For the first 30 years of the Super Bowl era, the Cowboys were a fixture in the game that resulted in a berth in the ultimate championship game. Since then, not.
Sunday’s loss extends to 28 the streak of years without Dallas in an NFC Championship game. It happened most recently in 1995.
Making that drought more amazing is the fact that the Cowboys qualified for the NFL’s version of the final four, on average, just a bit more than every other year during the first three decades of the Super Bowl. Sixteen times they played in the NFC Championship from Super Bowl I through Super Bowl XXX.
It happened in 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995.
Even with a 10-year break from 1982 to 1992, the Cowboys still appeared in 16 of the first 30 games for a shot in the Super Bowl.
Since the how-bout-them-Cowboys won their third Super Bowl in four years, crickets. It’s gotten so bad that, since the Texans entered the NFL in 2002, they have more postseason wins (five) than the Cowboys (four).
Thus, while the Cowboys might still be America’s Team, Houston has become Texas’ Team. And it’s hard not to think owner Jerry Jones is keenly aware of the situation when deciding what to do with coach Mike McCarthy — and who to perhaps replace him with.