it took a few seasons for the 1980's Cowboys team to corrode.
1984 - 9-7
1985 - 10-6
1986 - 7-9
1987 - 7-8 (strike shortened)
1988 - 3-13
The team of the 2020's?
2021 - 12-5
2022 - 12-5
2023 - 12-5
2024 - 3-6?
This team crumbled overnight.
"4. Old in the tooth management losing touch."
People love to claim this. And yet, half of what you still see in NFL football today was invented by Tom Landry. They thought he lost touch after the 1974 season when they didn't make the playoffs for the first time in 9 years. In 1975 they went to the Super Bowl.
The team of the 80's was the team of the 60's and the team of the 70's. The real issue was 20 consecutive years of selecting players in the bottom quarter of every draft.
Eventually, everything that goes up must come down. Landry's last three seasons with a combined 17-28 record came much, much later than anybody expected. Even Belichick couldn't top 20 consecutive winning seasons.