JustChip
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Your last paragraph is the most salient. Matchup matter. Warshington always the Eagles tough. It doesn’t make sense, but the results show it. Same for the Cards and Cowboys. Same for the 49ers and tge Cowboys.You know, I'm as big as a die hard as many (all?) of you are. But I will admit TWO things about TWO of our championship years, involving a little bit of fortuity. I won't say luck...but instead fortuity.
(1) Let's be brutally honest, Dallas was fortunate that the Steelers were banged up in '77, AND that they played the Broncos in the Super Bowl, not the World Champion Raiders. Of those 3 teams, Pittsburgh, Oakland, and Denver, the Broncos were by far the better matchup, and it showed..
(2) Flip to 1995. We were starting to have trouble against the 49ers. You know, like we do now. These days the 49ers are a horrifically TERRIBLE matchup for the Cowboys because they can fully exploit our weakness on D: they can power gash you up the middle with the run (CMC), and hit the TE down the middle (Kittle). And do so patiently. Anyway, Dallas lost to the 49ers in the regular season in 1994, in the 1994 Championship game (Jan 1995), and in the regular season in 1995. Wanted NO PART of these guys in the 1995 Championship game (Jan 1996). Fortunately for us, Green Bay took care of the 49ers in the divisional round out in San Fran, meaning instead of Dallas going out to SF for the 2nd straight year for the NFC Championship (4th straight meeting overall in the NFCC game), they got to host Green Bay. And back in the early-mid 1990s, Dallas matched up well with Green Bay. From 1991-96, Dallas did not lose to the Packers, including several playoff games. We were able to keep Favre in check somewhat, while our OL and running game dominated. Dallas beat Green Bay in the 1995 NFC Championship game, then of course went on to win SB XXX.
Matchups matter. Which is why I hope Dallas plays (and beats) Philly first, while Detroit beats SF.
However, I think this year will be different if a 49ers-Cowboys matchup in the playoffs comes to fruition. The early Landry era Cowboys were “next year’s champions” until they were actually the next year’s champions.