It’s January and that means the playoffs have arrived. It seemed like the end of the season became a struggle to survive through the grind of the regular season. Dallas and New York suffered key injuries and clearly were not playing their best football at the end of the season. Seattle and Tampa Bay faded a bit down the stretch. Washington was the hottest team in the NFC at the end of December, but how far can pure emotion take the Redskins?

Watching the Packers dismantle the Detroit Lions in the final week of the regular season was uplifting for several reasons. First, it confirmed the fact that this team can shake off a loss and get back on track. It also sent a signal to the remaining five teams in the NFC that the Packers might just be the team to beat.

The Cowboys came back to earth in December. First there was the ugly win against the Lions which required a miraculous fourth quarter comeback. Then a 10-6 loss to the Eagles followed by a seven point win over the injury-plagued Carolina Panthers. Finally, the Cowboys ended the season with a loss to the Redskins. It should be noted that the Cowboys were intent on resting their starters and had nothing to play for in the season finale but Dallas looked sloppy and execution was poor. That’s not exactly how you want to end the season.

In those final four games Dallas gave up a lot of yards on the ground while struggling to run the ball themselves. Against Carolina the Cowboys gave up 69 yards rushing but in the other three contests opponents rushed for more than 130 yards. To be successful in the playoffs, you must be able to run the football. Running against the Cowboys proved to be an easy task. Couple that with crucial offensive personnel losses and the Cowboys appear to be ripe for an early playoff exit.