While the Dallas Cowboys haven't had much success as of late, the fact remains that, from an overall standpoint, they're one of the most successful teams in NFL history.
Since the founding of the franchise in 1960, Dallas has earned 36 postseason berths, which ties them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the second-most in league history, trailing only the Green Bay Packers (38).
The Cowboys are also tied with the Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, and Denver Broncos for the second-most Super Bowl appearances with eight, trailing only the New England Patriots (11).
To reach those eight Super Bowls, of course, America's Team first had to get through the NFC Championship Game, a contest in which they've appeared 14 times, second only to the rival 49ers (19). But as every Cowboys fan well knows, it's been quite some time since Dallas participated in the NFL's version of the Final Four, with their last appearance coming all the way back in the 1995 season.
The Cowboys beat the Packers in the NFC Championship Game of the 1995 season
After the Cowboys took back-to-back Super Bowl wins in the 1992 and 1993 seasons, both of which involved NFC title game victories over the Niners, Dallas and San Francisco again met up to decide the NFC representative in the Super Bowl in the 1994 playoffs, with the 49ers coming out on top and ultimately going on to take down the then-San Diego Chargers to win their fifth Lombardi Trophy.
In 1995, a fourth consecutive meeting between the longtime rivals seemed to be in the cards, as Dallas took the top seed in the NFC with a 12-4 regular-season record, while San Francisco earned the No. 2 seed at 11-5.
But while the Cowboys did their part in the Divisional Round, scoring an easy 30-11 victory over the rival Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers did not, as they were upended at home by NFL MVP Brett Favre and the Packers by a score of 27-17, thus setting up a Dallas-Green Bay matchup in the NFC Championship Game on January 14, 1996, at Texas Stadium.
While Favre was solid that day, completing 21 of 39 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns, he also threw a pair of interceptions, with Leon Lett and Larry Brown getting one apiece. And simply put, Troy Aikman was just better, as he connected on 21 of 33 throws for 255 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Michael Irvin, and zero interceptions.
But the big star of the day was Emmitt Smith, who racked up 167 total yards (150 rushing, 17 receiving) and three touchdowns, the last two of which came in the fourth quarter to secure a 38-27 victory for Dallas.
The Cowboys then, of course, went on to defeat the Steelers in Super Bowl 30 to become the first team to ever win three Super Bowls in four years.