Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN covering the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The silence was deep.<\/p>\n
As the players walked through the bowels of AT&T Stadium to the locker room, not a single member of the Dallas Cowboys said a word. Their 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round ended a few minutes earlier.<\/p>\n
A hopeful season was over. Just like that.<\/p>\n
In the locker room, the players hugged each other. The coaches did the same. Dan Quinn, perhaps in his final days as the Cowboys defensive coordinator with head coaching interviews coming up, sat next to a few of his defensive linemen. Some players took a while to get dressed, sitting almost in disbelief.<\/p>\n
Just three hours earlier, they were expecting to play a divisional game at home next weekend. Now, they won't be back in their own stadium until next summer for a preseason game.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s a shock,\u201d quarterback Dak Prescott said. \u201cI certainly didn\u2019t think we would be here, from everything I can promise you \u2013 myself, this team, this organization \u2013 that this would be it.<\/p>\n
“Credit to those [Packers] guys. They came here and ran their business. I mean no disrespect to those guys, but it was just the confidence that this group had, and what we did, and of course what we did at home. So yes, to be honest with you, it will take a little longer to fully digest it. Dazed.\u201d<\/p>\n