Dallas Cowboys Out of Race For NFC No. 1 Seed After Embarrassing Loss?
The Dallas Cowboys were supposed to announce themselves as the NFC's best team during their Week 5 Sunday Night Football battle with the San Francisco 49ers. Instead, the Cowboys were embarrassed 42-10 by a 49ers team that has eliminated them in each of the last two postseasons, and surely will be favored to do so again if the two teams meet this January.
How bad was this? Said QB Dak Prescott: “I didn’t see it coming. … This might be the most humbling game I’ve ever been a part of.”
For as impressive as the Cowboys have looked in their three wins this season, they are now 3-2. You don't want to make any sweeping proclamations in early October, but it's hard to see a path to the Cowboys obtaining the No. 1 seed -- which comes with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs -- after this loss.
On one hand, a loss -- whether it's by three points or 32 -- counts the same in the standings. On the other hand, the 49ers now own the tiebreaker over the Cowboys. The 5-0 49ers essentially have a three-game lead in the NFC playoff race over the Cowboys because of that. That's what made the Week 3 28-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, even with offensive line injuries acknowledged, so inexplicable.
Meanwhile, the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles moved to 5-0 by defeating the Los Angeles Rams 23-14 Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys have almost certainly been more impressive in their wins than the Eagles have, but they are now two games back in the NFC East race nonetheless. Dallas would have to leapfrog the Eagles to win the NFC East, and to have a shot to be the NFC's top seed. To do that, they would need to sweep their two matchups with Philadelphia, which will come in Week 9 and Week 14. Perhaps they will do that, but it feels a lot more likely that the two NFC East rivals will split their two games.
Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys were embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football.
Kyle Terada/USA Today
Former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had interesting comments on NBC's "Football Night in America" in September, suggesting that the team was much better geared to play on the artificial turf at AT&T Stadium than on the natural grass some other teams use.
"...I do think Dallas is a little slower on defense when they play on grass," Garrett said. "When they're at home on that fast track, it's like they've got 14 guys on defense."
Sunday evening, the Cowboys looked much less intimidating playing on the grass at Levi's Stadium. And by falling to 3-2, quarterback Dak Prescott and the Cowboys increased the chances that they'll have to go on the road for some or all of any postseason run. And to get one of the two seats in Super Bowl LVIII, Dallas will likely have to go through Levi's Stadium and Lincoln Financial Field, two natural grass surfaces.
And to borrow Dak's word? At this moment, more "humbling'' seems on the horizon.
