What were the MAJOR differences (statistically) between the 2008 Dallas Cowboys and the 12 teams that made the playoffs?

Was it the WIN / LOSS RECORD? Not really

PHI only bested DAL by ½ a game

ARI actually had the same record as DAL 9-7

Was the difference NET POINTS?  Nope

Even though some playoff teams had a very high NET POINT advantage, like

TEN (+141)

BAL (+141)

Other playoff teams had a much lower NET POINT accumulation, like

MIA (+28)

ARI (+1)

DAL at -3 was not very far removed from ARI.

Was the difference PASS COMPLETION PERCENTAGE?  no

Although some playoff teams had a high percentage

IND – 67.2%

MIA – 67.2%

Other playoff teams were much lower

MIN – 59.1%

TEN – 58.5%

So DAL, at 60.0% was in the ball park

Was the difference YARDS PER GAME? no

Between the high of ARI:  365.8 yards per game

And the low of PIT: 311.9 yards per game

DAL was in the middle: 344.5

Was the difference 3RD DOWN CONVERSION PERCENTAGES?  no

Between the high of IND: 50%

And the low of TEN: 36%

DAL was exactly in the middle: 43%

Was the difference TIME OF POSSESION?  no

Between the high of

BAL: 33 minutes 22 seconds

And the low of

IND: 28 minutes 39 seconds

DAL was in-between: 30 minutes 02 seconds per game

Was the difference SACKS ALLOWED?  no

Between the low of

TEN – 12 sacks allowed

And the high of

PIT – 49 sacks allowed

DAL was in the middle: 31 sacks allowed

I could continue with a long list of similar statistics that show that the Cowboys’ numbers looked like the numbers of the playoff teams: Rushing, Passing, Scoring, Quarterback Rating, Yards per Reception, Points Allowed, Plays From Scrimmage, Sacks Made, Tackles, etc.

The ONLY TWO AREAS that I see right now, statistically, that separated the Cowboys from the 12 playoff teams are:

PENALTIES and TURNOVER RATIO

First look at Penalties:

DAL led the league in number of Penalties: 119 for the year

How did the playoff teams do?

The 6 AFC playoff teams averaged: 94.6 penalties for the year (about 24 less than DAL)

The 6 NFC playoff teams averaged: 89.6 penalties for the year (about 29 less than DAL)

Second look at Turnover Ratio:

DAL was -11 and only SF (-17) and DEN (-17) were worse.  We were rated 30th in Turnover Ratio – Awful!

MIN (-6) and ATL (-3) were the only playoffs teams to be in the negative with turnover ratio.  The leaders were MIA (+17), TEN (+14), and BAL (+13).

The Cowboys fumbled the ball 29 times and lost 13 of them (4th WORSE in the league)

Romo fumbled 13 times and lost 8

Barber fumbled 7 times and lost 3

The Cowboys threw 20 INTs (2nd WORSE in the league)

Romo 14 INTs

Johnson 5 INTs

Bollinger 1 INT

The Cowboy Defense only Intercepted the ball 8 times all year (3rd WORSE in the league)

Newman 4 INTs

Hamlin 1 INT

Jenkins 1 INT

Henry 1 INT

Ellis 1 INT

However, the Cowboy Defense Recovered 14 Fumbles all year (5th BEST in the league)

Henry, James, and Ware were the only players with more than 1 recovery; they had 2 FUM RECs each

Simply put: if DAL can reduce its penalties and increase its turnover ratio the likelihood of making the playoffs is much greater.