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

[Irvin88_4life]

Once you get past the 20 year mark, that just doesn't matter much. Cowboys fans under 30 either weren't alive or barely/don't remember the championships. Think about the reality of that.

You've got cowboys fans who were in college when they last won a Superbowl-- now their kids are out of college. This is also why many under 30 consider the Eagles/Giants to be bigger rivals than the Commanders.

Remember the Cleveland Browns were actually a huge dynasty. At some the past just doesn't matter.

That's not true at all. Maybe ones that never seen the Glory days don't get it. Winning championships is all that matters. Dallas has 5 and no matter what, in 100 years they will still be there. You can't take them away, they certainly aren't forgotten.

Browns a huge dynasty with 0 Superbowl rings haha let me guess so is the eagles haha what a joke of a franchise. They make the Superbowl and choke. Heck McNabb puked all over the field then proceeded to lose. Don't ever put bottom feeders like Cleveland and Philly in the same conversation as a true dynasty....... America's Team

 

[trickamsterdam]

That's not true at all. Maybe ones that never seen the Glory days don't get it. Winning championships is all that matters. Dallas has 5 and no matter what, in 100 years they will still be there. You can't take them away, they certainly aren't forgotten.

Browns a huge dynasty with 0 Superbowl rings haha let me guess so is the eagles haha what a joke of a franchise. They make the Superbowl and choke. Heck McNabb puked all over the field then proceeded to lose. Don't ever put bottom feeders like Cleveland and Philly in the same conversation as a true dynasty....... America's Team

They were a dynasty when they had Jim Brown (arguably the best player on all time) and won three championships, you braying ***.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

They were a dynasty when they had Jim Brown (arguably the best player on all time) and won three championships, you braying ***.

How many Superbowls did they win?

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

How many Superbowls did they win?

They won 4 NFL Titles. I'm sure there were fans of the Browns bragging on the Steelers in the 70's about how many titles they had. They won no more. Now it's just sad. Nobody cares what anybody did 20 plus years ago. I remember in the 80's the Packers were still living off the first 2 SB's while they were a laughingstock.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

They won 4 NFL Titles. I'm sure there were fans of the Browns bragging on the Steelers in the 70's about how many titles they had. They won no more. Now it's just sad. Nobody cares what anybody did 20 plus years ago. I remember in the 80's the Packers were still living off the first 2 SB's while they were a laughingstock.

They won when there was like 10 teams. Everybody knows Superbowls is what's measured. Browns bragging to the 70s Steelers is pretty dumb.

So you and the other guy want to call the Browns a big dynasty and how great they were..... Against a few teams...... But then say Dallas Superbowls don't matter cause it's past 20 years........ That's also dumb.


Facts are Dallas has 5 Superbowls. Eagles have 0. Complain and moan and down play it all you want but that's the facts. Don't a single person with a brain would take eagles history over Cowboys history

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

They won when there was like 10 teams. Everybody knows Superbowls is what's measured. Browns bragging to the 70s Steelers is pretty dumb.

So you and the other guy want to call the Browns a big dynasty and how great they were..... Against a few teams...... But then say Dallas Superbowls don't matter cause it's past 20 years........ That's also dumb.


Facts are Dallas has 5 Superbowls. Eagles have 0. Complain and moan and down play it all you want but that's the facts. Don't a single person with a brain would take eagles history over Cowboys history

I never said I'd take their history over ours. I said it's sad when all we got is to brag how many rings we have from 20 plus years ago. It will be even sadder as it gets to 30 years. Just like the Dolphins always coming out every year with their champagne to celebrate the last undefeated team going down. Everybody laughs at them but of course them because it's all they got. Meanwhile the Steelers have 6 rings now and the Pats are about to but we're still the same. No closer now than we've ever been this century.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I never said I'd take their history over ours. I said it's sad when all we got is to brag how many rings we have from 20 plus years ago. It will be even sadder as it gets to 30 years. Just like the Dolphins always coming out every year with their champagne to celebrate the last undefeated team going down. Everybody laughs at them but of course them because it's all they got. Meanwhile the Steelers have 6 rings now and the Pats are about to but we're still the same. No closer now than we've ever been this century.

Its been over 20 years and the Steelers are the only team with more then Dallas and that's by 1. I'm sure Patriots will win their 6th......... It's ok. This team is close. The main issue is coaching.

For all the glory we have had it had to end at some point. We will be back

 

[Whyjerry]

The problem is older fans hold this team to a higher standard given the excellence of the Landry / Jimmy Johnson era. I am one of those older fans. Today we are expected to substitute drama and potential for actual results. Some people can do that. Many of us can not and are extremely frustrated. By any measure a couple playoff wins over 2 plus decades is a disaster. Jerry can spin as much as he likes but this team is closer to the Detroit Lions than it is to the NE Patriots. By a lot.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Its been over 20 years and the Steelers are the only team with more then Dallas and that's by 1. I'm sure Patriots will win their 6th......... It's ok. This team is close. The main issue is coaching.

For all the glory we have had it had to end at some point. We will be back

I Hope you're right. For me it just seems like every year it's one step forward and then two steps back. I do think coaching is the main problem but of course that never changes.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I Hope you're right. For me it just seems like every year it's one step forward and then two steps back. I do think coaching is the main problem but of course that never changes.

It stinks cause most of us are older and remember those days. Think of this Dallas was a contender almost every season from 65 to 96. Over 30 years of success, sure we had some bad years but it didn't last long. We are paying the Piper now and I feel like we are almost done paying our dues....... Hopefully

 

[HungryLion]

Commanders not on the list?

Where are the bears?

Raiders?

How far back are you going?

Bears and raiders both have Super Bowl appearances within th past 20 years. Far more successful than the cowboys.

Commanders definitely suck though.

 

[IrishAnto]

Sod how we stack up against the worst franchises, it how we stack up against the best which will tell if we'll win anything or not.

And based on that criteria over the last 20+ years I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[IrishAnto]

Say what you will about Jerry but he played at a level most of us on this board has never obtained. He played on a DI team that has a national title to their name. He is in the NFL Hall of Fame. I would say he knows more about football than you, or me.

It's true he probably knows more about football than any here, but that doesn't mean he's good enough to get the Boys to another SB.

The last 22 years are evidence enough IMO.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

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

Dak, Zeke, Martin, Lawrence, Frederick.

I hate when you guys say this....as if the players themselves haven't contributed to this nonsense.

 

[visionary]

Despite the fact that you resorted to an ad hominem attack, I won't respond in kind and will merely say that I believe a team like Tampa, thats won a Superbowl, or the Bears who've been to a superbowl & a nfc champ, are more sucessful than the Cowboys over the last 20 years.

I just don't think it matters much if you pad your winning percentage by going 8-8, instead of 6-10.

I also think most ppl agree w/ me, bc the Cowboys have the 6th best (regular season) winning percentage over the last 10 years, and virtually no one on here acts like or believes they've been the 6th most successful franchise.

To "super fans" like him Jerry and Jason are doing a bang up job
Thank you

 

[IheartRomo]

They are in the top third of winning percentage over the made up, narrative-fitting 20 year period. If you want to ding them a bit for not winning a lot of playoff games that's fine, but pretending that teams with far worse winning percentages who make a championship game once a decade are more successful is brain dead stupid.
The Deadskins are 28th in winning percentage over the same period and have won the same amount of playoff games as the Cowboys, so yes they are considerably worse than Dallas over the same period.

This is not a made up narrative-fitting period. As I clearly stated in the OP, my memory of watching the NFL stretches to 1996/1997 (first SB I remember watching is Pats/Packers). I am 28 years old.

Hearing about any semblance of Cowboys' success is no different than reading about the Revolutionary War in a textbook. It's extremely relevant from a historical perspective, but I have no direct connection to or recollection of any of it.

I understand not everyone falls into this bucket but this is certainly not narrative-fitting for me personally. That was the discussion starter.

 

[DFWJC]

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.

How are you measuring this?

Some kind of weighted average of:
Winning percentage
Playoff appearances
Playoff wins
Super Bowls wins
?????

Or is this just your gut with no hard data?

 

[IheartRomo]

How are you measuring this?

Some kind of weighted average of:
Winning percentage
Playoff appearances
Playoff wins
Super Bowls wins
?????

Or is this just your gut with no hard data?

Mainly from the gut with anecdotal evidence as is clearly pointed out in the OP. All of the possible stats you mentioned are relevant, IMO, with the exception of regular season winning percentage. To me, going 8-8 (which we've done endlessly over the recent decades) is far less beneficial to the franchise than is going 3-13. In other words, regular season winning percentage without playoff appearances and playoff wins to back it up is absolutely meaningless. Not only have you not even knocked on the door of a SB berth, but you've hurt your prospects of landing top players in the draft.

 

[cowboyblue22]

I don't think the cowboys are one of the worst franchise over the last 20 years they are just inept and have been inept as far as the important parts of football like winning on the field making money and building monuments they have done fine at but when the owner will not have it any other way then he gets all the credit for winning in the playoffs then this is what u get

 

[DFWJC]

Mainly from the gut with anecdotal evidence as is clearly pointed out in the OP. All of the possible stats you mentioned are relevant, IMO, with the exception of regular season winning percentage. To me, going 8-8 (which we've done endlessly over the recent decades) is far less beneficial to the franchise than is going 3-13. In other words, regular season winning percentage without playoff appearances and playoff wins to back it up is absolutely meaningless. Not only have you not even knocked on the door of a SB berth, but you've hurt your prospects of landing top players in the draft.

So it's your own personal ranking then
ok
it's an open forum so fair enough

May I ask why you chose 20 years instead of 10, 25, 30, or 40?
Was it specifically to shine the worst light on the franchise?
Honest question

If it's a shot a Jerry, then it seems you would take his entire tenure...29 years
Same thing if it pertains to Garrett...or 7-8 years