Cowboys are running it back with Mike McCarthy, and I guess that makes sense, with them having won 12 games three years in a row. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb played the best ball of their careers. The larger body of work outweighs one awful playoff loss. But how is that team supposed to get over the hump?
Things will get harder going forward. Prescott, Lamb and Micah Parsons will all be looking for new contracts, and all will be aiming to be the highest-paid players at their positions. That will make it harder for Dallas to build a deep enough or strong enough roster to get past the other elite teams – they’re trapped into a stars-and-scrubs type roster.
Thus far, they’ve fallen short when the degree of difficulty has risen in the playoffs. Under McCarthy, they’re 1-3 in playoff games, with a wild-card win at Tampa Bay, first-round exits at home against the 49ers and Packers and a divisional round loss at San Francisco a year ago.
That makes them an unusual team. On the one hand, they’re one of only 25 teams in league history that’s won 12-plus games three years in a row. On the other, they’re the only one of those teams that hasn’t even made it to a conference championship game in any of those seasons.
Of the other 24 teams that have won at least 12 games three years in a row, 20 of them played in at least one Super Bowl. The other four at least made it to a conference championship (most recently the 2019-21 Packers and 2018-20 Saints).
TEAMS WINNING 12-PLUS GAMES 3 YEARS IN A ROW | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Years | Team | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
1983-85 | Miami | L Div | L SB | L Conf |
1992-94 | Dallas | W SB | W SB | L Conf |
1993-95 | Dallas | W SB | L Conf | W SB |
1996-98 | Denver | L Div | W SB | W SB |
1996-98 | • San Francisco | L Div | L Conf | L Div |
2002-04 | Philadelphia | L Conf | L Conf | L SB |
2003-05 | • Indianapolis | L Conf | L Div | L Div |
2004-06 | Indianapolis | L Div | L Div | W SB |
2005-07 | Indianapolis | L Div | W SB | L Div |
2006-08 | Indianapolis | W SB | L Div | L WC |
2007-09 | Indianapolis | L Div | L WC | L SB |
2010-12 | New England | L Div | L SB | L Conf |
2011-13 | New England | L SB | L Conf | L Conf |
2012-14 | Denver | L Div | L SB | L Div |
2012-14 | New England | L Conf | L Conf | W SB |
2013-15 | Denver | L SB | L Div | W SB |
2013-15 | New England | L Conf | W SB | L Conf |
2014-16 | New England | W SB | L Conf | W SB |
2015-17 | New England | L Conf | W SB | L SB |
2018-20 | Kansas City | L Conf | W SB | L SB |
2018-20 | • New Orleans | L Conf | L WC | L Div |
2019-21 | • Green Bay | L Conf | L Conf | L Div |
2019-21 | Kansas City | W SB | L SB | L Conf |
2020-22 | Kansas City | L SB | L Conf | W SB |
2021-23 | Dallas | L WC | L Div | L WC |
—Ian Allan