Christmas weekend in the NFL doesn’t separate the contenders from the pretenders. Regardless, the holiday season is a pretty good indicator of which teams could make noise once they get to the postseason.
The NFL regular season is coming to a close soon, as teams are looking to get hot at the right time with the playoffs looming. The Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins had a good litmus test in Week 16, same with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Dolphins and Buccaneers came out victorious, while the Cowboys and Jaguars have more questions than answers.
In the Week 16 overreactions of the Sunday afternoon games, let’s determine if the results between playoff contenders were actually overreactions or not.
Cowboys are one and done in playoffs
Overreaction or reality: Reality
The loss to the Dolphins was massive in regard to the Cowboys playing a playoff game at home, where Dallas is simply dominant. On the road? The Cowboys have a -6 point differential on the road to a +165 at home, averaging 39.9 points at home to 21.3 on the road.
The Cowboys are 0-4 against teams with winning records on the road, 3-0 at home. Dallas is arguably the best team in the NFL at home, yet may not even get to play a home playoff game.
With the Philadelphia Eagles schedule (New York Giants twice, Arizona Cardinals), Dallas may be staring down the No. 5 seed and playing a road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (winners of four straight). Is anyone convinced Dallas can beat a team with a winning record on the road right now?
Even if Dallas beats Tampa Bay, the Cowboys will face the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, or Eagles on the road in the next round. Right now, beating a red-hot Buccaneers team isn’t a given.
The Cowboys will enter the playoffs 0-4 against teams currently with winning records on the road — not a good sign.
