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Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys fall short in playoffs -- again

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
YearsTeamYear 1Year 2Year 3
1983-85MiamiL DivL SBL Conf
1992-94DallasW SBW SBL Conf
1993-95DallasW SBL ConfW SB
1996-98DenverL DivW SBW SB
1996-98• San FranciscoL DivL ConfL Div
2002-04PhiladelphiaL ConfL ConfL SB
2003-05• IndianapolisL ConfL DivL Div
2004-06IndianapolisL DivL DivW SB
2005-07IndianapolisL DivW SBL Div
2006-08IndianapolisW SBL DivL WC
2007-09IndianapolisL DivL WCL SB
2010-12New EnglandL DivL SBL Conf
2011-13New EnglandL SBL ConfL Conf
2012-14DenverL DivL SBL Div
2012-14New EnglandL ConfL ConfW SB
2013-15DenverL SBL DivW SB
2013-15New EnglandL ConfW SBL Conf
2014-16New EnglandW SBL ConfW SB
2015-17New EnglandL ConfW SBL SB
2018-20Kansas CityL ConfW SBL SB
2018-20• New OrleansL ConfL WCL Div
2019-21• Green BayL ConfL ConfL Div
2019-21Kansas CityW SBL SBL Conf
2020-22Kansas CityL SBL ConfW SB
2021-23DallasL WCL DivL WC

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index