The $9bn Cowboys excel at two things: making money and losing in the playoffs.
It’s always essential to watch the Dallas Cowboys during the playoffs, generally for all the wrong reasons. The Cowboys’ postseason disappointments have largely defined their 21st-century legacy, with their 1990s run of dominance firmly in the rearview mirror. It seemed like these Cowboys should have easily handled a visiting Green Bay Packers club that many believed was just thrilled to be here after securing the NFC’s second seed in the regular season.
Except, these are the Cowboys, a team who haven’t made it to the NFC Championship Game since 1995. At this point, their fans have come to expect embarrassment no matter how heavily the odds seem stacked in their favor.
Still, not even the most pessimistic fans imagined that Dallas’s defense would allow the Packers to score 27 unanswered points in the first half on Sunday, their largest playoff deficit since 1969. Dallas needed a defensive penalty to score a touchdown before the end of the half just to make it 27-7 heading into the break.
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The momentum did not carry over into the second half, as MVP of the Week candidate Aaron Jones answered with his third rushing touchdown of the game early in the third quarter. That effectively ended Dallas’s comeback hopes, although a few Dallas touchdowns in garbage time resulted in a final 48-32 scoreline that made the game look slightly less like the epic beatdown that it really was. After all, the Cowboys’ previous high as far as points allowed in a postseason game was 38; the Packers topped that by the third quarter on Sunday.
While Green Bay’s second-half defense left something to be desired, it was still an impressive road victory. Once again, the franchise has managed a successful quarterback succession, replacing Aaron Rodgers with understudy Jordan Love just as Rodgers replaced Brett Favre years prior. Love threw for three touchdowns in an offensive clinic. No matter what happens next week against the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers, the Packers’ rebuild is ahead of schedule.
If there’s one person who had the most to lose on Sunday, in more ways than one, it was head coach Mike McCarthy. He almost certainly hoped to get revenge on the Packers, the team who fired him in 2018. Instead, the Cowboys put together maybe their most humiliating first-round exit yet.
Given the Cowboys’ 28-year-long Super Bowl drought, it’s possible that the Packers could have caused McCarthy to lose yet another job. (He’s still in a job at time of writing on Sunday night, that could well have changed by the time you read this on Monday morning. After the game, Jones said he had “nothing set” on when he planned to meet McCarthy).
In addition, there are reports that Bill Belichick, who must become the most successful head coach in NFL history with a new team after “mutually parting ways” with the New England Patriots, may be of interest to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones if he leaves. Given that Belichick won a record six Super Bowls while coaching the New England Patriots and two more while serving as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, the idea seems promising on paper.
immediate postseason plans following their
playoff defeat.
Still, there are concerns that Jones would be committing the cardinal sports sin of hiring big-name talent based on past performance while ignoring signs of decline. Belichick has struggled to win in his last four seasons in New England – the Patriots played just one playoff game after Tom Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Even assuming Belichick is more successful with a more talented roster, inevitable personality clashes between Jones and Belichick, two men accustomed to having full control over their teams, would make this an extremely volatile situation. In fact, it will be a volatile situation no matter who the head coach is going forward. The Cowboys gig may not be as attractive as it seems given the team’s sky-high expectations, Jones’s insistence on being his own general manager and their history of underachieving under his watch.
After all, it hasn’t really made a difference who Dallas’s head coach or starting quarterback has been in the 21st century. Despite being the most valued team in sports, the Cowboys’ postseason misbehavior has grown as foreseeable as a comedy running joke. Jones has been an absolute success when it comes to making money. Despite having unlimited resources, Jones is still a huge failure when it comes to assembling a winning club.The same as it has always been.
MVP of the week
CJ Stroud, QB, Houston Texans.
Being the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game almost guarantees you this title, but normally it takes a lot more consideration. With some help from his offensive line, the rookie quarterback led the Texans to a resounding 45-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns, throwing for three touchdowns without giving up a pass and avoiding sacking once.
Along the way he went 16-for-21 for a total of 274 yards. He was easily the best player on the field on Saturday, although he will face a much tougher opponent next week as the Texans will be on the road to face the Baltimore Ravens and likely MVP Lamar Jackson. Stay tuned!
Stat of the week
57 years. That’s how long it had been since a Cleveland Browns quarterback had given up a pick-six in the playoffs, before Joe Flacco threw one to the Houston Texans’ Steven Nelson. The last time it happened was when Frank Ryan was picked off by the Dallas Cowboys’ Cornell Green back in 1967.
Unfortunately, Browns fans would not have to wait nearly as long for their next one as Flacco threw a second pick-six, this one to Christian Harris, on the very next drive. That essentially ended the game, as the Texans were able to rest their starters during the fourth quarter. Considering that Flacco was all but retired a few months prior, it’s quite likely that this will mark the end of his memorable NFL career. It was a nice Cinderella story while it lasted, but even her carriage had to revert back to a pumpkin eventually.
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