January 17, 2024
Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports
The NFC East will go unrepresented in the divisional round of the 2023-2024 NFL playoffs.
The wildcard round of the NFC playoffs is in the books and the only division that will not be represented in the divisional round is the NFC East, as the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles both exited the 2023 season with embarrassing whimpers.
The Cowboys had hilarious ends to their seasons both in 2021 and 2022.
In 2021 against the 49ers, Mike McCarthy called an asinine play that required the Cowboys and the officiating crew to work together to spot and snap the ball with time ticking down. The Cowboys spotted the ball themselves three yards past where Dak Prescott began his slide, the umpire actually did them a favor by only moving it back a foot or so, and the clock expired before Dallas got the snap off. McCarthy then blamed the officials for not spotting it fast enough, and even said the play call "was the right decision," lol.
What a way to end the game! #SuperWildCard pic.twitter.com/esKKpbkrQn
— NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2022
— not highlight heaven (@ABsneurosurgeon) January 23, 2023
That would be Ezekiel Elliott's last snap as a Cowboy.
In 2023, we got no such end-of-game hijinks. Instead, the Packers simply tore them apart from the opening whistle to the final gun, as the vaunted Cowboys defense looked helpless against the extremely young Packers. The lowlight was probably when the Cowboys just didn't cover Luke Musgrave... at all.
Jordan Love finds a wide open Luke Musgrave! Packers lead 41-16.
— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2024
📺: #GBvsDAL on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Ut3BRhC2CE pic.twitter.com/zCy7tcWxQ6
Here's how many times each team has made a Conference Championship Game appearance since the Cowboys were last there following the 1995 season:
| Team | Conference Championship Game appearances |
| Patriots | 14 |
| Packers | 8 |
| Eagles, 49ers, Steelers | 7 |
| Broncos, Chiefs | 5 |
| Rams, Vikings, Panthers, Falcons, Ravens, Colts | 4 |
| Saints, Seahawks, Giants, Buccaneers, Jaguars, Jets, Titans | 3 |
| Cardinals, Bears, Raiders, Bengals | 2 |
| Chargers, Bills | 1 |
| Cowboys, Commanders, Lions, Browns, Dolphins, Texans | 0 |
Unlike the Commanders, Lions, Browns, Dolphins, and Texans, the Cowboys have had a lot of chances to get there, but they have seven consecutive losses in the divisional round of the playoffs. They have also lost six times in the wildcard round during their NFCCG drought. Along the way, they have given us the fumbled snap by Tony Romo, the Dez Bryant drop, and a couple of 1-seed one-and-done showings.
The beauty of the Cowboys over the last quarter century is that no matter how bad your team might be, at least the Cowboys will always at least give you one glorious January day of choking incompetence.
Before the start of the 2023 season, there were suggestions that the Rams should trade Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald, and just go full-on rebuild. After they got out to a 3-6 start, it felt like their season was dead in the water with nothing to show for it.
However, down the stretch they played really good football, winning seven of their last eight, with the one loss being in overtime on the road to the Ravens. Along the way they got major contributions from a lot of young players, most notably rookie WR Puca Nacua, who caught 105 passes for 1486 yards and 6 TDs, plus another 9 catches for 181 yards and a TD in the Rams' playoff loss to the Lions.
This Rams season serves as a good example of how good a coach Sean McVay is. Unfortunately, the Rams' arguably lost to the Lions because of McVay's flaws.
The Rams faced 4th downs inside the Lions' red zone all night, and all night McVay settled for field goals.
• 1st quarter, 4:26, down 7-0, 4th and Goal from the 6: Field goal
• 3rd quarter, 2:33, down 24-17, 4th and 8 from the DET 9: Field goal
• 4th quarter, 8:10, down 24-20, 4th and 8 from the DET 11: Field goal
• 4th quarter, 4:15, down 24-23, 4th and 14 from the DET 44: Punt
After that last punt, the Rams never got the ball again and their season was over.
The arrow is pointing up for the Rams, but man, get McVay some nerd in the booth to tell him when to go for it in those types of situations.
If you were to take just the Eagles' final three games against the Cardinals, Giants, and Buccaneers, who finished 29th, 30th, and 18th in DVOA, here's a snapshot of how they fared in those games:
| Stat | PHI | AZ/NYG/TB | +/- |
| Points | 50 | 94 | -44 |
| First downs | 49 | 77 | -28 |
| Total plays | 165 | 207 | -42 |
| Yards per play | 5.2 | 6.2 | -1.0 |
| Total yards | 850 | 1290 | -440 |
| Rushing yards | 266 | 449 | -183 |
| Passing yards | 584 | 841 | -257 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 2 | -3 |
| Time of possession | 73:21 | 106:39 | -33:18 |
They didn't just lose to three bad teams. They got their asses handed to them. Throw in the two beatdowns they took from the 49ers and Cowboys, not to mention the game they pissed away in Seattle against Drew Lock, and by the time the 2023 season was over the Eagles were arguably the worst team in the NFL.
The offense sucked, the defense was trash, and the coaching staff was incompetent. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a worse single-season collapse in NFL history that did not include some sort of major injury to a quarterback.
4) Buccaneers (10-8): Credit the Bucs for winning the worst division by far in the NFL, and then beating one of the worst teams in the NFL in the wildcard round, but compared to the other seven teams that are still alive in the playoffs...
Last week: 6
3) Packers (10-8): Last week we showed Jordan Love's final four games of the regular season:
| Jordan Love | Comp/Att (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| Buccaneers | 29/39 (74.4%) | 284 (7.3) | 2-0 | 111.5 |
| Panthers | 17/28 (60.7%) | 219 (7.8) | 2-0 | 109.1 |
| Vikings | 24/33 (72.7%) | 256 (7.8) | 3-0 | 125.3 |
| Bears | 27/32 (84.4%) | 316 (9.9) | 2-0 | 128.6 |
| TOTAL | 97/132 (73.5%) | 1075 (8.1) | 9-0 | 120.0 |
Against the Cowboys, he was 16 of 21 for 272 yards, 3 TD, and 0 INTs, for a passer rating of 157.2.
Also, holy crap where did Aaron Jones come from? Over the first 14 games of the season, Jones had 79 carries for 298 yards (3.8 YPC) and 2 TDs. Here's what he has done since:
| Aaron Jones | Rush | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Panthers | 21 | 127 | 6.1 | 0 |
| Vikings | 20 | 120 | 6.0 | 0 |
| Bears | 22 | 111 | 5.1 | 0 |
| Cowboys | 21 | 118 | 5.2 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 84 | 476 | 5.7 | 3 |
They have everything working right now on offense.
Last week: 5
2) Lions (13-5): Get used to the Lions still being alive deep into the playoffs. Their offensive line is awesome, and they're all in their prime years:
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Taylor Decker (29) | Jonah Jackson (26) | Frank Ragnow (27) | Graham Glasgow (31) | Penei Sewell (23) |
They kinda have a Jason Kelce - Lane Johnson setup forming with Ragnow at C and Sewell at RT.
Last week: 2
1) 49ers (12-5): If you were a 49ers fans watching the Eagles-Bucs game on Monday night, you'd have to be thinking, "Man why can't we play one of these teams instead of the Packers?"
Last week: 1
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