Fury Road: Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys 'Conscious' Of Road Struggles - But So What?

Members of the Dallas Cowboys are simultaneously peeved and perplexed by the team's uncanny struggles on the road after a no-show against the Buffalo Bills.

There's homesick and then there's whatever happens to the Dallas Cowboys.

"Home for the holidays" took on its grimmest meaning for the Cowboys on Sunday, as they dropped a 31-10 decision to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. James Cook dashed through the (lack of) snow for 221 yards from scrimmage while the Buffalo defense limited Dallas to 195 yards earned mostly through garbage time.

If there was a December game for the Cowboys (10-4) to lose, it was probably the visit to Buffalo or next Sunday's visit to Miami. Interconference matchups aren't as valued on the NFL tiebreaker hierarchy nor is the road record ... much to the Cowboys' relief.

With Sunday's loss, Dallas dropped to 3-4 away from AT&T Stadium this season and the victorious trio (NY Giants, LA Chargers, Carolina) wouldn't exactly buy them ground in, say, the College Football Playoff rankings. Such struggles were documented by the fallen in the postgame aftermath.

James Cook (4) ran all over the Cowboys in another puzzling road loss / Mark Konezny, USA TODAY Sports

"We've got to be better. I don't think anybody expected us to play the way we did tonight," head coach Mike McCarthy said. "We've got to be much better on the road, regardless of what's in front of us and all the other conversations."

Assuming that the Philadelphia Eagles handle their relatively easy December docket, the Cowboys will likely begin their next playoff trek on the road, presumably at the home of the NFC South champion. 

It's not enough that Dallas has struggled on the road, they've been completely outplayed: dropping a tight divisional duel with Philadelphia where a handful of yards might've been the difference is one thing but in the remaining trio (Arizona, San Francisco, Buffalo), the Cowboys' average margin of defeat is over 21 points.

"We've got to get better on the road, and we've got to be road warriors throughout the playoffs now because of this," linebacker Micah Parsons noted. "It doesn't matter unless we get better on the road."

Road struggles are hardly new in the McCarthy era: over his first three full seasons at the helm, Dallas has posted a winning record away from AT&T Stadium only once (7-2 in 2021). With the way the NFL schedule has shaken out this time around, the Cowboys have extra mileage on their slate again, some of which is accumulated when they head to South Beach on Christmas Eve (3:25 p.m. CT, Fox). Time will tell if it means anything to either side, but the Cowboys also close on the road in the nation's capital against the Washington Commanders.

'Mind-Boggling!' Cowboys' Road Kill - Again - In Blowout Loss

"We play so well at home and there's just too big of a gap on our road games," McCarthy noted. "We're conscious of it, we've got a long flight home to continue to talk about it, think about it. We've got to move on to Miami in the morning."

There's no place like home. While they might get you back to Kansas, it's certainly not going to get the Cowboys back in the good graces of the NFC East title race.