Seven Teams The Dallas Cowboys Just Can’t Beat

Oct 26, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Oakland Raiders helmets on heaters on the sidelines against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns won 23-13. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

Oakland Raiders (6) vs. Dallas Cowboys (5)
Last Meeting: November 28, 2013 (Thanksgiving Day)

For two of the NFL’s most storied and polarizing franchises, it’s a wonder that there’s zero postseason stories to pass along here – but there sure could have been.

During six particular seasons between 1967-1980, the Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders were both in their respective conference championship games, yet they were never both victorious in landing in the Super Bowl during the same year.

Thanks to the previously mentioned “Ice Bowl,” Super Bowl II ended up being played between Oakland and Green Bay following the 1967 regular season, as opposed to the Raiders and Cowboys.

A few seasons later, Dallas would reach Super Bowl V, only to lose to the Baltimore Colts. Care to guess who Baltimore and the ghost of Johnny Unitas beat in the AFC Championship Game just prior?

Dallas lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers twice in Super Bowl X and in Super Bowl XIII, the “Steel Curtain” defeating the “Men In Black” in both previous AFC Championship Games.

In between those two championship losses to the Steelers, the Cowboys faced the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII. It was the “Orange Crush” eliminating the Raiders just before hand.

In perhaps the closest call, the Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game at Veterans Stadium following the 1980 regular season, a game that would have given Dallas six trips to the Super Bowl in a span of just 11 seasons – and possibly a third Lombardi Trophy with a victory over the eventual world champion Raiders. Dallas had beaten the Raiders the previous December for their first ever victory against the franchise.

Oh well.

Instead of a bunch of great memories between these two franchises in Super Bowls, instead there’s just a relatively meaningless and short list of regular season games to look back on – all eleven of them in total.

Dallas only beat the Raiders in Los Angeles once, that time coming during Dallas’ Super Bowl run in 1992. Beyond that, the Cowboys have just two wins against the Raiders when playing in northern California.

The Cowboys can draw even during their next match up sometime during the 2017 regular season, presumably in Oakland, Los Angeles, or wherever else the Raiders franchise might end up relocating to, which they almost certainly will.

The Cowboys and Raiders last played on Thanksgiving Day of 2013, and the time before that on Thanksgiving Day of 2009, both victories for the Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.

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