Dallas, Miami biggest surprises

Because of all the Super Bowl hype that surrounded the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Tony Romo in early September, no team in the NFL qualifies as a bigger bust in late December.

As the Cowboys were being embarrassed in a 44-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Romo was the portrait of a fallen star.

Dallas was anointed as the Super Bowl favorite -- at odds as low as 3-1 -- after starting the season 3-0.

But after Week 17 was in the books, the Cowboys finished 9-7, and America's most underachieving team missed the playoffs.

"I'm sure most books had Dallas as the favorite around Week 4," said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of operations for Lucky's sports books. "It was an amazing collapse."

The Cowboys could have made the NFC postseason with a win against the Eagles, who closed as 2-point home favorites. But Romo unraveled and Dallas produced a disgraceful performance.

"I thought the Cowboys would come to play, but they surely didn't show up," Vaccaro said.

The line was Pick'em on Sunday morning, but Philadelphia closed as a slight favorite after its playoff hopes were boosted by the results of two early games, including Oakland's 31-24 upset of Tampa Bay. Vaccaro said early money showed on the Cowboys and late money came in on the Eagles.

Romo's career record in December dropped to 5-8. He is 22-4 in September, October and November.

"Romo has been horrible down the stretch for, what, three straight seasons? There's definitely a pattern there," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said.

The biggest turnaround in a positive direction was made by the Miami Dolphins, who won the AFC East at 11-5 after going 1-15 last year.

Irony was the theme as the Dolphins, 21/2-point road underdogs, upset Brett Favre and the New York Jets, 24-17.

Miami was rebuilt in less than a year by vice president of football operations Bill Parcells and coach Tony Sparano. The Dolphins' quarterback, Chad Pennington, was cast aside by the Jets in favor of Favre.

"I thought the only way the Jets could win the game was if Favre played error-free football," Orleans sports book director Bob Scucci said. "We did get a lot of money on the Dolphins."

Pennington passed for two touchdowns, and Favre threw three interceptions.

After the Jets acquired Favre from the Green Bay Packers in early August, Lucky's posted a proposition bet on the Jets making the playoffs, and "No" opened minus-240.

"It's a monumental failure for the Jets," Vaccaro said. "In some strange way, maybe the Packers got what they deserved, too. The Packers had a horrible year, and the Jets fizzled out at the end."

Scucci opened the Dolphins at 200-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, but he dropped the odds to 80-1 in August.

The New England Patriots, the Super Bowl favorites before quarterback Tom Brady was lost to a season-ending injury in Week 1, finished 11-5 but missed the postseason.

One year after the Patriots went 16-0, the Detroit Lions finished the regular season 0-16.

In Saturday's wild-card playoff games, Atlanta is a 21/2-point road favorite over Arizona, and Indianapolis is a 1-point road favorite over San Diego.

The Chargers (8-8) clinched the AFC West by crushing Denver 52-21 on Sunday night. The Colts (12-4) extended their winning streak to nine games by beating Tennessee, 23-0.

"You hate to say a team as popular as the Colts can be a sleeper, but they're going to be tough to beat," Scucci said. "I would love to see a Giants-Colts Super Bowl."

In Sunday's playoff games, Baltimore is a 3-point road favorite over Miami, and Philadelphia is a 3-point road favorite over Minnesota.