Dallas Cowboys: Recent history says 1-0 start spells disappointment

It’s always good to start off the season 1-0, but for the Dallas Cowboys, recent history says it might spell disappointment.

The Dallas Cowboys started off their season with a dominating 35-17 win over the New York Giants. Their performance against their division rivals was exactly what every Dallas Cowboys fan wanted to see.

The defense continued to look like one of the best in the NFL, while the offense looked drastically different from last year’s lackluster showing.

Dak Prescott completed 78.1 percent of his passes for 405 yards and four touchdowns, Ezekiel Elliott added 53 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries, two receivers had over 100 receiving yards, and the defense allowed just 17 points. Things couldn’t have started off much better than they did on Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys.

While a 1-0 start is definitely what the Dallas Cowboys wanted, recent history says otherwise. Prior to this season, the last four times the Cowboys have started their season 1-0, they ended up missing the playoffs. Here’s how they finished in each of those seasons:

2017: Started 1-0, finished 9-7 (Second in the NFC East, missed playoffs)

2015: Started 1-0, finished 4-12 (Fourth in the NFC East, missed playoffs)

2013: Started 1-0, finished 8-8 (Second in the NFC East, missed playoffs)

2012: Started 1-0, finished 8-8 (Third in the NFC East, missed playoffs)

In each of the seasons listed above, the Dallas Cowboys started off on the right foot. However, after starting off 1-0, something happened that seemingly tore their season apart.

For example, in 2017, the Dallas Cowboys were expected to be one of the best teams in the NFC after going 13-3 the season before. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were coming off spectacular rookie seasons and were expected to carry the team once again. The team started off that season with a win over the New York Giants, but it didn’t take long for things to fall apart.

This season was when Elliott was dealing with his possible six game suspension. Elliott was allowed to play during the Cowboys’ first eight games because he was appealing his suspension.

We all know Elliott lost that appeal, which led to him missing the next six games. Before Elliott was suspended, Dallas was 5-3. However, they went on to lose the next three games without Elliott on the field. They did bounce back in the next three games, but couldn’t finish the season with enough wins to earn a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, even after Elliott returned. The drama of that season was too much for the Dallas Cowboys after dealing with Elliott’s suspension.

Now let’s go back to the 2015 season.

The Dallas Cowboys started off their season with a win over the New York Giants. In Week 2, Dallas traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles. They won that game, giving them a 2-0 start. While they won the game, their season was lost thanks to an injury to starting quarterback Tony Romo.

After Tony Romo went down, the Dallas Cowboys turned to quarterbacks Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel for most of the season. Romo did return later that season, but was once again injured. As evidenced by their 4-12 record to finish the year, Weeden and Cassel were not adequate replacements for the injured Romo. Romo was 3-1 as the starter, but the backups combined for a 1-11 record.

Recent history has brought a lot of drama to the Dallas Cowboys in seasons in which they started 1-0. The Dallas Cowboys have started 1-0 again this season, but this time the drama is a little different. Elliott was holding out for a new contract, which caused him to miss all of training camp.

He has since returned after signing a huge contract, so the drama seems to be behind them. However, Prescott is still searching for his contract. It hasn’t seemed to impact Prescott or the Cowboys so far, but could it later down the road?

Does recent history mean this season will have a similar result? Not necessarily, but it is something to think about. Although recent history isn’t on their side, something about this seasons feels different. The Dallas Cowboys seem to have the drama behind them, their defense seems stout once again, and their offense seems a lot more explosive than it was a season ago.

Those are all things Dallas didn’t have in previous seasons.

Can the Cowboys put recent history behind them after another 1-0 start, or will the drama that comes with being the Dallas Cowboys catch up to them once again? I believe they can overcome recent history this time around, but only time will tell.