If we repeated every circumstance during those seasons with no changes.....same players.....same coaches........,there is a strong chance the Cowboys could have won a Super Bowl. In half of those seasons the ability to move on in the playoffs came down to a single play.
If random luck was changed ever so slightly, the Cowboys could have won a Super Bowl.
Pick a year, pick a negative play in the last elimination game and make it a positive one....the Cowboys could have won the Super Bowl that year. A field goal, a 3rd and goal, a turnover, a catch, a penalty....just one....and Garrett is a football guru, Jerry Jones is legit GM, the Cowboys are tied for Super Bowl victories, Romo is a first ballot HOFer perhaps.
You can say that about half the teams in the NFL. That's how close it all is. The Patriots won their first three Super Bowls by 3 points, obviously meaning three teams lost those games by three points.....that's one play.
There have been some great coaches that just caught the wrong end of luck. Our DC's father, Dick Nolan, lost three playoff games in a row to the Cowboys, two of them were NFC championsship games.
Suppose the Hail Mary never happened. Suppose Romo didn't fumble that field goal snap. Suppose Dwight Clark didn't make that catch. Suppose Jackie Smith didn't drop that ball in the endzone.......One play. We can go on and on with examples of one bad bounce or won good one.
That's what seperates winners from losers. And every year in the NFL ends with 31 losers and one winner.
One play just may have kept Jason Garrett out of the ROH. We will never know.