With the Cowboys having taken care of business on Thursday, they could sit back and see if they’d get any help on Sunday.
They didn’t.
The Bills, like the Chiefs the week before, grabbed a 17-7 lead at halftime. Like Kansas City, Buffalo failed to hold onto the lead.
At 8-3 on the season, the Cowboys would have a three-game lead if they played in the NFC South.
They’d be tied for the division lead in the NFC North, NFC West, AFC West, AFC East, and AFC South. They would be a half-game behind the Ravens in the AFC North.
Unfortunately, they play in the NFC East and – let’s face it — the Eagles are a charmed franchise right now.
Dallas could still catch the Eagles. They are well and truly in the running for the No. 1 seed in the NFC too.
But unless whatever guardian angel watches over Philadelphia abandons that team soon, Dallas is likely looking at a wild card spot.
Seeing as how they have a two-game lead in the wild card race they would draw the NFC South champion. Right now that is the 5-6 Falcons.
Remind you of last year? When Dallas opened on the road against Tampa Bay who won their division by default, much like Atlanta is doing this year?
Assuming the Cowboys end up the top Wild Card team, they will easily put away whoever wins Survivor NFC South.
And then – barring an upset — its likely another divisional round playoff game at either Philadelphia or San Francisco.
We’ve seen that script play out the last two years. Let’s hope, if Dallas cannot secure the NFC East, this script has a different ending.
Speaking of scripts…
Not That I’m A Conspiracy Theorist, But…
How many more times are we going to see blatantly bad calls and no calls favoring a certain team before we call it what it is?
Josh Allen gets served a horse collar tackle by the Eagles’ Haason Reddick. But instead of a first-and-goal the refs gather and call Allen for intentional grounding.
The horse collar tackle? Not called.
I could spend the rest of this week writing posts filled with similar “breaks” to what we saw on Sunday.
If the NFL wants to put an end to people thinking the outcomes are rigged, they might want to consider using an XFL rule.
It allows coaches to challenge penalties. Because Allen did not ground the ball and he was the victim of a horse collar tackle.
Or perhaps take up the college rule that allows the replay booth to step in.
I’d happily put up with a longer game as long as it ensured getting the calls right.
Speaking of getting it right…
A Little Discipline, Please
It isn’t a problem limited to just this past weekend. But it does seem to be getting worse with each passing week.
Stupid penalties.
One of many examples: Justin Watson of the Chiefs catches a touchdown, then runs up and taunts a Raiders’ defender.
He drew a 15-yard penalty of course. The reason why he did it?
Watson got knocked on his rump by the Raiders’ player while running his route.
Apparently, scoring the game-tying touchdown wasn’t revenge enough.
The penalty ultimately did not cost the Chiefs any points. But it could have.
And how many times have we seen similar situations?
A player makes a play to get the offense off the field. Then he hands them a first down by doing something dumb and drawing a flag.
A season or two back a player cost his team a win but drawing a flag late by taking his helmet off to celebrate.
I know I’m old school and we were coached differently back in the before times.
But how hard is it to be smart out there?
Better yet, where are the coaches – all the way back to youth football – coaching this out of them? Speaking of coaching…
Fourth And 31
How do you drop eight players back in coverage on a fourth and goal from the 31… and still give up a game-winning touchdown?
Especially after calling a time out before the play to set your defense.
Enter the Auburn Tigers. They had Alabama beat on Saturday until they handed the Tide a cheap win.
With eight defenders in the end zone it is inexcusable that any Alabama receiver would have only one player covering him in that situation.
Georgia will roll the Tide this weekend, so it won’t impact who the final four playoff teams will be. But that’s just poor coaching there.
Speaking of coaches…
Coaches Nearly Out-Axed The Turkeys
It was a bad week to be an NFL coach last week. The Steelers sacked offensive coordinator Matt Canada prior to Sunday’s game.
Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner was named interim offensive coordinator while quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan called the plays.
The change seemed to work as Pittsburgh rolled up 421 yards on offense in a 16-10 win over the Bengals.
The Cowboys’ 45-10 Thanksgiving Day rout cost two of the Commanders’ coaches their jobs on Friday.
Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive back coach Brent Vieselmeyer were let go. Frankly, I expected head coach Ron Rivera to get the axe instead.
Del Rio — a linebacker with Dallas from 1989-91 – was hamstrung by midseason trades that took away two starting defensive linemen.
You would expect Rivera might have stood up for his coaches a little better. At least state if you fire them you fire me too.
But he didn’t.
I think its likely he’s gone shortly after the season finale against the Cowboys in January.
Further speaking of coaches…
Rocky Mountain Low
The Colorado Buffaloes – coached by former Cowboys’ defensive back Deion Sanders – rocketed to instant stardom with a 3-0 start this year.
After a 23-17 loss to Utah on Saturday Colorado’s season ended with a 4-8 record. They lost their last six games.
There were winnable games – they were competitive outside a 56-14 beat down by Washington State. They just didn’t win them.
The turning point of the season came on what was a dirty hit by a Colorado State player on Travis Hunter that sidelined him for a few games.
The loss of the two-way standout over the first three games threw the Buffs off. Even when Hunter returned he wasn’t quite the same player.
Still, 4-8 is a whole lot better than 1-11. We’ll call Sanders’ first year in the big college leagues a good start.