For all intents and purposes, the Carolina Panthers ended the Dallas Cowboys' season with a 33-14 victory on Thanksgiving, leaving the Cowboys and their fans thankful merely for the fact 2016 is only five weeks away.
Of course, nobody expected Dallas to be 3-8, but it's an unpredictable game, and the NFC East—a division that hasn't been won by the same team in back-to-back years in over a decade—is as capricious as pro sports divisions come.
Even with the offseason loss of reigning Offensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys were supposed to do damage with the league's reigning passer-rating leader, the league's reigning touchdown receiver and an offensive line featuring three young Pro Bowlers.