Did Mike McDaniel, Dolphins just expose Cowboys’ playoff vulnerability?

Mike McDaniel said what the Dallas Cowboys don’t want to believe.

That narrative that McDaniel’s Miami Dolphins couldn’t beat an opponent with a winning record? The narrative that lingered because … the Dolphins, through 15 weeks, had not beaten an opponent with a winning record?

“It’s like, yeah, we haven’t beaten a team with a winning record so we’re vulnerable to that,” McDaniel said Sunday after a 22-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys broke the streak. “All the things that you haven’t done, should we really be entitled to blind faith before we do it?”

McDaniel, not a member of the Cowboys, described the chatter accordingly.

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But after the Cowboys’ first consecutive losses of the season dropped them to 10-5, McDaniel’s question was à propos for his opponent.

Sure, the Cowboys are at minimum a very good team that already clinched a playoff berth last week.

Also: The Cowboys have lost every road game against .500-plus opponents and another against a sub-.500 team.

Head coach Mike McCarthy described the Cowboys’ loss in Buffalo last week as a “wake-up call.” He acknowledged in Miami that his team needs to play better on the road and “road warriors we will be.”

“We can play better than we did today,” McCarthy said. “And to me, that’s exciting.”

McCarthy’s assertion, in juxtaposition with McDaniel’s comments, begs the question: If the Cowboys can play better on the road against playoff-caliber teams, why haven’t they? And if they haven’t, should onlookers believe that they can?

Dak Prescott went 20-for-32 for 253 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 25 yards on five carries in a loss at Miami. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/did-mike-mcdaniel-dolphins-just-expose-cowboys-playoff-vulnerability-052012962.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-25 05:20:12

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