Tony Romo

Let’s get the bad out of the way:

* The Cowboys managed a total of one yard rushing. Marion Barber entered the game needing 19 yard to surpass 1,000 for the season. He finished with negative 6.

* Tony Romo played the entire first half plus a drive in the third quarter. He was not sharp. He was also nearly injured on the final play of the first half on an attempted Hail Mary when he was sacked.

* Roy Williams missed tackles.

* Roy Williams was a liability in coverage.

* Roy Williams is just awful right now.

* Terry Glenn reinjured his knee in the first quarter. The other receivers had a difficult time getting separation. We need Terrell Owens, badly.

* No team in team history has lost its final game and still went on to appear in a Super Bowl. Unless this was just a matter of the team taking a game off, this year won’t be any different.

No, I do not think that this game is now meaningful because the Cowboys lost. However, the team has no momentum at all now that we wait two weeks to see if everyone heals and to see who we play.

Dallas was not the only playoff team to lose today. Both Tampa Bay and Seattle fell to lesser opponents (Carolina and Atlanta, respectively). The Giants, of course, lost to New England on Saturday. Pittsburgh and Jacksonville also suffered defeats today. On the other hand, none of those teams apparently looked quite as inept as Dallas did.

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Recent History Lesson

A few things to consider regarding team performances late in the season:

* Chicago tanked its final game of 2006 in a 26-7 loss to division rival Green Bay. It dropped the Bears to 13-3, but they were able to record wins against Seattle and New Orleans to advance.

* Indianapolis won three of its final five last year before winning four playoff games en route to the title.

* Seattle also lost its regular season finale in 2005 to drop to 13-3. The Seahawks then won two home playoff games to move on to the Super Bowl.

* Philadelphia in 2004 dropped its final two games, including a 38-10 drubbing at the hands of the Bengals, to finish the regular season at 13-3. The Eagles then won two straight home games to advance to the Super Bowl.

THUS, the past three NFC champions have lost their season finales to finish with 13-3 records. All three had home field advantage, and all advanced to the Super Bowl.

[And then lost, but that is another matter]

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1990s Dynasty History

Just for the sake of perspective, here are some facts about the Cowboys’ dynasty years of 1992 through 1996.

1992: Dallas finished the season with wins over Atlanta (41-17) and Chicago (27-14) to go 13-3. The Cowboys went on to win Super Bowl XXVII.

1993: Dallas wrapped up home field advantage with an overtime win at New York in Emmitt Smith’s famous performance with a separated shoulder. Three wins after that and the Cowboys were back-to-back champions.

1994: Dallas had a lackluster performance at New York in the final week, losing 15-10 without Emmitt Smith, who had suffered a hamstring injury. Dallas beat Green Bay in the divisional round, so the loss did not have a direct effect on the playoffs, but the Cowboys lost in the NFC Championship Game to San Francisco.

1995: The Cowboys recorded a 37-13 rout of the Cardinals to give Dallas momentum heading into the playoffs. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX that season.

1996: Dallas played a meaningless game at Washington in 1996 that was rather similar to the one played this Sunday. The 10-5 Cowboys had wrapped up the NFC East title and sat their starters, knowing that they would play in the Wildcard round the following week. The Cowboys suffered a 37-10 blowout at Washington but still won their first playoff game, 40-15 vs. Minnesota. That was, as you probably know, the most recent playoff win that Dallas has had.

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Playoff Picture

If you are not familiar with it, here is the playoff picture for the Cowboys. The playoff seeds are as follows:

#3 Seattle
#4 Tampa Bay
#5 N.Y. Giants
#6 Washington

Washington plays at Seattle, while the Giants play at Tampa Bay.

If Washington wins, the Cowboys will host the Redskins in two weeks.

If Seattle wins, then Dallas hosts the winner of Tampa Bay and New York.