As the Dallas Cowboys enter their Week 6 matchup on Monday Night Football in Los Angeles against the Chargers, they do so with high hopes.
Hopes that they can get their season back on track after an embarrassing showing in San Francisco, a 32 point loss where old, ugly habits creeped back.
Hope is the word that I want Cowboys Nation to hang on to, no matter how you feel after the disappearing act versus the 49ers.
I know. You’ve hoped before, and come up empty.
Have faith that the real Dallas Cowboys are much closer to the team that has won by a combined score of 108-13 in their three victories.
Show faith that their two losses by a combined 44 points to the Cardinals and 49ers are a result of those “any given Sunday” moments.
I purposely waited until Monday morning to release this story because I wondered if Sunday October 15th would be “any given Sunday” for any other teams, and boy did the football gods help me out.
The last two undefeated teams in the league both fell on the road to the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, teams with a combined four victories and backup quarterbacks at the helm.
Buffalo also had their hands full until the final play versus the New York Giants, but just squeaked out a victory.
Those games just helped hammer in my point that any team in the NFL is capable of losing to any other team on any given day.
Let’s take a look at previous Cowboys Super Bowl teams who had a bad loss during the regular season.
I will even throw in a few Super Bowl teams since 2000 who also have bad regular season losses.
1971 Dallas Cowboys
Opponent: New Orleans Saints
Score: 24-14
Opponent’s final record: 4-8-2
In the Cowboys’ first Super Bowl season, they finished with an 11-3 record and rolled through the playoffs to a Super Bowl victory.
The road was rocky in Week 7, sitting at a 4-3 record before rattling off 10 straight wins to finish the regular season and into the playoffs.
One of those three losses was a road game at New Orleans, where the underdog Saints surprised Dallas with a 24-14 win at the Superdome.
It would mark one of just four wins for the Saints in 1971 with rookie QB Archie Manning in command of the offense.
There is no reason the Cowboys should have lost this game to a rookie quarterback, but remember “any given Sunday”.
Dallas would go on to win their first Super Bowl at the end of that season, but the loss to the Saints was a questionable blemish at the time.
1977 Dallas Cowboys
Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals
Score: 24-17
Opponent’s final record: 7-7
The 1977 Dallas Cowboys finished the regular season with an impressive 12-2 record on their way to their second Super Bowl win.
One of those losses was to a tough Pittsburgh Steelers team at Three Rivers Stadium, but the other loss was puzzling.
Dallas dropped a home game at Texas Stadium on Monday Night Football to then division rival St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 24-17.
Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to a 17-10 lead in the 4th quarter, but the scrappy Cardinals scored the game’s final 14 points for the upset win in Dallas.
The Cowboys had no business losing this game, but they eventually rode a seven game win streak to a Super Bowl victory.
1992 Dallas Cowboys
Opponent: Los Angeles Rams
Score: 27-23
Opponent’s final record: 6-10
The 1992 Dallas Cowboys kicked off a dynasty of three Super Bowl wins in four years.
Dallas finished the regular season at 13-3, with two of the losses to division rivals Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, teams who both made the playoffs.
That third loss, however, was a surprise.
The Los Angeles Rams marched into Texas Stadium and held Emmitt Smith to just 80 yards rushing on the way to a 27-23 victory.
Dallas fought hard, using a 74 yard punt return by Kelvin Martin to take a 23-21 lead in the 4th quarter, but their scoring would stop there while the Rams would tack on two field goals.
The Cowboys would go on to win eight of their next nine games on their way to their first Super Bowl win of the 90s.
1993 Dallas Cowboys
Opponent: Atlanta Falcons
Score: 27-14
Opponent’s final record: 6-10
In 1993, the Cowboys dropped their first two games of the season while Emmitt Smith held out for a new contract.
Those two losses aren’t as puzzling as the 27-14 loss in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in Week 12.
Troy Aikman did not play due to injury, but the rest of the team was intact, and led by capable veteran QB Bernie Kosar.
Dallas would not score until late in the 3rd quarter after already facing a 20-0 deficit at the hands of Bobby Hebert, Erric Pegram, and the rest of the Falcons offense.
The Atlanta defense held Emmitt to a grand total of one yard rushing, and Michael Irvin to just five yards receiving on one catch.
It was an inexplicable loss that ended up being just a blip on the radar once they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the second straight season.
1995 Dallas Cowboys
Opponent: Washington Redskins
Score: 27-23 and 24-17
Opponent’s final record: 6-10
Former Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Norv Turner led the 1995 Washington Redskins to a season sweep of Dallas.
The Cowboys only had three losses in the regular season, but two of those losses were to division rival Washington.
Dallas’ only other loss on the season was against their biggest rival at the time, San Francisco.
The Cowboys again rolled through the playoffs and their third Super Bowl win in four seasons despite losing to the 6-10 Redskins twice during the regular season.
Other Super Bowl Winners
I won’t go into too much detail on these other examples of Super Bowl winning teams with bad losses during the regular season.
Instead, I’ll just list them here:
- 2022 Kansas City Chiefs 20-17 loss to 4-12-1 Indianapolis Colts
- 2018 New England Patriots 26-10 loss to 6-10 Detroit Lions
- 2014 New England Patriots 41-14 loss to 9-7 Kansas City Chiefs
- 2010 Green Bay Packers 7-3 loss to 6-10 Detroit Lions
- 2007 New York Giants 41-17 loss to 8-8 Minnesota Vikings
- 2006 Indianapolis Colts 44-17 loss to 8-8 Jacksonville Jaguars
- 2003 New England Patriots 31-0 loss to 6-10 Buffalo Bills
Looking at some of these losses above, I will not throw the Cowboys season away due to a regular season loss versus one of the best teams in the NFL.
Cowboys Nation, in the words of Aaron Rodgers, R-E-L-A-X. The sky isn’t falling, and the Cowboys will bounce back.