Wow: Are Dallas Cowboys realistic or in denial about gaining confidence from close road loss

Cowboys coach and Hall of Famer Bill Parcells said frequently, “you are what your record says you are.”

And when it comes to the current Cowboys, their record of 10-5 on the season in haunted by an 0-5 mark on the road.

As seemingly unbeatable as the Cowboys are at AT&T Stadium with a 7-0 record, they equally the inverse of that when it comes to comes to playing good teams away from home.

And while loss No. 5 against the Miami Dolphins Sunday, a 22-20 setback that was the antithesis of the 31-10 no show against the Buffalo Bills the week before, the bottom line is bottom line.

Or is it?

Let several Cowboys tell it, the way they battled back from a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter to taking a brief lead before succumbing on a a field goal as time expired was a confidence builder.

The difference came down to one or two plays.

A fumble by fullback Hunter Luepke just one yard away from the end zone opening drive of the game, allowing the Cowboys to come up empty, and a face mask penalty on linebacker Damone Clark that sparked the Dolphins final 64-yard drive.

What’s more is they believe they way they battled against the 11-4 Dolphins can serve a building block for future road success, a path the team will likely have in the playoffs if they hope to realize their goal of reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.

“I think it gives you a good taste where we potentially may have to go on the road obviously to get this done,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “So I think we have a lot that we can draw from this. We’re disappointed, because we had plays that were there. It’s those big mistakes that you can’t make in these kinds of games. I think the resilience, the battle, the grit that you are looking for, I think we clearly have that. The team had a good look, but we need to be better.

“We have to play better than we did because you have to play above it on the road, and road warriors we will be.” Quarterback Dak Prescott was a similar mindset. He was disappointed in the outcome but he liked how the team fought and competed, compared to the no show performance against the Bills.

And it was Prescott who directed a season-high 17-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to put the Cowboys in the lead with an 8-yard pass to Brandin Cooks. The Cowboys converted on fourth down twice on the drive. “Hell, this whole narrative change off of one play out there,” Prescott said. “The guy misses the field goal, we’re in here talking about a completely different outlook. That’s the game of football. It sucks. We hate to lose. Nobody is taking any moral victories from this. We will take some confidence, but we’re not taking any moral victories.

But my point is if he misses that field goal or one earlier. If we score earlier. It’s a different game.”

He didn’t miss.

And the Cowboys didn’t score earlier.

And while the Cowboys played better than they did against the Bills, they still suffered a loss on the road.

It also started a new trend as the Cowboys lost in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2021.

A team that has prided itself on resiliency and being able to bounce after a loss couldn’t this time, though the played better.

The Cowboys actually took pride in how they played.

The defense gave up the final drive but held the league’s highest scoring offense to one touchdown and gave up nothing deep to speedy receiver Tyreek Hill.

Edge rusher Micah Parsons said the final drive was demoralizing.

But defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said the Cowboys can still take pride in how they played.

“We definitely put the work in this week,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. ”I felt like our game plan was solid, but it’s a game of inches, man. It comes down to one or two plays that we could’ve made on defense, and we just didn’t handle our business. But overall, I felt like we played tough and we’ve got something to look forward to. We have nothing to hold our heads about. We went out there and we fought tough, just ain’t come out with the win.”

The Cowboys, who clinched a playoff spot last week, still have an outside shot at catching the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4) in the race for the NFC East title. The Eagles fade the New York Giants on Christmas Day and again in the season final. They play the Arizona Cardinals in between.

If the Cowboys win their final two games against the Detroit Lions on Saturday and at the Washington Commanders to end the season and the Eagles lose one game, they can win the division and get at least one home game.

More than likely, they will have to live their Super Bowl dreams on the road. The franchise has not won two road playoff games since 1975.

But a year after getting their first road win in 30 years, the Cowboys are confident they can end a 28-year Super Bowl drought on the road.

That’s what the Miami game taught them?

“I can tell you the confidence is high,” Prescott said. “We understand that we can. Obviously we haven’t done it, but we will. Obviously the road forward looks like we’ll be going on the road.”

“We have one more road game in this regular season to dial it in and improve from this one and get a win and then carry that into the next part of the season.”

Are the Cowboys being overly optimistic?

Or are they in denial?

“This narrative around us not winning away is strange but true, unfortunately,” receiver CeeDee Lamb said. We got continue to be great, continue to be who we are and change that narrative.”

Until they do, they are what their record on the road says they are.