Cowboys Top 10 Takes: Is Dallas a Bad Road Team? FISH PODCAST

Cowboys Top 10 Takes: Is Dallas a Bad Road Team? FISH PODCAST

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are talking a great deal this week about the challenges of playing at the Buffalo Bills. ... based on the Bills' talent, the Buffalo weather, and maybe - though the Cowboys don't really want to put voice to this - the fact that Dallas, despite its 10-3 record, is not a very good road team.

Said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of the 7-6 Bills: “They’re a dangerous team. At any given time, they can be as good as anybody in the NFL, in my mind. They got the players. They’ve got the quarterback (Josh Allen). ...

“Of all the places that a home-field advantage is different than the normal games you play, it’s Buffalo, New York.”

Dallas coach Mike McCarthy is echoing all of that, saying, "This is gonna be a great environment to play in - outdoors, northern climate, all of those things. I think this is what you need as part of that opportunity to win and grow. ... So to play in these types of games, I feel, is a great preparation for playoff football."

McCarthy added that the Bills are a "juggernaut.''

But two realities here: One, the Bills have lost three of their last five games and for the last 10 weeks have essentially alternated weekly between a win and a loss.

And two, Dallas on the road this year is just 3-3. And dating back two years, Dallas' record is a mundane 8-8.

The Bills defense at home has been good, as they've given up just 14.5 points per game at Highmark Stadium. And the Cowboys, of course, have the highest-scoring offense in the NFL at 32.4 points per game.

But when McCarthy talks about "playoff readiness'' and the like? He's on the money in a very real sense ... And here's why ...

Even though the Cowboys presently lead the NFC East, the likelihood is that they'll end up as a Wild Card, meaning they'll open the playoffs on the road ... and probably stay on the road.

And as we discuss in the Fish Report and in the Fish Podcast, "mediocre'' in the playoffs just won't do.