Worst franchises in sports last 2 decades - where do Cowboys rank?

[IheartRomo]

Following the Eagles trip to the SB, I was getting ripped by a couple of buddies (Giants and Eagles fans, respectively) related to Nick Foles having the same amount of success in 8 days (2 playoff wins) that Dallas has over the last 20+. This got me to thinking: In my conscious sports life (from roughly 1996/1997 through today), the Cowboys have been a joke on a nearly Cleveland Browns level.

If you had to rank the most meager Big 4 sports franchises in terms of on-the-field/court/ice success (specifically actually contending for a championship) over the last two decades, where would the Cowboys rank?

NFL short list
1. Cleveland Browns - 1 playoff appearance (2002), winless season, 1-15 season. Almost no regular season success whatsoever.
2. Buffalo Bills - just broke a 17 year playoff appearance drought
3. Detroit Lions - 0 playoff wins
4. Cincinnati Bengals - playoff wins
5. Dallas Cowboys

Teams like the Vikings, Eagles, Chargers who have not won the whole thing have been true contenders many years and made conference championship appearances.

Even often-futile franchises in other sports have broken through over the past 2 decades (Warriors, Cavs, Astros, Marlins, Phillies, Mets (multiple WS appearances at least), etc. It's very possible that the Cowboys could be somewhere in the 10-15 most futile franchises in all of North American sports for the past 2+ decades.

Let's hope the next decade is where the bleeding stops.

 

[Vanilla2]

Is this a list you came up with yourself?

 

[acr731]

TOP 5 BABY!!!!!!!!!

Garrett needs another 'coach of something' award for his contributions to this astounding achievement.

 

[Vanilla2]

Commanders not on the list?

Where are the bears?

Raiders?

How far back are you going?

 

[perrykemp]

Commanders not on the list?

Where are the bears?

Raiders?

How far back are you going?

Bears made it to a Superbowl in 2006 and a NFC Championship game in 2010.

 

[Ultra Warrior]

Commanders not on the list?

I was wondering this myself. They should be on that list before us.

 

[robjay04]

Why do you say sports but only list football teams? You also leave out some franchises like the Commanders and Dolphins that have been worse just to put the Cowboys in the top 5

I do believe we are near the top 5 in wins for the last 8-10 years. We all expect better but that alone shows you we are more consistently competitive than 75 percent of the league.

I would take a team that is competitive every year over a franchise that sucks for a decade just to pop up and win a couple playoff games(Jaguars). After all, if I’m going to spend 16 Sunday’s a year watching a team and a fortune to see them in person, I want to know my team has a chance every Sunday and we got that with Romo and the first two years when we had Dak and Zeke on the field.

 

[wssaustin]

Cowboys won't be listed as worst franchise, underachieving for sure.

 

[Proximo]

LOL

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Buffalo
Miami
Cleveland
Houston
Washington
Detroit




These teams are probably worst than the Cowboys since 1996 or so. Some like Oakland , TB ,Tennessee & Jacksonville have had some success but also years of failures.

 

[Jake]

Commanders not on the list?

Where are the bears?

Raiders?

How far back are you going?

Would that make it better?

Only 2 teams haven't played in the NFC championship game since Dallas last played in one - Lions and Commanders.

The Bears and Raiders have at least played in a Super Bowl in the 21st century.

 

[acr731]

Buffalo
Miami
Cleveland
Houston
Washington
Detroit




These teams are probably worst than the Cowboys since 1996 or so. Some like Oakland , TB ,Tennessee & Jacksonville have had some success but also years of failures.

Do you think Cleveland is desperate enough to trade for Garrett? Me neither. I'm sure they would prefer having at least a glimmer of hope. Signing Garrett only guarantees more suckage.

 

[Section446]

We are the absolute worst.

 

[Corso]

TOP 5 BABY!!!!!!!!!

Garrett needs another 'coach of something' award for his contributions to this astounding achievement.

I freaking laughed! Curse you!
So sad that's something to laugh out loud about....

 

[Super_Kazuya]

They aren’t even close to the worst... they aren’t even in the bottom half of the NFL much less all of sports. It’s also weird how many fans became Cowboys fans in the narrative-fitting year of 1996.

 

[Motown12]

We have about a .500 record over the last two decades which puts us right where we usually are...mediocre. Now if you want to talk playoff wins than I think we are in the bottom third of NFL teams. Only during the Campo years would I even put us close to the Cleveland Browns. If you want to talk all sports I think that's just way too broad of a discussion.

 

[Xelda]

I try to be a well rounded person that seeks information outside of football. I fail 10 out of 10 times. If anything pops up about football, I'm all over it. In the middle of a boring article about some undesireable team, I smack my head and think "I could be in the Cowboys Forums". Two or three years ago I ran across an article by a non fan that wrote an entire article on how good the Cowboys are for the NFL. It made perfect sense even with the heady mumbo jumbo regarding ratings other teams pull in. Another article said "Love them or hate them, the Cowboys are the most entertaining team to watch". What am I getting at? I don't know, I just woke up from a hard nap. I'm sure I was going somewhere with it. Oh yeah, the Cowboys evoke strong emotions.

The Patriots should be the most hated team in the NFL this century, but they don't bother me other than the monotony of their appearances in the Super Bowl. I watch a shopping channel when they sell NFL gear. Someone should time how long they focus on Cowboys apparel (just long enough to say the name and cram the article to the back of the pile) versus every other team. Now that's some strong emotion for a team that hasn't done a whole lot since the 90s. How do we stay relevant? The exact same way certain teams preturb us. Fans don't forget and we've made some life long enemies.

If anyone complains that I didn't add to the conversation, please remember my disclaimer about the nap.

 

[fredp22]

I'd put us at #2
worst owner in the game
worst head coach in the game
cant handle the cap
havent done anything in playoffs in 20+ years

Jerry's thinking that our only problem is our asst coaches shows just how bad he is. His attempt to control the other 31 owners this year was an embarrassing low.

 

[Bobhaze]

The frustrating thing about the Cowboys of the last 20+ seasons is their lack of playoff success. They have won several division championships and have had a decent regular season record overall, but have won only 2 playoffs games this century. It’s the lack of any playoff success that makes this team so frustrating.

Bottom of the barrel? No. Consistently mediocre. Yes.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Following the Eagles trip to the SB, I was getting ripped by a couple of buddies (Giants and Eagles fans, respectively) related to Nick Foles having the same amount of success in 8 days (2 playoff wins) that Dallas has over the last 20+. This got me to thinking: In my conscious sports life (from roughly 1996/1997 through today), the Cowboys have been a joke on a nearly Cleveland Browns level.

If you had to rank the most meager Big 4 sports franchises in terms of on-the-field/court/ice success (specifically actually contending for a championship) over the last two decades, where would the Cowboys rank?

NFL short list
1. Cleveland Browns - 1 playoff appearance (2002), winless season, 1-15 season. Almost no regular season success whatsoever.
2. Buffalo Bills - just broke a 17 year playoff appearance drought
3. Detroit Lions - 0 playoff wins
4. Cincinnati Bengals - playoff wins
5. Dallas Cowboys

Teams like the Vikings, Eagles, Chargers who have not won the whole thing have been true contenders many years and made conference championship appearances.

Even often-futile franchises in other sports have broken through over the past 2 decades (Warriors, Cavs, Astros, Marlins, Phillies, Mets (multiple WS appearances at least), etc. It's very possible that the Cowboys could be somewhere in the 10-15 most futile franchises in all of North American sports for the past 2+ decades.

Let's hope the next decade is where the bleeding stops.

We are now into the second generation of great players whose careers are being wasted by Jerry and Garrett:

Dak, Zeke, Martin, Lawrence, Frederick.