stadium Recap
13 December 2 at New Orleans Saints W 27–17 8–4 Caesars Superdome Recap
14 December 12 at Washington Football Team W 27–20 9–4 FedExField Recap
15 December 19 at New York Giants W 21–6 10–4 MetLife Stadium Recap
16 December 26 Washington Football Team W 56–14 11–4 AT&T Stadium Recap
17 January 2 Arizona Cardinals L 22–25 11–5 AT&T Stadium Recap
18 January 8 at Philadelphia Eagles W 51–26 12–5 Lincoln Financial Field Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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Division

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NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Dallas Cowboys 12 5 0 .706 6–0 10–2 530 358 W1
(7) Philadelphia Eagles 9 8 0 .529 3–3 7–5 444 385 L1
Washington Football Team 7 10 0 .412 2–4 6–6 335 434 W1
New York Giants 4 13 0 .235 1–5 3–9 258 416 L6

Conference

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# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV STK
Division winners
1[a] Green Bay Packers North 13 4 0 .765 4–2 9–3 .479 .480 L1
2[a] Tampa Bay Buccaneers South 13 4 0 .765 4–2 8–4 .467 .443 W3
3[b] Dallas Cowboys East 12 5 0 .706 6–0 10–2 .488 .431 W1
4[b] Los Angeles Rams West 12 5 0 .706 3–3 8–4 .483 .409 L1
Wild cards
5 Arizona Cardinals West 11 6 0 .647 4–2 7–5 .490 .492 L1
6 San Francisco 49ers West 10 7 0 .588 2–4 7–5 .500 .438 W2
7[c] Philadelphia Eagles East 9 8 0 .529 3–3 7–5 .469 .350 L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
8[c] New Orleans Saints South 9 8 0 .529 4–2 7–5 .512 .516 W2
9 Minnesota Vikings North 8 9 0 .471 4–2 6–6 .507 .434 W1
10[d] Washington Football Team East 7 10 0 .412 2–4 6–6 .529 .420 W1
11[d][e] Seattle Seahawks West 7 10 0 .412 3–3 4–8 .519 .424 W2
12[d][e] Atlanta Falcons South 7 10 0 .412 2–4 4–8 .472 .315 L2
13 Chicago Bears North 6 11 0 .353 2–4 4–8 .524 .373 L1
14 Carolina Panthers South 5 12 0 .294 2–4 3–9 .509 .412 L7
15 New York Giants East 4 13 0 .235 1–5 3–9 .536 .485 L6
16 Detroit Lions North 3 13 1 .206 2–4 3–9 .528 .627 W1
Tiebreakers[f]
  1. 1.0 1.1 Green Bay finished ahead of Tampa Bay based on conference record.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Dallas finished ahead of LA Rams based on conference record.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Philadelphia finished ahead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Washington finished ahead of Atlanta and Seattle based on head-to-head sweep.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Seattle finished ahead of Atlanta based on win percentage in common games.
  6. When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Postseason

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Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap
Wild Card January 16 San Francisco 49ers (6) L 17–23 0–1 AT&T Stadium Recap