21 Comments
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Don Holdridge's avatar

The only correction I see that needs to be made is adding the /Houston Oilers to the Tennessee Titans.

Looking back at the Cowboys history, it’s easy to imagine that their three Super Bowl losses could have been wins with just another play or two. The same goes for several of their conference championship games. With those winning points added, their point total would be so high that it would be decades before any other team could catch them, even if the Jones’s mismanagement never adds more than the one point per season.

Of course I’m sure the fans of other teams rationalize just like we do.

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James Joyner's avatar

Same with the St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, San Diego/LA Chargers, Washington Redskins/FBT/Commanders, and others. Really odd that only Baltimore/Indy Colts got the slash.

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Bob Sturm's avatar

What am I missing? They are all combined properly. Are you guys saying I just didn’t write their names all at the top with the current name? All the points are added in other than the Baltimore Ravens who were banned from taking Browns history with them legally.

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James Joyner's avatar

No big deal. It was just interesting that you did a slash for the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts but not other franchises that moved/changed names but are quite rightly treating as one entity.

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Al Morris's avatar

Thanks Bob. Good job as always. Because you are still a devoted Packers fan, and have not changed your allegiance, I intend to try to be that way for one more year with the Cowboys. But it's getting harder every year. I remember the Landry years growing up, and thought Jimmy was returning the team to the same perennial high level. Unfortunately, not so.

I made a copy of your Google doc. Thank you for that also!

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James Joyner's avatar

One way the Cowboys are way ahead of the pack (and I just stumbled on this) is point differential. Looking at the Pro Football Reference data, they're +89 over their 8 Super Bowl appearances. Only the 49ers, at +82, are even close. Of the other Heavyweights, the Steelers are just +29 and the Patriots are as dismal -36.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/super-bowl/standings.htm

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Mark Caley's avatar

If Jerry keeps Jimmy there's a good chance NFL history would have been changed in a dramatic way with very possibly at least one more Super Bowl win plus very likely a continued and sustained run of playoff success. It is impossible to state how much Jerry really blew it.

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Meatloaf Fan's avatar

Bob - always love release day for this series.

Do you ever see a possibility of assigning more weight to more recent super bowls than past super bowls? Lots have changed since ‘95 or so with free agency / salary cap era, 17 game season, expanded playoff field (only 1 bye now). Teams today can’t squat on elite cores as much as they were able to in the past.

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Bob Sturm's avatar

I have definitely thought of it, but I think we have too much recency bias in the sports discourse as it is. Lots have changed, but the goal of winning a Super Bowl hasn't (since 1966) and I think one = one still.

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Zach Barnett's avatar

Apologies if this has been addressed, but how did the Cowboys have 115 points in 2002 and 114 today?

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Bob Sturm's avatar

As I recall, teams were being double-billed back then and that was fixed because it made no sense. We have made some alterations over 22 years of work!

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Zach Barnett's avatar

Makes sense. Thanks!

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Dave W's avatar

Is this a paid subscriber post or a free one? If it’s free, I won’t be much help (without a big social media presence) but maybe others might share this. Maybe grab a few more subscribers? I remember this article getting a lot of traction at the athletic. Maybe we can share even if it’s not free.

And as always, great stuff! It’s what I refer my kids to when they want to talk about all time rankings.

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Bob Sturm's avatar

I will make it free in a week, but you subscribers deserve first looks!

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Dave W's avatar

Enjoy your time off!

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Lee's avatar

What made you switch from 10 points to 11 for the Super Bowl winner, which looks to be the only change from the original?

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Bob Sturm's avatar

Because it didn’t make sense that losing 2 Super Bowls was just as good as winning one. So, the bonus point was needed. It was a good change imo.

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Lee's avatar

Makes sense to me, thank you.

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Seth Y's avatar

Wow I would've never guessed there are TWELVE franchises that have never won a super bowl, that's more than 1/3 of the league, that's crazy to me (I guess I would have figured the number was more like 3 or 4)

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Denise Resendez's avatar

Although I lived it, seeing the “the Jerry Jones-GM era” in chart form just made me sad-again! Hope springs eternal…

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Jonathan Clarkson's avatar

Someone's probably already pointed this out, and it doesn't change the story of their sustained ineptitude, but Cowboys made playoffs rather famously in 2006.

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