The Dallas Cowboys had everything in front of them this postseason, but once again they were unable to get out of their own way. Owning the No. 2 seed as NFC East champions, the club was guaranteed at least two home playoff games at AT&T Stadium, where they had won 16 consecutive contests. All they had to do was dispatch the 9-8 Green Bay Packers, who had to win three straight games to end the year just to qualify for the dance.
They couldn’t.
Neither Dan Quinn’s defense nor Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott’s offense resembled anything they had put forth all season long, and the team got trampled in an embarrassing blowout loss to end their season, 48-32.
The 48 points was the most Dallas has ever given up in a playoff game, and the writing was on the wall from the opening kickoff. The Packers are the first No. 7 seed to win a playoff game ever.
A questionable game plan to move away from man coverage was augmented by badly timed penalties on the opening drive of the defense. Jordan Love marched the Packers down the field, allowing Aaron Jones a short touchdown for the early 7-0 lead.
From there, it was all downhill. A far-too-common deer-in-headlights offense was met by timid playcalling and before anyone knew it, Dak Prescott had thrown his second interception, a Pick-6 that made it 27-0 in the second quarter.
Prescott was objectively horrible in the first half, missing targets and making questionable decisions. By the time they got into any sort of rhythm, the game was on miracle-comeback status.
And that never got off the ground because Dan Quinn’s defense couldn’t stop a sneeze.
Dallas won 12 games for the third consecutive season, a first since the glory days of the 1990s, but after such a demoralizing, lethargic performance, there are going to be major questions about the future of the coaching staff and the direction of the team.