The Dallas Cowboys qualified for the NFL post-season for the 36th time this year. For the 10th year they do so as the second-seeded team.
They have been the NFC’s top seed six times.
The Cowboys have made it to the Super Bowl six times as either the one or two-seeded team.
They won all three Super Bowls they advanced to after being the NFC’s top seed. They won two of the three Super Bowls they reached as the second seed.
They have reached the Conference championship game 16 times and nine of them came as the first or second seeded team.
They are 9-3 in the playoffs as the top seed all-time. The Cowboys are 10-7 in the years when they were the second seed.
They are 17-20 overall when starting the playoffs as the third seed or lower.
They have only reached two Super Bowls (1970 and 1975) when seeded lower than second. They lost both of those games.
Always A Bridesmaid
The Cowboys secured the second seed in three out of the final four years of the NFL before the 1970 merger with the AFL.
In 1966, Dallas finally qualified for the playoffs and did so as the second-ranked team.
Home field was determined on a rotating basis and not on won-loss records. Dallas, the East Division champs, hosted the top-seeded Packers out of the west.
Green Bay ousted the Cowboys 34-27 at the Cotton Bowl before going on to beat Kansas City in the first Super Bowl.
In 1968, Dallas was again second, to Baltimore this time, but lost on the road in the Divisional round 31-20 to the Browns.
In 1969, as the second seed to the Vikings, Dallas lost at home in the Divisional round once again to the Browns, 38-14.
A Breakthrough Year
The 1971 season saw Dallas rebounding from a Super Bowl V loss to the Colts in Miami. They again were seeded second but this time they flipped the script.
The Cowboys (11-3) opened with 20-12 road win against the Vikings (11-3).
For some reason, the 49ers at 9-5, got to host the wild card Redskins (9-4-1) in the other Divisional game. The insanity of rotating home games would soon end after this.
Dallas then dispatched the 49ers at home, 14-3, before taking down the Dolphins, 24-3, in Super Bowl VI.
In 1976, Dallas earned the second seed behind Minnesota only to fall to the Rams, 14-12, in the Divisional round.
Kings Of The Mountain
Dallas finally secured its first No. 1 seed in the playoffs in 1977.
They ran the table at Texas Stadium with a 37-7 win over the Bears and a 23-6 victory over Minnesota.
They closed out the run in New Orleans in Super Bowl XII. The Cowboys rolled over the Broncos, and former Dallas quarterback Craig Morton, 27-10.
In 1978 they were the second seed and dispatched the Falcons, 27-20, and the Rams, 28-0, at Texas Stadium.
But the season ended with a 35-31 loss to the Steelers in Miami in Super Bowl XII.
In 1979 Dallas was again the NFC’s top-seeded team. The Rams shocked Dallas in a 21-19 upset at Texas Stadium in Roger Staubach’s final game.
In 1981, Dallas gave Tom Landry his final second seed and routed the Buccaneers 38-0 in the Divisional game.
But the top-seeded 49ers pulled out a thriller in the Conference title game, 28-27, at Candlestick Park.
The Dynasty Run
From 1992 through 1995, the Cowboys alternated being the top or second seeded team in the NFC with the 49ers.
In 1992, the second-seeded Cowboys routed the Eagles, 34-10, then upended the top-seeded 49ers 30-20. Dallas then routed Buffalo 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII.
The next year, the Cowboys were the top seed and beat the Packers, 27-17, the 49ers, 38-21, and won Super Bowl XXVIII over the Bills, 30-13.
In 1994, the Cowboys flipped positions with the 49ers again. This time they clubbed the Packers, 35-9, before falling to the 49ers, 38-28, in the Conference title game in San Francisco.
In 1995, the two teams switched back once again with Dallas opening the playoffs with a 30-11 win over the Eagles.
But this time the 49ers didn’t make it back to the NFC title game as the Packers beat them by 10. Dallas dispatched Green Bay 38-27 to get to their eighth Super Bowl.
The closed out Pittsburgh, 27-17, in Super Bowl XXX.
21st Century Drought
Dallas has only been seeded in the top two slots in the NFC playoffs three times in this century.
In 2007 they were the top-seeded team with a 13-3 record. But the Giants shocked Dallas, 21-17, in the Divisional round.
In 2016, Dak Prescott led Dallas to a 13-3 record and the top seed.
But Mason Crosby’s 51-yard field goal as time expired gave Green Bay a 34-31 Divisional round victory.
The second seed was the Cowboys’ reward for a 12-5 record this season. It remains to be seen how far the team will advance this year.