The Detroit Lions scored touchdowns on back to back drives late in the 4th quarter today to beat Tampa Bay and advance to their first NFC Championship Game since 1991. That means now there are only four teams in the NFL who haven’t won a divisional playoff game since 1995. You know who those four teams are:

Browns
Dolphins
Deadskins
Cowboys

That’s some mighty fine company there.

No wins in a divisional playoff game for 28 years. That’s the very definition of irrelevance.

If you were to ask any nominal football fan to name the worst four teams in the NFL over the past couple of decades, three of those above teams would be mentioned out loud within a blink. Why aren’t the Cowboys perceived to belong to the company they keep? Sadly, Cowboys fans would point to the regular season wins, the sellouts at AT&T Stadium, and the financial worth of the franchise to differentiate from the teams in the NFL’s basement. Really? They also claim that Dallas is in the same strata with the 49ers, Eagles, and Packers. Delusional. Good grief, Mike McCarthy said last week the Cowboys are a championship team! Huh?

Since the Cowboys last won a divisional playoff game, the Packers have been to eight NFC Championship Games and played in three Super Bowls . The Eagles have played in eight conference title games and three Super Bowls. And next week the ‘Niners will play in their eighth NFC Championship Game and then, maybe, their third Super Bowl.

It would take years for the Cowboys to belong in that class.

The Baltimore Ravens are playing in their fifth AFC Championship Game next week and they didn’t even exist as a franchise the last time the Cowboys won a divisional game. Besides the Deadskins, Lions, and Cowboys, every team in the NFC has made multiple conference championship games. That’s 13 NFC teams! Multiple! They’ve each appeared in at least two! That includes the Carolina Panthers! Man, the New York Giants have been to three Super Bowls during this period and won two!

The Cowboys? Uh, no.

But go buy some more gear. That’ll help.

Peace,

Allan