The Dallas Cowboys lost their first game of the season last week. Obviously that was less than ideal.
Once upon a time a narrative used to circle around teams who dropped their first game of the season. “You have to avoid an 0-2 start” was said by every analyst on every network as history showed that falling to 0-2 was a kiss of death as far as the playoffs were concerned.
These conversations always had a “but” attached to them that involved the Cowboys. You see, the 1993 version of the team was the first one to ever begin a season 0-2 (this was when Emmitt Smith held out while waiting on a new deal) to go on to win the Super Bowl. The 2007 New York Giants became the second, and that campaign also involved the Cowboys. We can avoid that conversation, though.
You can still make the playoffs if you start a season 0-2, especially in a world with three wild card spots per conference which has only been the case for four seasons now. Still, though, you would obviously rather be 1-1 than 0-2, and thankfully the Cowboys have a strong history of avoiding an 0-2 start.
Below you will find, thanks to Pro Football Reference and Stathead, every season in which Dallas began their run with an 0-2 start. Only one of the seven seasons finished with a playoff appearance to the point at large, and it was the 1993 year in question.
Honestly, the fact it had been since 2010 that Dallas had an 0-2 start was a bit of a surprise. I thought that surely the Cowboys had begun a season 0-2 at some point in more recent history. Still, though, we are talking about a point in time that preceded the Jason Garrett era. That is a ways back in the rearview mirror.
While our conversation began from a standpoint of the playoffs, you can see that 0-2 starts were generally indicative of a tough campaign at large for the team. If we exclude the 1993 team as they are obviously the outlier, no other team won more than six games.
Falling to 0-2 would be a tough scene for the Cowboys in a general sense, but that it would come at the hand of the New York Giants would twist the narrative knife further. Dallas has absolutely dominated the Giants in recent memory, particularly in the Dak Prescott era, so if that were to be what cemented their 0-2 start it would be rough.
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