The Dallas Cowboy find ways to lose. It’s been a staple of this organization for a while, and Mike McCarthy has kept this tradition going. His clock management has been a disaster all year long, and now his incompetence has helped to lose a playoff game. The quarterback draw with Dak Prescott at the end of the game was inexcusable.

Meanwhile, Kyle Shanahan did his best to keep the Cowboys in the game, dialing up some strange play calls when all he had to do was run out the clock with a lead. Jimmy Garappolo contributed with a brutal interception that gave the Cowboys life. Then Shanahan was afraid to go for it on fourth and inches, giving Dallas another shot.

This game was very entertaining and featured two good teams, but the fourth quarter was a complete mess. Dak Prescott didn’t live up to his enormous contract, and Jimmy G threw one of his signature interceptions to stain what otherwise was a solid performance.

Jerry Jones has put together a decent roster in Dallas, and some of their coaching moves have panned out like the Dan Quinn hire. But Jones needs to take a hard look at his team and probably move on from Mike McCarthy.

The NFL playoffs kick off today with the Las Vegas Raiders visiting Cincinnati in the opening game. Playoff weekend extends through Monday night as the NFL pushes to continue its dominance on television and maximize ratings.

As we start the payoffs, NFL futures have the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs as the favorites to meet in the Super Bowl as you can see above. Both teams are playing great football and a matchup of these two squads would probably give us a great Super Bowl, though we all know the NFL playoffs rarely work out that way. This is what makes the NFL great.

Here’s a quick look at the NFL lines for the playoff games:

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The line for this game was bet up to double digits, but we were concerned that the Cowboys could make this a game so we avoided this one. Tampa Bay is the hot pick to get back to the Super Bowl, and Tom Brady seems to be getting better. But Dallas showed up with a pass-heavy game plan and the Buccaneers gave away turnovers. The result was a very close game that the Cowboys could have won.

It’s easy to overreact to the first week of NFL games, and of course we’ll all be tempted to do that here. But here are some impressions after watching this first game:

First, Dak Prescott looked very good last night. He may have lost some zip on some passes as a result of the shoulder injury, but he played like a top-tier quarterback last night. Dallas is dangerous when he’s throwing the ball.

Ezekiel Elliott was mostly a decoy and a pass blocker last night, and of course many are overreacting to this. There’s plenty to criticize with Mike McCarthy, but using a pass-heavy game plan against a very stout run defense makes total sense. And it worked! As the year goes on we’ll see Elliott carrying the ball more. So you might pick him up cheap in a fantasy trade if you have amateurs in your league.

Still, McCarthy does have a reputation of throwing too much, so for the sake of winning games he’ll need to make sure he uses the running game, but Zeke should get enough carries to be a solid RB1 in fantasy.

The bigger issue with McCarthy is game management. He’s in love with field goals, and going for a long field goal late in the game, giving Brady plenty of time to answer, is typical McCarthy.

Naturally, Brady easily marched the Bucs downfield for the winning field goal. He makes it look so easy, and keeps proving that he’s the best to ever play the QB position. Also, Antonio looked like he was in all pro form with a big night. Those of us who scooped him up in late rounds in our fantasy drafts feel pretty good this morning.

Overall, Tampa still looks like a contender, and Dallas showed they have a shot at the playoffs in a week division, even with McCarthy’s flaws. The defense still has real problems, but let’s see if they can do better against weaker competition.

The NFL season is finally here, and things are somewhat back to normal with fans heading back to stadiums and Tom Brady defending another Super Bowl championship.

Tonight’s opening game has the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as heavy underdogs. The line has been bet up to Dallas plus 10 on BetUS.com as more money flows towards the defending champs.

Tampa brings back most of its roster, so many are bullish on their prospects. Meanwhile, Dallas has gone through more drama this spring with the Dak Prescott shoulder injury. Dak enters the game with no preseason reps and he hasn’t played since last season’s devastating ankle injury.

This is a tough one to pick for the first game of the season. It makes sense that the line has been bet up. There are so many question marks with the Cowboys, including the fact that Zach Martin won’t be playing. But this is a huge spread with an explosive team like Dallas as the underdog. Consider placing bets for fun, but this one seems like a tough pick.

This is hilarious!

LMFAOOOOO pic.twitter.com/O2rKWaLU0A

— AR. (@aahren_) November 23, 2017