With two rivals in NFC Championship Game, Cowboys are on the outside looking in

DALLAS The divisional round was a disastrous weekend of football for the Dallas Cowboys and their fans, who saw two of their NFC East rivals win to reach the round that has eluded them for thirty years.

The Philadelphia Eagles were expected to win at home as the No.

2 seed, but the Washington Commanders pulled off the upset of this postseason when they took down the No.

1 seeded Detroit Lions on Saturday Night.

Those results mean the Commanders and Eagles will play in the NFC Championship Game and guarantee that one will reach the Super Bowl.

To push the knife in further, Dallas former coordinators are helping lead the way for their teams success.

Dan Quinn reached the final four in his first year as the Commanders head coach a season after he left the defensive coordinator post with the Cowboys, while former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is guiding the Eagles with the same job title.

Meanwhile, Jerry Jones organization is busy making a mockery of their coaching search.

The new name gaining momentum is current OC Brian Schottenheimer, who wasnt even calling plays in Mike McCarthys offense.

Things have officially gone from bad to worse.

The Eagles making the title game is no shock, this will be their third time to play for a shot at the Super Bowl in eight years.

However, the shocker is the Commanders, who have left Dallas in their dust by breaking their long-standing drought of NFC Championship Game appearances.

The Cowboys now stand alone as the last team in the conference to compete in the NFC title game.

Hardly what youd expect from the franchise with the moniker of Americas Team.

Commanders will be playing in an NFC championship game with 10 formers cowboys players/coaches on the team Cowboys now own the longest drought for an NFC championship game appearance This isnt easy for the Cowboys fans to swallow, especially considering its the Commanders who finally got there before their favorite team.

No one would have predicted Washingtons turnaround, just as no one would have thought that the Lions would have beaten Dallas to the final four either as they accomplished last season.

The Commanders going to the conference championship game stings worse.

A team thats had trouble getting out of their way and has been a bigger joke than the Cowboys for much of the last 30 years has broken through first.

And they did it coming off a 4-13 season where they finished second-worst in the league.

The jokes are now fully at the Cowboys expense, who couldnt parlay the first trio of consecutive 12 or more win seasons in franchise history into a trip past the divisional round.

Those jokes have been writing themselves since Washingtons upset of the Lions and the Cowboys have taken the brunt of them.

But credit where credit is due, this is as much about what the Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels have been able to accomplish this season as it is about mocking Jones inept franchise.

But thats ultimately what Americas Team has become, a punching bag for the rest of the fans across the league.

Now, the Cowboys will get to watch two division rivals battle for the right to go to the Super Bowl while they bumble through another reset.

To put it mildly, this isnt something that sits well with Cowboys fans, but does it matter to the people who make the decisions? Jerry and Stephen Jones havent shown an ability to figure it out and make the necessary adjustments to how they operate.

In the last 30 years, the players and coaches have changed, but the one thing that hasnt is ownership.

Will the Commanders and Eagles successes be enough to force the Cowboys into making things uncomfortable? Will they exhaust all options to find the best coach to lead the team in 2025 and beyond? Will they be more proactive in free agency after seeing how its helped their two rivals arrive at the NFC title game? The answer to those questions already appears to be no.

There havent been any requests to interview Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn who is one of the top options throughout the league to be their next head coach.

Lions former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, a hot name heading into the offseason, wasnt a part of the process for Dallas and landed with the Chicago Bears to be their next head coach.

The only serious candidate that the Cowboys have spoken with who doesnt have any connection with the organization is former New York Jets coach Robert Saleh.

Meanwhile, Stephen Jones has also already said that the team is going to operate like they did last offseason, with a tight budget.

That stinginess takes away a major option for improving Dallas roster.

Despite the success of the Eagles utilizing free agency by adding star running back Saquon Barkley, linebacker Zack Baun, and defensive back C.J.

Gardner-Johnson, the Cowboys arent likely to follow the same path.

SAQUON BARKLEY AND THE EAGLES ARE GOING TO THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP Saquon: 26 carries 205 rushing yards 2 touchdowns pic.twitter.com/lkM93KpiX2 The Commanders signed a whopping 22 free agents, four of which were former Cowboys, to aid their miraculous 2024 campaign.

The list also includes linebacker Bobby Wagner, a second-team All-Pro this year, whom the Cowboys had no interest in in 2023 despite Quinns connection to him.

It was a rough weekend for Cowboys fans, and the sad part is they cant expect anything to change.

The decision makers have their minds set on doing things their way, despite watching their rivals playing for the right to head to the Super Bowl by being aggressive in talent acquisition.

If the Joneses havent been paying attention, thats the whole point to this, winning.

Like most of the 2024 season, championship game weekend will be a tough watch for Dallas Cowboys fans but that apparently is of no consequence for the teams upper management.

There are no lessons to be learned when you arent paying attention.

Cue more jokes at the Cowboys expense.

Do you think the Cowboys will learn from their NFC East rivals? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi ..

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