Cowboys coached themselves out of the playoffs against Seahawks

The Dallas Cowboys headed into Week 16 with their season on the line, facing a playoff elimination game against the Seattle Seahawks. They also got Ezekiel Elliott back from suspension, giving the offense a much-needed spark it hasn’t had in his absence.

For the most part, the Cowboys went back to doing what they did best, feeding Elliott and controlling the clock while the Seahawks offense couldn’t do anything. However, multiple careless turnovers, including a pick-six, led to easy Seahawks points, and the Cowboys found themselves in a 21-12 hole late in the fourth quarter.

On what turned out to be the game’s most pivotal drive, Dallas moved down to the 3-yard line, setting up first-and-goal. At this point, the script should’ve been obvious — let Elliott punch it in and get back to a one-possession deficit. Even the home crowd could sense it coming, with “Zeke” chants raining down onto the field.

Unfortunately for them, Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan decided to get cute with the playcalling, and it turned into a disaster. Dak Prescott kept an option read that got only 1 yard. On the next play, a holding penalty pushed them back 10 yards, before Prescott ate a sack from Frank Clark.

Suddenly, they faced third-and-goal from the 23-yard line, and Prescott could only check it down to Jason Witten for 7 yards. Dan Bailey missed a 34-yard field goal attempt, completing a dud of a possession.

Fans booed as the team came away with zero points, and the Cowboys never got close to the goal line again. The loss eliminates them from playoff contention, and they have only themselves to blame — the Seahawks became the first team since 1966 to win a game with more penalty yards than offensive yards.

Elliott had a solid game, finishing with 97 yards on 24 carries. But going away from him at the game’s most critical moment was a baffling choice, one that the Cowboys could be regretting for a while. They hurt themselves with unforced errors all afternoon, and are now stuck watching the playoffs at home after going 13-3 last season.

So the Cowboys’ season ends with a whimper and the biggest coaching mistake of Week 16. But there were plenty more on an eventful weekend.

The Detroit Lions had possibly the biggest faceplant of Week 16, getting outplayed by a Cincinnati Bengals team that’s been phoning it in for a while. The loss knocked the Lions out of playoff contention and put Caldwell firmly on the hot seat.

Caldwell likely sealed his fate by not challenging a possible catch from Golden Tate in desperation mode, down two points with just four minutes left. Matthew Stafford heaved one up to Tate on third-and-28, and this is what he came down with.

Is that a catch? Eh, it’s hard to tell, but a lot closer than it looked on the live play. Why not challenge it anyway, and take your shot with the roulette wheel that is the catch rule? Yet, Caldwell kept the red flag in his pocket, even with his team’s playoff hopes dimming.

The Bengals scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive, putting the game away and probably launching Detroit’s next coaching search.

This entire NFL season has been building to the Buffalo Bills (8-7) missing the playoffs for an 18th straight season due to a head-to-head tiebreaker by the Los Angeles Chargers (8-7). Guess which Bills quarterback started that game? Yeah, it’s totally happening.

The Falcons couldn’t recapture the magic of their Week 14 win over the New Orleans Saints, falling flat in the rematch, 23-13. One of the moments that stuck out was Atlanta getting backed up to first-and-40, following a long string of penalties (false start, facemask, offensive pass interference).

At that point, the drive is pretty much DOA, but it’s still strange that they called two straight run plays before Matt Ryan got sacked on third-and-35. Wouldn’t you at least try to unleash Julio Jones in that spot?

Either way, the Falcons barely showed up and now face a precarious situation against the Carolina Panthers, who already beat them in Week 9. If they lose, and the Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals, they’re out of the playoffs. No pressure, folks.