How long ago did Cowboys win two playoff games? You couldn’t look it up on your phone
You probably know the drill by now.
The Dallas Cowboys won a playoff game for the first time in four years. But to truly snap out of their postseason funk they need another win Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Cowboys’ postseason drought stretches back 21 seasons. Basically, since winning their last Super Bowl in January 1996, the Cowboys have struggled to do anything in the playoffs.
They haven’t been able to put two postseason wins together since that last Super Bowl run.
To snap that streak this season, they’ll have to win on the road. They beat the Seattle Seahawks in the wild card round and play the Rams at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at LA Memorial Coliseum.
Seven current players, including Leighton Vander Esch hadn’t been born in 1996. More than half their current roster was three-years-old or younger. Only two players, linebacker Sean Lee and long snapper L.P. Ladouceur, were 10 or older at the time.
When the Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions 24-20 in the wild card game on Jan. 4, 2015, they were the NFC East champs after a 12-4 season. The next week they lost at Green Bay in the divisional round in what is most remembered as the Dez Bryant “What constitutes a catch?” Game. The top movie was The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and the No. 1 song was Taylor Swift’s Blank Space.
The world was a different place, however, 22 years ago. Smartphones didn’t exist, cell phones were far from ubiquitous, Apple was still just making computers and Jay-Z, Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls released their debut albums.
When the Cowboys beat the Packers 38-27 in the NFC Championship at Texas Stadium on Jan. 14, 1996, 12 Monkeys was the No. 1 film. Mariah Carey and Boyz to Men’s “One Sweet Day” was atop the Billboard chart and a Seinfeld rerun was the second-most watched show.
The No. 1 show that week? The end of the Cowboys-Packers game, which drew a 34.3 rating and 53 share. The post-game show was the sixth most-watched show that week.
If anything is a given, it’s the Cowboys getting high television ratings. With any playoff success this year, a hungry Cowboys Nation will make those Nielsen numbers soar again.
This story was originally published January 1, 2019 at 8:21 PM.