What makes the divisional playoffs such a tough nut to crack?

[atlantacowboy]

Poor team construction reflecting an ongoing incompetence in the FO.............and some bad coaching.

 

[McKDaddy]

there generally aren't any easy games when you get to that level. you have to go out & earn it rather than being satisfied with a participation trophy.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Still cant admit we didnt have good coaching? If we were upset in one or two, doesnt that mean we had the better team and just go out coached by a coach with a worse team?

No, that's not what it means at all. Every good team gets upset once or twice a season. It means that you lost that fumble instead of recovering it, and the ball just grazed the turf instead of your receiver making a shoestring catch, or your sure-handed holder fumbles the FG snap. Any game decided by less than a score comes with a lot of luck.

You can see this in team's records. As the score gets closer, all teams' records (including good ones) tend toward .500, because the outcome is more random. What separates the good teams from the bad is games that aren't close: good teams win a bunch of games in blowouts so that luck can't mess things up for them. Good teams don't get blown out: they're too good for that. The better a team is, the better they are at avoiding the kind of nail-biters that can go either way.

In the playoffs, they're all good teams, so the luck factor is magnified.

Or maybe Tyree held onto that ball with his helmet because his coaching was so much better.

 

[Motorola]

It’s from the parody of him on South Park.

A buddy of mine was a fan of the series when it first started...it never appealed to me.

 

[Motorola]

Since 1996, Dallas, Detroit and Washington are the only three NFC teams to have not appeared in the conference title game.

In particular, the Cowboys have lost 6 straight divisional playoff games.

What makes this particular hurdle so hard to climb over?

The team hasn't been a consistent playoff contender...could that be a factor?
'07, '09, '14, '16, '18.

 

[MyFairLady]

When you have no problems paying 10 million per year for a player like a broken down Tyrone Crawford you should not expect much in the way of playoff success. And that is just one example of which there are many.

 

[zrinkill]

What makes this particular hurdle so hard to climb over?

 

[DandyDon52]

The biggest hurdle? Jerral Wayne Jones and the culture he has infused into this entire organization.

Every single year, it’s the toughest teams- mentally and physically- that win in the playoffs. Sadly, our Cowboys have been Charmin soft for far too long. Talent alone is never enough. If we can ever build a talented and tough roster we will have a chance.

true, but you left out coaches, last year TB had the best DC OC team + Brady + a defense that was really good in the playoffs.
But the DC OC and HC can tilt those games in their favor if good enough.
And if they are lacking they actually can help the other team win the game.
MM did that in the Seattle conf champ game when Seattle then came back and won the game.
Atlanta did it against NE in SB.
JG did it twice in both GB games by calling timeouts at the wrong time.

 

[DandyDon52]

When you have no problems paying 10 million per year for a player like a broken down Tyrone Crawford you should not expect much in the way of playoff success. And that is just one example of which there are many.

lol they kept him instead of murray lol he got the 8 mil murray was asking for.
Somebody likes him.

Bottom line is mistakes add up over the years or in one year, and dallas is always making mistakes.

 

[CouchCoach]

Good question and I think part of that is the mental focus. What is the goal of the management of the team?

I don' care what the Joneses say, advancing in the playoffs is not the goal, making the playoffs is and they subscribe to that erroneous thinking that anything can happen once a team makes the playoffs and that is just not true nor does that bear out throughout the history of the NFL playoffs.

Good management ascertains what it takes to achieve the goal and then outlines the steps to achieving that. The first item they evaluate is their own complicity in underachievement which is why we see so much GM turnover and the prove it time shortened. The single most critical element to owner decision making is who will steer the team as GM.

What makes the NFC East division so unusual is the absence of staying power of any division winner in the last 17 years. Hell, a SB winner can't win the division the next season?

If I were to pick one thing it is the lack of a plan by management. It's a new world every season to them and they'll get around to that once this season ends. I saw a pc years ago with Booger and Porky and I think they were honest, they expect their turn. All they talked about was how it seemed to be a carousel with teams lining up to grab the brass ring and taking their turns. It is as if they're saying "look, this is what we're going to do but then it's in the hands of fate".

Their greatest failure is to refuse to own their mistakes because until one takes ownership of their mistakes, they cannot really fix them to the point of not re-committing them. The fact, at least to me, is they are far too star struck to build a championship team and the warts show up when they face the better built teams.

 

[DFWJC]

In ‘96, we were on the downswing. The dynasty was over. It had to happen eventually.
In ‘09 and ‘18, we had a big flaw and happened to run into teams that could maximally exploit that flaw (collapsing OL in ‘09, run D in ‘18).
In ‘07, ‘14 and ‘16, we lost to good teams (the Giants in particular were peaking) by less than a TD. Those games could easily have gone either way and we can and do point to individual plays that we wish we had back. Lots of luck involved there…but we also weren’t significantly better than those opponents, at that point of the season.

This.
In 3 of of those 6, the other team was just better.
The other 3 went down to the wire and could've gone either way, but didn't.

Rodgers put the dagger in us in 2016, the Dez overturned catch sealed our fate in 2014...but 2007

2007 especially...
with 21 seconds left, we had the perfectly thrown game-winning pass drop harmlessly in the endzone because the WR for some reason broke his route.

 

[Jake]

true, but you left out coaches, last year TB had the best DC OC team + Brady + a defense that was really good in the playoffs.
But the DC OC and HC can tilt those games in their favor if good enough.
And if they are lacking they actually can help the other team win the game.
MM did that in the Seattle conf champ game when Seattle then came back and won the game.
Atlanta did it against NE in SB.
JG did it twice in both GB games by calling timeouts at the wrong time.

Pointing out that the two constants - Jerry and Stephen - are the stumbling blocks isn't leaving out anything.

Who keeps hiring these knucklehead coaches? Charlotte? Gene? Jerry's limo driver?

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Since 1996, Dallas, Detroit and Washington are the only three NFC teams to have not appeared in the conference title game.

In particular, the Cowboys have lost 6 straight divisional playoff games.

What makes this particular hurdle so hard to climb over?

stupid coaching...and untimely bad plays.....we have had our chances. but blew it. couldn't make that final step..... against GB, we actually had a chance, with a hobbled Rodgers, we allowed them march down the field and score a TD....couldn't put pressure on a one legged QB....yes, it came down to the Dez non catch, but it should never have. same against GB in 2016...we had them. had the momentum. take it into over time....75 yards to drive. about a minute. and we gave up 3 big big ibg plays defensively.....same against Rams in 2018. good defense, that decided to not show up and gave up 250 yards rushing.....come on man....

 

[RS12]

Did ever notice that those teams that beat us in playoffs has a GM that has to win to keep his job? A novel concept, I know.

 

[links18]

I'd say not being good enough in the regular season to get HFA, except we have lost two of those games AT HOME.

 

[Texasfootball21]

 

[MWH1967]

Middle of the D-line?

 

[MWH1967]

I broke the glass in our living room light on that play. Its never been replaced.

 

[Texasfootball21]

I broke the glass in our living room light on that play. Its never been replaced.

We were robbed by Goodell and his band of zebras...That one really hurt!

 

[Maxmadden]

I think you're onto something.

Not everybody can be a rocket scientist.