DallasCowboys.com ran a story today about recent woes that the team has faced in December during recent seasons. A short blurb:
Standing on the brink of the greatest regular-season finish in franchise history, the Cowboys had little reason to cringe as the calendar page flipped to December.
A single victory clinches their first NFC East title in nine years. A victory Sunday and some help from Tampa Bay and Seattle secures a first-round bye for the first time since 1995. There’s too much incentive to look forward instead of backward.
“The great days are ahead of us,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Monday.
Yet a tiny part of their collective conscience, from Jones to the players – maybe not head coach Wade Phillips, since he didn’t arrive until February – centers on their recent December struggles that included 2-3 finishes in all four seasons under Bill Parcells.
That’s a combined 8-12 record down the stretch, with most of those games played in December.
Historically, the Cowboys’ best seasons have featured strong finishes. Consider the Cowboys’ record in the final four games of the five seasons during which they made the Super Bowl in the 1970s:
1970: 4-0 (10-4 overall)
1971: 4-0 (11-3 overall)
1975: 3-1 (10-4 overall)
1977: 4-0 (12-2 overall)
1978: 4-0 (12-4 overall)
This trend continued in the 1990s, but Dallas has not had late season success in quite some time. Here are the records of the final four games in each season since 1990.
1990: 2-2 (7-9 overall)
1991: 4-0 (11-5 overall)
1992: 3-1 (13-3 overall)
1993: 4-0 (12-4 overall)
1994: 2-2 (12-4 overall)
1995: 2-2 (12-4 overall)
1996: 3-1 (10-6 overall)
1997: 0-4 (6-10 overall)
1998: 2-2 (10-6 overall)
1999: 2-2 (8-8 overall)
2000: 1-3 (5-11 overall)
2001: 1-3 (5-11 overall)
2002: 0-4 (5-11 overall)
2003: 2-2 (10-6 overall)
2004: 1-3 (6-10 overall)
2005: 2-2 (9-7 overall)
2006: 1-3 (9-7 overall)
I’m certainly not saying that the 11-1 record and the prospect of home-field advantage isn’t great even if we should not play terribly well down the stretch. However, is it merely coincidence that the last time that Dallas won a playoff game was the last time that Dallas went better than .500 in the final quarter of the season?
Hope, sincerely, that this is all moot.
Wow, that was some great info, Kickholder. That very problem of fading down the stretch is what made the comeback win over Detroit so important. I was starting to get a sick here-we-go-again feeling during that game, until Romo worked his magic. Even so, it still took some luck, an incredibly stupid play by their dumbass MLB who could have just fallen on that fumble and iced the game for Detroit instead of trying to pick it up and subsequently kicking it staight to Kosier. That was a great team win and a Montana-esque drive by Romo that I think will get the team over the mental hurdle of the December swoon. It had to be in the back of the players’ minds, especially the defense, but after that great comeback win it should be smooth sailing from here with the Boys locking up home field! I knew they were at least a twelve win team and the best in the NFC East. How sweet it is. NFC EAST CHAMPS, baby!!!!! It’s been a long time coming.