If the Dallas Cowboys want to continue the improbable push to the postseason, they will need to keep their winning streak alive. To push the number to four straight, they’ll be tasked with vanquishing their road demons. Saddled with a 2-4 record on the road, the Cowboys have only been able to claim victory against the lowly Jets and Raiders this season.
With the win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving, Dallas boosted their odds at making the playoffs to 23 percent, per the NYT odds calculator. Their most critical remaining step comes next with the Cowboys traveling to Detroit to take on the Lions. Both Detroit and Dallas are vying for the same wild cards spots, so the urgency will run deep in Week 14 when they face off.
If the Cowboys win, they bump their odds up to 41 percent. If they lose, the odds drop to nine percent. It’s a high variance outcome that will likely determine their playoff future. And for that outcome to land on the side of positive, Cowboys Wire Ben Grimaldi says the Cowboys will have to play better on the road.
Grimaldi’s right. League-wide, teams generally perform better at home than they do on the road. Crowd support, commute time and overall communication all benefit the home team. Based on numbers through Thanksgiving, home quarterbacks produce at 2.3 higher in passer rating, throw 0.3 fewer interceptions, complete passes 2.6 percent more often, all while producing more yards on offense in both phases of the game. The Cowboys have been similar in their splits in 2025. Passer rating on the road is 4.4 points lower, completion percentage 0.5 percent lower and the interception rate is 0.6 higher.
While these splits are noteworthy, they aren’t overly dramatic. The parity and preparedness on the Cowboys and around the NFL is top-notch. Travel has been made as painless as possible, silent counts have become second nature and fan support has a way of traveling well to all major metro markets. It stands to reason if the Cowboys successfully turned their season around by winning the last three games, they have what it takes to vanquish their road demons this week as well.
That’s good news because if Dallas somehow finds a way to sneak into the playoffs this year, they’re probably going to be playing their postseason games on the road. It would take an epic collapse by the defending champion Eagles to lose the division, and even then, a top seed would probably be out of reach for Dallas.
It’s all about keeping the streak alive for the Cowboys and to do that they have to vanquish some travel demons.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys playoff odds hinge on beating Lions, vanquishing road demons
Reporting by Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
