Dallas has one of the best defenses in the league - 2nd overall in average yards per drive, 5th best rushing defense, 6th in scoring D.
At home they held NO to 10 points, and averaged 18.5 PPG allowed, and Dallas went 7-1.
We stuck to the same formula we had against Dallas in the regular season where Carson ran 32 times for 102 yards - with 18 rushes going for 3 yards or less. The difference in that game was Dallas had 3 turnovers and so we could afford to score 24 points and win. This time we scored 22 points and lost. It happens.
If we stop just one of the three third down conversions on the final scoring drive by the Cowboys (2 DPIs and a 3rd and 14 run), we get the ball back with a 6 point deficit and a TD likely wins the game for us. Instead we make 3 critical errors in the final few minutes which costs us time, timeouts and ultimately puts us in the position of needing to recover an onside kick to win the game.
Who knew that it was difficult to win on the road in the playoffs, eh?