As the Dallas Cowboys prepare for their next showdown against the Denver Broncos, history looms large, casting a shadow over their prospects. Since Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin won Super Bowls, the Cowboys have struggled mightily against the Broncos, with a lopsided historical record that tilts heavily in Denver’s favor. The Week 8 matchup presents Dallas with a chance to reverse a seven-game losing streak, but their past performance suggests the odds are stacked against them, especially given their sparse success in Denver.
The Cowboys and Broncos have faced off 14 times since their first meeting in 1973, with Denver holding a commanding 9-5 advantage in the all-time series. However, Dallas’ victories on Denver’s home turf are a rare occurrence, limited to just two instances: a 22-10 win on December 2, 1973, and a 31-27 victory on December 6, 1992, both regular-season games.
These wins highlight a fleeting dominance on the road, contrasting sharply with their overall struggles. The most significant triumph came in Super Bowl XII on January 15, 1978, where the Cowboys crushed the Broncos 27-10 in New Orleans, securing their second championship. Led by Roger Staubach and a stifling defense, that game remains a high point, but it’s an outlier in a series trending against Dallas.
The current seven-game losing streak, dating back to November 7, 2021, when Denver won 30-16 at AT&T Stadium, underscores Dallas’ recent woes. This skid includes a 42-17 loss in 2017 and a 17-10 defeat on 2009, both in Denver, reflecting a consistent inability to solve the Broncos’ schemes. The Cowboys’ last road win in Denver, in 1992, came during a different era, with Aikman, Smith, Irvin and Jimmy Johnson as Dallas’ stars.
Can Cowboys break 30-year drought vs. Denver?
This historical disadvantage is compounded by Denver’s 6-2 home record against Dallas, per FootballDB.com, with the Cowboys’ offense struggling to adapt to the thin air at Mile High Stadium. The 1978 Super Bowl victory, while a bright spot, was a neutral-site game, not reflective of regular-season road dynamics. The Broncos’ defense, one of NFL’s best, has exploited Dallas’ reliance on passing. Dak Prescott has a passer rating of 70.9 with 470 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 2 games versus the Broncos in his career.
This year, the Cowboys have the most explosive offense in the NFL, with Dak Prescott playing at perhaps the highest level of his career. So Sunday will be a good battle between the ‘Boys offense and the defense led by Sean Payton. Prescott and company are on a mission to break the curse, so we’ll have to see if their offense can prevail over a team that has defeated them for three decades, the same amount of time the Cowboys have gone without even coming close to another Super Bowl.
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