Seven Teams The Dallas Cowboys Just Can’t Beat
Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers team helmets on the sidelines during the game against the San Diego Chargers at Levi
San Francisco 49ers (15) vs. Dallas Cowboys (11)
Postseason: San Francisco (2) vs. Dallas (5)
Last Meeting: September 7, 2014
Easily the most epic rivalry on this list, it’s somewhat shocking to realize that the Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers have met in the postseason a total of seven times, yet the former Bay Area dynasty has only won two of those.
Yes, these were huge playoff games – NFC Championship games – that in one case changed the balance of power in the entire NFL.
If you’re a Cowboys fan, you might remember “The Catch” made by 49ers tight end Dwight Clark in the 1982 NFC title game at Candlestick Park. The one point victory marked a second straight loss in the championship game for the Cowboys and launched a fantastic run of success during the 1980s and early 1990s for the ‘Niners.
The 1995 NFC Championship Game, also at the ‘Stick, killed Dallas’ chances for a three-peat in the Super Bowl and granted the 49ers their fifth Super Bowl rings, at the time an NFL record.
But Dallas has had even greater success in the postseason against arguably it’s biggest conference rivals.
From 1970-72, Dallas reeled off three playoff victories against the 49ers, the two wins sending the Cowboys to their first two Super Bowls against the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins, respectively. Back then, Candlestick Park was brand new and we were still a good decade ahead of head coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana and the rest of that crew.
In 1992-93, Dallas would win back-to-back NFC Championship Games at both Candlestick and Texas Stadium, the first of those two completely changing the balance of power in the NFL, once again, and also exacting the sweetest revenge imaginable for both “The Catch” and also for ten years of futility against San Francisco for essentially the entire decade of the 80s.
After all of that postseason history, the regular season head-to-head records just don’t seem to matter much, at least not between these two NFC titans.
San Francisco invaded the venue formerly known as Cowboys Stadium with tens of thousands of fans on Week 1 last season, a rather sloppy loss for the Cowboys against a team that had recently appeared in three straight NFC Championship games from 2011-13 – and a Super Bowl loss to the Baltimore Ravens squeezed in the middle.
Dallas made the playoffs last season and advanced to within a victory of the NFC Championship Game in Seattle against the Seahawks. Having passed the NFC West torch to their division rivals to the north, the 49ers simply stayed home.
It’s unknown when these two team will play again, but it won’t be any later than 2017.
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