Cowboys Hope to Turn the Tide on Recent December Failures

IRVING, Texas — The Cowboys hate hearing about the past.

Well, their recent and most relevant past, that is.

Certainly the Cowboys are historically known for their five Super Bowl appearances, including two titles, in the 1970s, and the three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s, but they have now come to represent a franchise that plays its worst when it matters most.

The Cowboys have a 27-43 record in the climactic month of December since the start of 1997 season. They are 12-17 in December since Tony Romo took over as starting quarterback in 2006.

It’s little wonder the Cowboys have only four playoff appearances and just one playoff win over the last 17 years.

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Cowboys have had a winning record in December once since 2002. Not a coincidence. Roster always lacks quality depth. pic.twitter.com/uGuw9DyQwb

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 2, 2014"

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But to hear coach Jason Garrett tell it, none of that has anything to do with the task before the Cowboys in 2014, starting Thursday against the Chicago Bears.

Like, you know, four straight December games to close season for a team that is currently on the outside looking in at the playoffs if the postseason started today.

At 8-4, the Cowboys are one game behind the Philadelphia Eagles (9-3) in the NFC East, thanks to an embarrassing 33-10 blowout loss on Thanksgiving Day. The Cowboys would lose out in a three-way tie for the two wild-card spots against the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions because of a deficient conference record.

To reach the playoffs this year, the Cowboys will have to finally finish strong and then hope for some help.

But Garrett said their poor finishing history is a non-factor.

“I remember when I was in college they kept talking about how we haven’t beaten this team in 25 years, we haven’t beaten them on the road since 1968,” Garrett said. “I don’t want to give away my age but I was two years old (in 1968). To me, it doesn’t have a lot to do with this football team. What has to do with this football team is how we come back from that game the other day. Learn from it, get better from it, get back to work today and then try to go win one more game.”

But there are a lot of players on this team who remember last year’s failure and a lot of key veterans who have been along for the ride for many of the December disappointments.

“Yeah, it’s a different team. It’s a different team,” Garrett said. “I like your initial premise about each day. You have to prepare the right way to get ready to play well each week. It really is about this day, practicing well, regardless of what the calendar says. My experience has been, when you do that, you do it again and again and again, you typically play your best. So that’s where our focus is.”

It’s been well chronicled that the Cowboys have failed to make the playoffs in each of the last three seasons because they came up small in a winner-take-all battle for the NFC East title and the playoffs in the season final.

What’s also true is that the Cowboys are 2-12 in Week 17 games since 2000, with four straight losses in win-or-go-home games since 2008.

But Romo is like Garrett. He chooses not to discuss the past failures in December, only the opportunity that lies ahead.

“Yeah we don’t talk about it,” Romo said. “Each season is a new football team. I’ve said a long time, if you’re team is good enough you’re going to get stops and you’re going to be able to move the ball and go score, you’re going to be a good team in December. And if it’s hard to get stops and it’s hard to score, it’s probably going to be a tough year, which is part of it.”

The effort and performance the Cowboys gave in the blowout loss to the Eagles in what was supposed to be a showdown for first place in the NFC East didn’t foster confidence that this December would be different.

It certainly got the narrative of their past December failures started a little earlier.

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December vs the Cowboys has begun

— Ashley Nicole (@geeksandcleats) November 28, 2014"

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Tight end Jason Witten refuses to run from the team’s December history. He said it will keeping coming up until the Cowboys find a way to change it.

“When you finish the years the way we have, it causes you to reflect,” Witten said. “If you go back at different points in those games in December, we didn’t execute very well. There is no secret to that. Other teams did, and they played well and made those plays, and we didn’t. Until you change it (the December woes) are going to continue to happen. That’s why I think we’re all anxious to change the outcome of it.”

Of course, that’s what the Cowboys said in 2011 when they started 7-4 only to lose four of the last five games, including the season final with the playoffs on the line.

They were 7-5 last season heading into December, only to lose three of their last four, including the season final with the playoffs on the line.

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Orlando Scandrick: "Man, we can't piss away this opportunity." Dez Bryant: "I was just thinking the same damn thing." http://t.co/a8uY8gpcB5

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) November 28, 2014"

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The Cowboys have no intentions of blowing another golden opportunity in December. They are healthier than they have been in the past, and they are hardened.

“We are a poised team,” Witten said. “I think we’ve learned from those experiences.  This is a tough stretch for everybody. The teams that play well this time of year are the teams that usually make the playoffs. Our team is focused on that, and we are in a good position being 8-4, but we’ve got to learn from this and move forward. I know we have the right type of guys to do that.”

But just don’t talk too much about the past. They are looking ahead, not back.

“This is what I know,” Garrett said. “If we do what we are supposed to, plan to do and want to do, then good things are going to happen for our football team.”

Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.