FRISCO, Texas – For the first time in four years, the NFL playoffs will begin will the Cowboys on the outside looking in.
As the games kick off this weekend, the Cowboys are left with much more questions than answer to this 2024 season, that ended with a 7-10 record.
Mike McCarthy's five seasons with the Cowboys have now seen a 7-10 record this year and a 6-10 mark back in 2020, sandwiched around three straight 12-5 seasons.
But the ultimate goal of making a Super Bowl hasn't been reached. And there are plenty of reasons for that.
But before that can happen, teams must make the playoffs. And the Cowboys fell short of that goal, actually being eliminated with three games still play on the regular season schedule.
So why didn't they make it? Again, the reasons are countless and seem to be much more than just pointing towards the injury bug, which undoubtedly hampered the Cowboys all season long.
But there seems to be more than that. So with the playoffs starting, we took a deeper dive into the 9 games in which the Cowboys actually faced playoff teams. In those games, the Cowboys went 3-6, which included four total games against NFC East foes Philly and Washington.
Here's a handful of takeaways from these nine games against teams that made it to the playoffs:
- Baltimore, L, 28-25
- at Pittsburgh, W, 20-17
- Detroit, L, 47-9
- Philadelphia, L, 34-6
- Houston, L, 34-10
- at Washington, W, 34-26
- Tampa Bay, W, 26-24
- at Philadelphia, L, 41-7
- Washington, L, 23-19
Blowouts > close wins
When they lost to the playoff teams, it really wasn't close. When they won, it was a nail-biter. That's probably to be expected from a team that missed the playoffs. And that's exactly how it went down for the Cowboys.
They lost six games by an average of 21 points, thanks in large part to the 38-point home loss to the Lions, one of the most embarrasing games in team history. And of course, it happened on Jerry Jones' birthday. But if it wasn't that game, it was losing to the Eagles twice by 28 and 34 points and the Texans by 24.
And before you point out the Cowboys lost a last-second heartbreaker to Washington on the final play from scrimmage in Week 18, let's not forget the last-second catch by Jalen Tolbert to beat the Steelers. Just as easy as the Cowboys could've been 4-5 against the playoff teams, they might have been 2-7 without that clutch reception by Tolbert.
Slow starts – to both halves
No matter when it was, coming out of the locker room wasn't great for the Cowboys. It didn't matter if it was the first quarter or the third quarter, they had slow starts, and were even slower against the playoff teams.
In the nine games vs. postseason squads, the Cowboys were outscored 55-32 in the first quarter. Just two of those games saw them score a first-quarter touchdown (Tampa Bay, at Philly). But it was even worse in the third quarter. That's where a lot of games were lost this. year, especially against the good teams. The Cowboys were outscored 67-16 in these games in the third quarter, with the only touchdown occurring in the first Washington game on the road. That's when you teams are supposed to make at least some adjustments and all year long, especially against quality teams, it didn't happen.
Turnovers … Turnovers … Turnovers
This is probably the most defining football stats when it comes to wins and losses. And there was no exception against the NFL's best teams on the Cowboys' schedule. Overall, in the nine games, the Cowboys had a -11 turnover margin. In the six losses, the Cowboys had a -13 turnover margin and a +2 in the three wins. In the two biggest blowouts - a 38-point loss to the Lions and a 34-point loss in Philly, the Cowboys had a combined -9 turnover margin.
The biggest surprise among these games regarding turnovers was defeating the Steelers on the road despite having a -2 margin.
Run over by elite teams
In what seemed like a carryover from the last Cowboys' playoff game - they just couldn't stop the run against good teams. That was a problem for this team in 2023, evident by the Wild Card loss to the Packers, who steamrolled them on the ground. And in 2024, especially against the quality teams, it was more of the same. No game was more proof of that than the Week 3 loss to the Ravens, who used Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson to rush for 274 yards.
Overall, in the nine games vs. playoff teams, the average difference in the run game was 161-85. Not only were the Cowboys not stopping the run, but didn't run the ball too well against the better teams. The Cowboys only won the running battle in these games twice, once in Pittsburgh (109-92) and then in the season finale against Washington (150-113) but still managed to lose in the end.
Quality of the Quarterback
This is a stat that goes beyond just the playoff teams the Cowboys faced in 2024. But for the sake of the argument here, let's stick to the nine games against the postseason.
The teams the Cowboys lost to had quarterbacks of Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts, C.J. Stroud, Kenny Pickett and Jayden Daniels.
The QBs they beat from the playoff teams were Justin Fields, who is no longer starting for Pittsburgh, Jayden Daniels and and Baker Mayfield. If you're scoring at home, that's a 12-1 difference in combined Pro Bowls among the quarterbacks they lost to from the playoff teams, and the ones they defeated.
And on the flip side, the Cowboys had to play three different quarterbacks in those games, with Dak Prescott going 1-2, Cooper Rush 2-3 and Trey Lance 0-1.
