The Dallas Cowboys' improbable run finally came to an end Saturday with the 30-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoff round.

After carrying the team for much of the season, Dallas' defense was thoroughly outschemed, outmanned and outplayed for most of the game. The Cowboys are a team built to dominate the line of scrimmage and run the ball effectively, but it was the Rams who dominated on the ground, finishing with 273 rushing yards — by far the most the Cowboys have allowed this season.

The Cowboys offense's inability to convert on third downs robbed them of the ability to keep up with the Rams, as Dallas went 1-for-10 on third down Saturday night. Dak Prescott had a respectable performance, going 20 of 32 for 266 yards with two carries for three yards and two total touchdowns. He had some errant throws due to poor mechanics, but Prescott was not the reason Dallas lost the game.

Up front, Dallas had trouble blocking Ndamukong Suh in the run game but did well to quiet Aaron Donald.

With the loss, Dallas will now turn its attention to the offseason with the objective of upgrading the team. Will Scott Linehan remain the offensive coordinator? What will the team do with Sean Lee? How much will DeMarcus Lawrence get paid?

All of these questions and more will be answered in the coming months, but for now, it's time to take a look a few things we learned from Dallas' loss to the Rams:

Running into the middle of a condensed formation remains unwise

On fourth-and-1 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, down by eight — the biggest fourth down of their season — the Cowboys decided to run into the teeth of the defense from a condensed formation:

An NFL football field is 53-1/3 yards wide, but for some reason, the Cowboys offensive coaching staff thinks it's wise to force the defense to only defend one-third of it. Dallas opted on too many occasions this season to run the ball between the tackles from a condensed formation.

From a practicality standpoint, it seems unwise to line up in a formation that forces a defense to clog the very area that the team is hoping to run to. It gives the offense no room for error, as the slightest mistakes on blocks get exacerbated with all of the bodies in the area.

Moreover, the Los Angeles defense's strength is its interior defensive line, with Suh, Donald and Michael Brockers having the ability to disrupt any given play. Making matters worse, Dallas' two-least effective run blockers on the offensive line — rookie left guard Connor Williams and center Joe Looney — play inside too.

Dallas attacked Los Angeles where it was strongest with its least effective personnel, and the result was predictable, as Suh bullied Looney at the line of scrimmage and prevented Ezekiel Elliott from picking up the first down.

Dallas' fourth-down conversion in the first quarter may have been between the tackles, but at least Dallas was smart enough to spread Los Angeles' defense with a receiver split wide to each side of the formation.

On the Cowboys' other two successful fourth downs, Dallas actually took advantage of their condensed formations by attacking the Rams to the outside, taking advantage of the open space outside of the tackles.

Ultimately, the Cowboys coaching staff got too cocky on the unsuccessful fourth down, as it relied on talent instead of scheme to pick up the first down. Unfortunately for Dallas, Los Angeles' talent was better on Saturday night.

Defensive tackle play holds key to the Cowboys run defense

Much like against the Indianapolis Colts, the Cowboys run defense failed them against the Rams, giving up 273 yards (5.7 yards per carry), three touchdowns and an absurd 17 first downs on the ground.

The Cowboys defensive line struggled all night against the run. The defensive tackles did a poor job holding their ground and getting off blocks at the point of attack, leading to giant alleys in the run game.

On top of that, Los Angeles' consistent use of pre-snap and jet motions caused Dallas' linebackers to be indecisive at the second level, leaving them unable to fill the giant alleys created by the defensive tackles being displaced.

This allowed Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson to have a field day on the ground against the Cowboys defense.

Gurley's 35-yard touchdown run was a great example of the defensive tackles' struggles Saturday night:

On this play, defensive tackle Caraun Reid is responsible for the back-side B-gap while Dallas' other defensive tackle, Antwaun Woods, is responsible for the play-side A-gap.

After the ball is snapped, Reid allows Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth to reach and cut him off, putting Reid in the back-side C-gap.

Making matters worse, Reid ends up falling to the ground, which not only blocks his own teammate Randy Gregory but also allows Whitworth to climb to the second level to block Jeff Heath — who was indecisive because of the Los Angeles' presnap motion — giving Gurley a free run to the third level of Dallas' defense. Reid's poor play directly resulted in two other Cowboys defenders getting blocked.

Woods, on the other hand, wasn't much better, as he was too easily widened at the point of attack, giving Gurley an easy cut into open space.

Regardless of what happens at the second level, it's almost impossible to play effective run defense when the defensive tackles are getting moved out of their gap and widened at the point of attack.

For much of the season, the Dallas defensive tackles allowed their talented linebacker unit to thrive, but against Los Angeles it was the opposite, as the poor interior play robbed the linebackers of any opportunities to succeed against the Rams' offense.

Heading into the offseason, it's going to be interesting to see how high of a priority the Cowboys' front office makes upgrading the defensive tackle position.

Cowboys WR corps have a bright future

Even though the loss may hurt, Cowboys fans have to be happy thinking about the future of Dallas' wide receiver corps.

Coming into this season, the Cowboys had the least-talented wide receiver corps in football. Dallas didn't possess a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver and, to put it nicely, the passing game looked ineffective.

Now, with the season in the rear-view mirror, the Cowboys wide receiver group appears strong at the top, as Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup provide Dallas with a young, talented and effective top two wide receivers.

Cooper and Gallup were the biggest bright spots for the Cowboys in the loss. Gallup finished with six catches for 119 yards and was able to show off his ability to improvise on a 44-yard hookup between him and Prescott:

Prescott-to-Gallup pass after Dak scrambles and Gallup does the heads-up throw it downfield motion. And, unlike other times this season, they connect. #DALvsLAR #FinishThisFight #CowboysNation @fishsports pic.twitter.com/tsgDE2eoY7 — Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) January 13, 2019

Once Prescott broke the pocket, Gallup did an excellent job leaking downfield into the open space before making an incredibly difficult grab over his shoulder with tight coverage. It was a huge play for an offense that was struggling to move the ball, and it put the Cowboys in a position to make it a one-score game late in the third quarter.

Cooper, on the other hand, continued to show off the traits that make him an outstanding No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL. Cooper's route-running was on point, and his yards-after-catch ability was evident.

With Gallup being 22 years old and Cooper not turning 25 until July, the Cowboys have one of the youngest and most talented wide receiver duos in the NFL, and the playoff loss did nothing to change that.

Twitter: @JohnOwning