boudreaux
01-10-2008, 02:40 AM
I still think they are gonna win this week.
11 years, 0 playoff wins for Cowboys
Collecting milestones nice, but means little without postseason wins
updated 6:10 p.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 8, 2008
IRVING, Texas - As the Dallas Cowboys collected milestones such as the best start in club history this season, coach Wade Phillips sure liked connecting his team to some of the greatest squads in franchise lore.
Yet last week, when it was noted the Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game since 1996, Phillips sure was quick to distance his guys from the predecessors who’ve run up the longest postseason drought in team history.
Sorry, coach, you can’t have it both ways. After this weekend, the 2007 edition will be linked one way or another — either as the team that broke the spell or part of the group that’s extended it.
Since winning the Super Bowl following the 1995 season, the Cowboys have won a single playoff game, in the wild-card round the following year. Dallas lost at Carolina a week later and things haven’t been the same since.
Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith were together two more full seasons without taking a single step toward another Super Bowl. Worse yet, they lost a playoff game to Arizona. At home.
Cycling through coaches and quarterbacks, the Cowboys have only made the postseason twice more. Both were on the road as wild cards. Both, of course, were losses.
“They say, ‘They haven’t won a playoff game in 10 years (11 actually),’ but you’ve only been in four,” Phillips said. “It’s not like you’ve been 10 years in a row and haven’t won one. Part of it is getting in there. If you get in there enough, you’re going to win your share.”
Phillips has a good reason for being a bit defensive about this subject. After all, he’s 0-3 as a head coach in the playoffs dating to his days in Denver and Buffalo.
Everyone gets a fresh start Sunday, when the Cowboys play host to the New York Giants, a team they’ve beaten twice this season.
Conventional wisdom says it’s hard to go 3-0 against anyone. And the Giants are 8-0 on the road since losing at Texas Stadium way back in the opener on Sept. 9.
JAN. 6, 2007: SEATTLE 21, DALLAS 20
JAN. 3, 2004: CAROLINA 29, DALLAS 10
JAN. 9, 2000: MINNESOTA 27, DALLAS 10
JAN. 2, 1999: ARIZONA 20, DALLAS 7
JAN. 5, 1997: CAROLINA 26, DALLAS 17
Dec. 28, 1996: DALLAS 40, MINNESOTA 15
Before this drought, the longest the Cowboys had gone without a playoff win was nine seasons — from Tom Landry’s last postseason win in 1982 to Jimmy Johnson’s first in 1991.
Oh, well. It’s all ancient history, right?
Actually, it’s not to one member of the Cowboys, the only guy suiting up Sunday who played in Dallas’ last playoff win, a 40-15 victory at Minnesota on . Backup quarterback Brad Johnson was Minnesota’s starter that day.
But that can’t be a jinx ... can it?
11 years, 0 playoff wins for Cowboys
Collecting milestones nice, but means little without postseason wins
updated 6:10 p.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 8, 2008
IRVING, Texas - As the Dallas Cowboys collected milestones such as the best start in club history this season, coach Wade Phillips sure liked connecting his team to some of the greatest squads in franchise lore.
Yet last week, when it was noted the Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game since 1996, Phillips sure was quick to distance his guys from the predecessors who’ve run up the longest postseason drought in team history.
Sorry, coach, you can’t have it both ways. After this weekend, the 2007 edition will be linked one way or another — either as the team that broke the spell or part of the group that’s extended it.
Since winning the Super Bowl following the 1995 season, the Cowboys have won a single playoff game, in the wild-card round the following year. Dallas lost at Carolina a week later and things haven’t been the same since.
Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith were together two more full seasons without taking a single step toward another Super Bowl. Worse yet, they lost a playoff game to Arizona. At home.
Cycling through coaches and quarterbacks, the Cowboys have only made the postseason twice more. Both were on the road as wild cards. Both, of course, were losses.
“They say, ‘They haven’t won a playoff game in 10 years (11 actually),’ but you’ve only been in four,” Phillips said. “It’s not like you’ve been 10 years in a row and haven’t won one. Part of it is getting in there. If you get in there enough, you’re going to win your share.”
Phillips has a good reason for being a bit defensive about this subject. After all, he’s 0-3 as a head coach in the playoffs dating to his days in Denver and Buffalo.
Everyone gets a fresh start Sunday, when the Cowboys play host to the New York Giants, a team they’ve beaten twice this season.
Conventional wisdom says it’s hard to go 3-0 against anyone. And the Giants are 8-0 on the road since losing at Texas Stadium way back in the opener on Sept. 9.
JAN. 6, 2007: SEATTLE 21, DALLAS 20
JAN. 3, 2004: CAROLINA 29, DALLAS 10
JAN. 9, 2000: MINNESOTA 27, DALLAS 10
JAN. 2, 1999: ARIZONA 20, DALLAS 7
JAN. 5, 1997: CAROLINA 26, DALLAS 17
Dec. 28, 1996: DALLAS 40, MINNESOTA 15
Before this drought, the longest the Cowboys had gone without a playoff win was nine seasons — from Tom Landry’s last postseason win in 1982 to Jimmy Johnson’s first in 1991.
Oh, well. It’s all ancient history, right?
Actually, it’s not to one member of the Cowboys, the only guy suiting up Sunday who played in Dallas’ last playoff win, a 40-15 victory at Minnesota on . Backup quarterback Brad Johnson was Minnesota’s starter that day.
But that can’t be a jinx ... can it?