Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) walks off the field against the Green Bay Packers after a NFC wild-card game at AT&T Stadium. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Cowboys' playoff failures reach a historic new low

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 1/15/24

Another year, another miserable playoff failure for the Dallas Cowboys. Now it is starting to reach historic levels.

Thanks to their humiliating 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers, they were eliminated in the wild-card round and have now set some rather infamous history.

This year marks the third consecutive season the Cowboys won at least 12 regular season games and did not reach at least a conference championship game. They are the first team to ever have that happen to them.

The Cowboys are the first team in NFL history to win 12 games in three straight seasons and fail to make the conference championship in any of them.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 15, 2024

In 2021 the Cowboys won 12 games and lost a wild-card game to the San Francisco 49ers at home. A year ago they at least won their first playoff game — beating Tampa Bay — and were then defeated in the divisional round at San Francisco.

Those two defeats were followed by Sunday's loss to the Packers which was not anywhere near as close as the final score might have looked.

The Cowboys' playoff failures have been an issue since their last Super Bowl win during the 1995 season and this is just another level of ineptitude. They have won just five playoff games since then and appeared in zero NFC Championship Games.

Another layer of failure is the fact that ever since AT&T Stadium opened the Packers have now won more playoff games in the stadium (three) than the Cowboys have (two).

Green Bay has beaten the Cowboys twice in the playoffs in head-to-head meetings and also won Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the stadium.

Great regular season records are nice. But Jerry Jones and the Cowboys fans have to be getting tired of a lot of wins followed by playoff failures like this.

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