Respect to Chao. I think he's right on Mahomes. But in another video he said the Bengals OL played well against Buffalo because of the snow. I had to really think about that and believe he really over thought things. I mean, the weather was the same for both teams. And the Bengals OL played solid no matter what the play called. Run, pass, shift, pick up blitzes, move, you name it. The Bengals won in every phase of the game. It really wasn't that close. They can't play that different (as in, worse) on a better field, can they?
I honestly think this year's loss was much worse than last year. Worse than the year Romo botched the FG hold (they were just 9-7 that year anyway). Possibly worse than the year they finished 13-3 and lost to the Giants. That was the year they were way over confident, and Terrell Owens basically partied the entire week before the game. You could kind of see that loss coming in retrospect. This year was just as bad as the year they had the top seed but lost to the Packers in 2017. But that was a very good Packer team, Rodgers just sliced them up, and the Cowboys at least showed determination that game.
And that may be it. The cumulation of all these years, over 20 years now, of having some pretty good teams, plenty of talent, then another loss come playoff time. This time a really empty loss. Different coaches. Different players. Same result. The 49ers were the better team this year. But the fact a rookie Mr. Irrelevant outplayed Dak, and the Cowboy offense basically flatlined as the game went on, and one final, ridiculous play to end it, against the 49ers, yet again. One bitter pill to swallow.
I don't see Sean Payton fixing this problem, to be honest. Not sure of Jerry is going to seriously pursue him anyway. Let's also not forget Sean coached a QB named Drew Brees for most of those years. A HOF player who was like having an offensive coordinator on the field. The Saints are also a much more stabile orginzation than the Cowboys. If I were Sean, I'd just take another year off, and go back to New Orleans if he really wants to coach. They will be climbing out of their cap and dead money hole around then, with a potentially bright future. Or just follow the boatload of money to Denver. Put it into college funds for your grandkids.