Penalty Woes
Penalties became one of the trademarks of Mike McCarthy’s reign in charge of the Cowboys. They gave more away yards over a year-and-a-half period than any other NFL franchise. But to his credit, it appeared that they resolved this serious issue and went five games without conceding the same numbers. McCarthy claimed this was the product of good coaching in 2022.

Then they gave away a costly seven penalties for 50 yards. This sapped the momentum the team had built up and had a profound impact on the game’s outcome. This was arguably worse than their repeatedly bad playcalling at the end of the game. Dallas keeps blowing it in the postseason because they don’t do the little things right (via NFL Penalties).