Nov 28, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) smiles as he accepts the Phil Simms All Iron award with running back DeMarco Murray (29) against the Oakland Raiders during a NFL football game on Thanksgiving at AT

We are fresh off a Thanksgiving day Dallas Cowboys 31-24 come from behind win against the Oakland Raiders. Dallas finally harnessed that ever-elusive balanced offensive attack rushing 30 times for 144 yards in 64 total plays. This season’s logic says that if the Cowboys run the ball, usually the Cowboys win the game.

Also factoring into the Thanksgiving win was a decent defensive effort where Dallas allowed just 50 rushing yards against a Oakland team with a stout ground game. The ‘Boys defense stuffed the Oakland runners all game giving up just 2 yards per rush.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys did not get any playoff help from the Arizona Cardinals who lost to a suddenly surging (4 wins in a row) Philadelphia Eagles team who held the high scoring Cardinals to just 21 points. On the flip side, however, the Washington Redskins were eliminated from playoff contention against a struggling New York Giants team.

Optimism is soaring for Cowboys Nation, and many believe all NFC East Championship roads are leading to the December 29, 2013 meeting versus the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium, which sets up my hypothetical scenario and corresponding question.

Allow for one qualification however, know that I have a strong opinion on the subject, but am not revealing my thoughts because I would rather not skew any open debate in Internet/FaceBook/Twitter-verse.

Do Dallas Cowboys fan prefer the Cowboys make it into the playoffs given that there may be an early (completely hypothetical) exit, or does Cowboys Nation prefer Dallas miss the playoffs altogether thus setting the club up for a higher draft pick?

I realize this is all conjecture, and there are many “what if” scenarios in asking the question alone, but play along with me as I thought the notion of a win small or win in the draft question is interesting.

With a 2013 Dallas Cowboys playoff berth, the assumption would be that the Cowboys eventually beat out the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East championship, or the Cowboys snuck into “the tournament” as a Wildcard.

In the playoff scenario, the Cowboys have the glory of winning another NFC East championship to add to the club’s already impressive resume. Once in the playoffs, anything can happen and Dallas could make a deep run resulting in an NFC Championship or even, dare I say Super Bowl contention. Gives a Cowboys devotee the warm fuzzies, does it not?

On the flip side taking the higher draft pick stance, Dallas would end up missing the playoffs but would hypothetically wind up with a low teens level draft pick. In this fantasy land, the Cowboys end in another disappointing season without the playoffs.

Tony Romo is blamed summarily for the non-playoff season and everyone calls for head coach Jason Garrett’s or even “GM Jerry Jones’” head. Once the dust settles, the idea of a low teens draft pick, as opposed to a mid-twenties pick, starts to warm up to Cowboys Nation allowing for the possibility of drafting a shiny new defensive end (Rushman) taking over for the likely gone Anthony Spencer or even a highly disruptive defensive tackle to replace the departed Jay Ratliff.

So, I put the question to you, Cowboys Nation, is it full throttle run for the playoffs with a possible early exit, or go for the higher draft pick?

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