DALLAS — And just like that, the season is over for the Dallas Cowboys.
A blowout loss in the Wild Card round was just another unceremonious exit for Mike McCarthy’s group, a third disappointing playoff loss in as many years, and a third defeat where the team played one of their worst games of the year as the lights got bright.
Cowboys fans are surely tired of the lethargic, undisciplined, and ugly performances brought forth by their favorite team with the season on the line, but unfortunately that’s become the norm. It shouldn’t be a surprise anymore, despite the unlikely opening-round outster.
Nevertheless, every postseason the Cowboys talk about this year being different. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t. Not this season, just like it wasn’t in the previous two years nor any in nearly 30 years.
So here we are, wondering what direction the franchise is now headed. Owner Jerry Jones has some decisions to make, but before heading down that path, let’s take a final look at what we learned in the latest playoff failure from the Cowboys:
Dak struggled, again
The Cowboys signal caller had one of his best seasons – perhaps his best year – in 2023, but he failed to play well when a bad game would send him and his team home. The final statistics will look good, but that doesn’t tell the story as almost the entire second half of the game could have been considered garbage time in a noncompetitive rout.
Prescott missed on a few throws that he’s made all year long and had two costly interceptions. The first pick was one that can be debated, Prescott threw to a spot where his trusted Brandin Cooks to be, but the veteran wide receiver couldn’t fight his way to the ball. The result was an interception that turned a 7-0 game into 14-0 in just a few plays and led to the Cowboys pressing to come back for the rest of the contest. That’s a death knell to a team already under immense pressure and one that did not perform well when trying to play catch up all season.
The next interception was one of Prescott’s worst throws of the year. The veteran quarterback tried to force the ball to his favorite receiver CeeDee Lamb to get the league’s reception leader going and Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage snatched it for a 64-yard pick-six touchdown.
The decision and result were disastrous, with the Cowboys down 27-0 and the game essentially over before halftime.
Those weren’t the only poor plays from Prescott in the loss, but they highlighted another uneven playoff game from someone the team needed to carry them.
Penalties were killers, again
It didn’t take the Cowboys long to display their undisciplined ways, a hallmark of the McCarthy era. Just two plays into the first Packers drive and a penalty killed what looked like a good start on defense.
Cornerback DaRon Bland’s illegal contact infraction cost the defense a sack and a third-and-long situation and delivered a first down instead. Later in the drive, veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence jumped offsides on a third-and-five to give the Packers an easier conversion attempt where they ran the ball in for the 7-0 lead.
Those were two critical penalties that helped the Packers have their way on the opening drive.
In the third quarter, a successful two-point conversion was wiped off the board because of two offensive penalties that forced an extra point try. The kick was missed, and it felt like that was the final sign that it wasn’t Cowboys’ day.
Penalties were a problem all year and in the wild-card loss, it was still an issue. That can’t be the case with your season on the line but it has been the case too often under McCarthy.
No adjustments, again
Dallas’ defense had no answers for what the Packers were doing on offense. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn had to know that his defense would have to slow down running back Aaron Jones to win the game, but he kept his scheme in place even though his unit wasn’t stopping the run.
The Cowboys allowed Jones to rush for 118 yards and three scores while staying in dime defense for almost the entirety of the game. Lining up with six secondary players when you’re getting gashed upfront proved unwise, especially since Packer quarterback Jordan Love carved Dallas up any time he needed a big play regardless.
Quinn also struggled to adjust to all of the pre-snap motion that the Packers used, which saw his defense get sliced up worse than they had all year.
In addition, the Cowboys didn’t force a turnover in the game for just the fifth time all season. They were 0-5 in games where they didn’t produce a takeaway which demonstrates the boom-or-bust reliance on turnovers that Quinn’s defense is known for.
The system had worked for much of the year for the Cowboys, but Quinn’s defense was getting eaten alive and he couldn’t make the adjustments to give the offense a chance to come back. It was a disappointing showing from Quinn, in what could be his final impression with the team.
Lethargic early, again
In what has become a disturbing trend in the playoffs, the Cowboys came out flat and stayed that way. Indeed, Dallas has trailed after the first quarter in each of his last three playoff losses while allowing opening drive touchdowns in two of the last three, including Sunday’s loss.
This year’s early malaise feels more unexplainable since the team was playing at AT&T Stadium with the crowd behind them, ready to explode. The team hadn’t lost all year at home and had enjoyed mostly blowout wins throughout the year, but they couldn’t muster anything to match the intensity of the moment.
There seemed to be an element of trying to not mess up or looking beyond their 9-8 opponent instead of playing free or with vigor from McCarthy’s team. That’s something that’s hard to fathom given the magnitude of the game.
If the Cowboys thought they could walk all over the Packers, they were sorely mistaken. Dallas didn’t play the game with enough energy and they paid dearly.
Do you see a path for the Cowboys to recover from the deflating end to their season? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
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