It’s been 20 years since the Cowboys had a losing season with a healthy starting quarterback

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Most of this century has proven that the Dallas Cowboys are competitive throughout the regular season.

The Dallas Cowboys are a good football team, but for nearly 30 years, they haven’t been good enough. Fans have been reminded repeatedly that they haven’t gotten past the divisional round of the playoffs since 1995. That’s a long time.

If you’re upset about that, then chances are you have some built-up frustration directed at one of these individuals - Dak Prescott or Jerry Jones. These are the names that dominate the headlines. Jerry Jones is the owner and “general manager” of this football team. He makes all the big decisions that impact who stays and who goes. Granted, several people weigh in on things and we can lump them together collectively as the front office, but regardless of how you group it, many people aren’t fans of the Cowboys’ front office.

Then there’s Dak. He’s the most important player on this football team. Prescott is a three-time Pro Bowler and finished second in voting for league MVP last year, yet some are unsatisfied with his performance. Particularly, come playoff time as he’s had some less-than-stellar showings over the last few seasons.

But here is the dealio - Dak Prescott and the front office are actually pretty good. That is the case presented today as we attempt to paint a picture that these two elements of the organization are actually strengths.

One of the things that stands out about this team is that they are competitive year in and year out as long as their starting quarterback is healthy. The Cowboys have only had three losing seasons since 2005. They went 6-10 in 2020, 4-12 in 2015, and 6-10 in 2010. They lost their starting quarterback for at least half the season in each of those years. Whether it’s Dak Prescott or Tony Romo, when these guys are on the field, the Cowboys win. That’s an impressive feat. Not a lot of teams can say the same thing. In fact, if you ran through every team in the NFL and recorded the last time they had a losing record with their starting quarterback, it would look like this...

The fact Prescott or Romo never had a losing season in years where they played at least half the season is a testament to how good these guys are. Tom Brady can’t say that. Neither can Aaron Rodgers. The same goes for Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, and many other really good quarterbacks on this list.

Granted, context is important. The quarterbacks mentioned above are great players and we’re not suggesting Prescott or Romo are better than them, or even belong in the same tier as these future Hall of Famers. Even the great ones have down years as they are just one person. Sometimes the talent around them isn’t good enough to help the team finish with a winning record.

And that is where the Cowboys front office deserves credit. Even when Prescott or Romo aren’t shining their brightest, the Cowboys still win games as long as they’re healthy.

If you look at that list again, you’ll find some of the league’s top young quarterbacks, but is it fair to judge Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert when they were thrown into the starting QB role their first year in the league? Yes, it is. We can think of another young rookie quarterback who had to take on that responsibility back in 2016, and all he did was put together a Pro Bowl season and finished sixth in the league in MVP voting. The Cowboys also went 13-3 that year, and again it’s important to clarify that Prescott had a great team around him whereas these other guys didn’t. But that points back at the front office.

The years haven’t ended as we all would like, but the Cowboys have played some good football over the last two decades while most other teams have gone through trials and tribulations and various degrees of suckitude. And the reason for this is clear. The Cowboys have been very fortunate to have a good quarterback and have a front office that has done a good job of keeping talent cycling through.