Cowboys best shot since '95?

[Oszuscik]

Cowboys fans and their local writers seem pretty high on the team's Super Bowl chances this season. As a Packers fan I've gotten pretty used to Mike McCarthy led teams stumbling in the playoffs, but this year's Cowboys team seems pretty deep and talented. Is this the most hope the Cowboys have generated for their fans since the mid-90's? I don't remember the Tony Romo/Jason Garrett teams ever feeling like much of a threat to make a deep playoff run.

[Brian wolf]

The Cowboys best chance was 2007 of course but the Giants defense was inspired, while Romo and Owens were quiet. The 2014 and 2016 teams blew both playoff games with leads, while Dez Bryant had the controversial non-catch and Rodgers found a way to beat them the second game.

[Oszuscik]

The Cowboys best chance was 2007 of course but the Giants defense was inspired, while Romo and Owens were quiet. The 2014 and 2016 teams blew both playoff games with leads, while Dez Bryant had the controversial non-catch and Rodgers found a way to beat them the second game.

2007 was the year of the bye week trip to Cabo and Owens' "that's my quarterback" interview, right? In hindsight I'd be interesting to see how that '07 team would have done with Parcells still at the helm. With him gone I think that team sunk itself with its leadership void.

[Brian wolf]

When the Pokes got T.O in 2006, I was livid but Romo got me excited again during the 2007 season, thinking he could motivate Owens into being the team first player he had never been before ... they both flopped against the Giants and I knew the teams best chance at a championship had vanished but looking back, I dont think they would have won in frozen GB anyway ... It seems to have been a year of destiny for Eli and the Giants, though the Patriots should have went perfect ...

[Mark]

If the Cowboys had beaten the Giants the championship game would have been in Dallas.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

When the Pokes got T.O in 2006, I was livid but Romo got me excited again during the 2007 season, thinking he could motivate Owens into being the team first player he had never been before ... they both flopped against the Giants and I knew the teams best chance at a championship had vanished but looking back, I dont think they would have won in frozen GB anyway ... It seems to have been a year of destiny for Eli and the Giants, though the Patriots should have went perfect ...

I remember tuning in just after that Giants/Dallas playoff broadcast started. I forget who the sideline reporter was -- might have been Pam Oliver -- she talked about just having talked to some of the Giants players and said, "They feel like it's their turn." I'll never forget that phrase. When you get a team that nobody really expects to win, they've got nothing to lose, and they believe that it's their time -- those teams often spell real trouble in the playoffs -- in any sport.

McCarthy, given the chance, is likely going to win several division championships in Dallas, IMO. Whether they get to the Super Bowl or not is tough to say. Dak is very good and has a lot of intangibles that could win some of those bigger games -- especially once Rodgers and Brady retire/possibly leave the NFC. The defense has improved quite a bit from what I've seen, and McCarthy tends to get good performances out of players that you wouldn't expect. I've watched him make some good players exceptionally good (e.g. Desmond Bishop, Nick Collins), and bring the best out of seemingly average players (Matt Flynn).

Dallas played well against Tampa and the road to the SB likely includes the Bucs at some point. They played very well against Tampa Bay in Week 1. Not sure if that works to the Cowboys or Buccaneers advantage, if the Cowboys gained confidence makes the difference or if it turns into a '78 Oilers thing where the Steelers just crushed them. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cowboys won a playoff game and then played well enough in the NFC Championship to make it a game in the second half.

[Brian wolf]

Thats right Mark ...

I had forgotten that the Cowboys had home-field advantage.
Favre could struggle in Texas Stadium ...

[Jay Z]

The Cowboys best chance was 2007 of course but the Giants defense was inspired, while Romo and Owens were quiet. The 2014 and 2016 teams blew both playoff games with leads, while Dez Bryant had the controversial non-catch and Rodgers found a way to beat them the second game.

The Dez Bryant game was still going to be a loss for the Cowboys. I think Rodgers & Co. ran off about the last 6 minutes of clock. The Cowboys weren't winning that game.

[74_75_78_79_]

When I think of Dallas "highlights" since that very Larry Brown MVP game, I think of '96 first. Favre, Reggie, and Holmgren still had yet to beat them going into the playoffs. Having beaten both the Pack and the Pats, Cowboys demolish the Vikes in the 1st-Rd like a defending-Champ should. Perhaps a 10-6 Super Bowl-winner like San Fran in '88 (thought they'd take Carolina)!

I then think, of course, of 13-3 top-seed in 2007.

And then the 6-1 start in 2014, they beating Seattle on the road although at the time I still didn't accuse them of being the "best" in the league!

The Cowboys best chance was 2007 of course but the Giants defense was inspired, while Romo and Owens were quiet. The 2014 and 2016 teams blew both playoff games with leads, while Dez Bryant had the controversial non-catch and Rodgers found a way to beat them the second game.

2007 was the year of the bye week trip to Cabo and Owens' "that's my quarterback" interview, right? In hindsight I'd be interesting to see how that '07 team would have done with Parcells still at the helm. With him gone I think that team sunk itself with its leadership void.

I remember a friend of mine, who was a critic of Wade as a HC, opining at the time that Phillips was actually the right "tonic" for Dallas at first in that they shifted from a tough HC to a laid-back one. This caused the 13-3 finish in his mind. But once the playoffs began, it wore off. I remember not disagreeing. In either event, even if Tuna wouldn't have went 13-3 himself that regular season, he should have stood around a few more years to reap the bennies of what he built (just like JImmy should have stayed with Mia in '00 & '01 - or maybe Wanny was the..."tonic" as well).

In my mind, the G-men avert the hat-trick even if Tuna would have HC'd against them in that very divisional (the Coughlin/Parcells storyline sure would have been ever-present). They were fired-up and had it all together going into those playoffs after barely losing to 15-0 NE. But let's say that Dallas does get by...I say they win at home vs GB but lose to Pats again. Not by as much as their regular season affair, but more than a TD, at least. Giants were the only team going into the NFC playoffs who could have beaten the Pats which, of course, they did.

[superbowlfanatic]

As a Cowboys fan, I actually thought that they had an even better shot to advance in 2006 as a Wildcard team, because the NFC bracket was weak , overall. That was the year of the muffed potential winning-FG snap by Tony Romo @ Seattle. Chicago ended up winning the NFC and lost to Peyton Manning in Miami.

I know that being the top seed in 2007 looks on paper as being a better shot. But I felt that in 2006 Parcells had them playing on an upward roll, and I had felt that would continue through the postseason - much the same way the Giants performed as a Wildcard team in the following postseason.