NFL wild-card playoffs: Offseason questions for losing teams

Four NFL teams’ playoff dreams ended early this weekend. In the AFC, the Browns were surprisingly stomped by the Texans in Houston, while the Dolphins battled frigid conditions and a brutal run of injuries in a frustrating loss to the Chiefs. In the NFC, the Cowboys were embarrassed at home by a dominant performance by Jordan Love and the Packers, and Jared Goff gained a measure of revenge on his former team by knocking Matthew Stafford and the Rams out of the playoffs in Sunday’s nightcap.

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For these four organizations, the offseason begins now. And while they’ll probably look back and be pleased to have advanced to the postseason, the goal naturally will be to take a step forward and make it further in 2024. Let’s look at the big question for each of the four teams coming out of their postseason loss and how they might rectify or solve that issue to be better next season. I’ll go in chronological order, starting with Cleveland:

Jump to a team:
Browns | Cowboys
Dolphins | Rams

Wild-card weekend result: 45-14 loss to Houston