Cowboys Survive but Will Need to Make Major Fixes to Continue Playoff Run

The Dallas Cowboys won just their second playoff game in 18 years Sunday against the Detroit Lions, which is really all that matters to the franchise and its fans. But if America's Team wants to continue to make an improbable run toward Super Bowl XLIX, it can't afford to play the way it did on Wild Card Weekend.

Something was wrong with the Cowboys Sunday at AT&T Stadium in their 24-20 win. Maybe it was the jitters that came from playing their first postseason game in five years, which would make sense, considering this team's bad playoff reputation. Maybe they've come back to earth after a hot December. Maybe it was just an off game. 

Whatever it was, it can't happen next Sunday when the Cowboys play the Green Bay Packers in the divisional playoffs at Lambeau Field. Because if Dallas were to play the way it did against the Lions in Green Bay, it would be blown out. 

No questions asked. 

This was quite simply a sloppy performance from a team that didn't look worthy of being in the playoffs.

Sarah Glenn/Getty Images

The Lions sacked quarterback Tony Romo a season-high six times, overcoming a star-studded offensive line that seemed to be under the impression the Cowboys had a first-round bye. But pass protection notwithstanding, Romo often failed to recognize blitzes, cost his team by holding on too long in key spots and missed several open receivers in important moments. 

He wasn't himself, which the coaching staff compounded by getting away from the approach that took it here. Dallas had the most balanced offense in the NFL during the regular season, with a continued emphasis on NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray helping to keep the 34-year-old Romo fresh.

But Murray ran the ball on just 19 of the Cowboys' 52 offensive plays Sunday, which is unacceptable even considering the fact they trailed for the lion's share of the game. 

Time period	Pass %	Run %
Regular season	49.9	50.1
Vs. Lions	67.2	32.8

Murray wasn't lighting up the league's top-ranked run defense, but he still averaged a solid 3.9 yards per carry. With 19 attempts, it's not as though the team ignored him. But consider that the Cowboys never ran the ball fewer than 23 times during their most successful regular season since 2007. 

Game	Running plays called	Result
Sunday vs. Lions	19	Win
Week 1 vs. 49ers	23	Loss
Week 9 vs. Cardinals	23	Loss
Week 8 vs. Redskins	23	Loss
Week 13 vs. Eagles	24	Loss

You could sense the panic. They ran passing plays on six of seven snaps on the drive that immediately followed the touchdown that gave Detroit a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

On that series, the Lions sacked Romo twice and forced Dallas to punt. The Cowboys also passed four out of five times to start a fourth-quarter series down three points and nearly sabotaged themselves with a low-percentage end-zone throw on 1st-and-goal at the Detroit 8-yard line late. 

The Cowboys were lucky. They were at home against a sliding Lions team with no more playoff experience than they had, and the Lions let them off the hook.

The officials bailed out Dallas when they inexplicably picked up a textbook defensive pass interference flag on a Detroit third-down play in the fourth quarter, and the Cowboys benefited more so when Lions punter Sam Martin netted only 10 yards on a shank just seconds later. 

Sarah Glenn/Getty Images

That gave them great field position for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown drive. 

The Lions didn't do enough to make them pay for all of those miscues on offense, pass protection issues or missed tackles on defense. That's because Detroit was as sloppy as Dallas. 

But the Packers are a different animal. 

Sure, the Cowboys were 8-0 on the road this season, but Green Bay was 8-0 at home. In fact, when you consider their scoreboard edge, the Packers were the best home team in football by a wide margin. 

Team	Record	Points dif.
1. Packers	8-0	+155
2. Broncos	8-0	+117
3. Patriots	7-1	+130
4. Seahawks	7-1	+86

The Packers have also been here, done this. The Lions haven't won a playoff game in nearly a quarter-century (1991), but Green Bay has five postseason victories and a Super Bowl during the Aaron Rodgers era. Dallas can't dig the same holes it did Sunday and live to tell about it.

"It's gonna be a great test," Romo said of the Packers matchup in a postgame interview on Fox. "We have to play great. We have to play better than we did today."

He's got that right.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.