National Football League

Cowboys prove they're no road warriors — which will be a problem in playoffs

Published Dec. 24, 2023 8:33 p.m. ET

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

This was the moment the Dallas Cowboys could have changed their narrative and proved to everyone — including themselves — they were capable of winning a big game on the road. All they needed was one stop to do it; to show they could be the road warriors they will soon need to be.

Ultimately, this one ended the way every other big game on the road has ended for the snake-bitten Cowboys this season — with a loss, leaving them to wonder how things again had gone so wrong.

The Cowboys were beaten in Miami 22-20 on Sunday when Jason Sanders' 29-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired. It was their second straight loss and the second straight on the road, dropping a very talented team to 3-5 this season outside of Dallas.

That wouldn't be so terrible if it weren't for this: The Cowboys (10-5) are almost certain to finish second in the NFC East to the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4), barring a shocking collapse by the defending NFC champs down the stretch against a pillow-soft schedule. That means the Cowboys' road to the Super Bowl will be on the road, and likely take them through Detroit, Philadelphia or San Francisco — maybe even all three cities.

And at this point, even they can't possibly believe they're capable of winning a big game there.

"The confidence is high with this group," Prescott said. "We understand that we can (beat good teams on the road). And we will."

It's a nice thought, but the Cowboys now have a season's worth of evidence to prove that they can't; that they're just a different type of team when they're not in the friendly confines of Arlington's AT&T Stadium. They are 7-0 at home with an eye-popping point differential of plus-171. They have beaten teams there by an average score of 40-15.

But when they leave their city, it's like they forget how to play football. Their point differential on the road is minus-6. They lose by an average of 22-21. The best squad they've beaten all year on the road are the Los Angeles Rams, who were just 3-5 at the time.

This game was almost different. They fought back from a rough start to the game that had them trailing 19-10 as the fourth quarter began. And when they got the ball with 11:06 to go, trailing just 19-13, they put together one of those drives that should have turned around their season — a 17-play, 69-yard march that ate 7:39 off the clock.

'The key was competitive greatness' — Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa on defeating Cowboys

They even ran seven plays inside the Miami 7, thanks in part to a double pass interference call on the Miami secondary on a fourth-down play from the Miami 4. That set up Prescott's big moment — an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, who made an outstanding catch to give the Cowboys a 20-19 lead.

But they left too much time on the clock and the self-described "best defense in the National Football League" again fell short, giving up a 12-play, 64-yard drive to the Dolphins. The defense was terrific up until that point, holding the NFL's highest-scoring team to just one touchdown. But all that was erased when they couldn't find a way to hold the lead.

Even when they had a shot to make sure Prescott would get the ball back one last time, they couldn't stop the Dolphins on a third-and-2 from the Dallas 15 with 1:42 remaining.

As always, on the road, when they needed a big play, nobody could make one on either side.

And their road woes are more than just that. Prescott's final numbers were fine — 20-of-32, 253 yards, two touchdowns — but the offense was anemic in the first half when he was just 6 of 9 for 121 yards and a touchdown. There's no way around this: Prescott's play this year year has been strong overall, but on an entirely different level based on where he's playing.

He's completed 74 percent of his passes at home for 2,125 yards, 20 touchdowns and two interceptions — good for a passer rating of 122.5. On the road, he's completed just 63.2 percent of his passes for 1,76 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Away from home, his passer rating drops to 87.1.

It takes a special toughness for a team to be good on the road, and the Cowboys just don't seem to have it this season. And now they're out of chances to show themselves it's there. Their last road game of the season comes in two weeks in Washington against the woeful 4-10 Commanders. Nobody will be impressed or convinced if they win, as they should, there.

That means, barring a miracle, their next big game will come in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The only bright side for them is it likely will be against the default winner of the NFC South — at Tampa (8-7), New Orleans (7-8) or Atlanta (7-8). Even the Cowboys should be able to win a game in any of those spots.

But in Detroit, Philadelphia or San Francisco? They may believe they're capable of winning in any of those places, but they've blown every chance they had to prove it. They'd be a real Super Bowl contender if they somehow could've grabbed home-field advantage throughout the NFL playoffs.

On the road, though, they're just another flawed Cowboys team, incapable of winning the big game they need to win. And that just means this promising season is likely to end in disappointment, as it so often does.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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